# Standard Spay recovery advice, surgical suit recs?



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Is a ramp an option? If you’ve got a place to store it, you might find it’s useful again at some point. Even for the humans.

Peggy hopped onto the couch herself the day after her spay. I _completely_ freaked out. I even posted about it here as I wondered how to get her down.  I ended up sticking her bed in front of the couch, with a bunch of blankets on it, and she stepped down, no problem.

She also regularly did a single step in our backyard, to get up to her preferred grass patch. She did this from the day of her surgery.

We purchased this surgical suit:








SUITICAL Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium - Chewy.com


Buy Suitical Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!




www.chewy.com





And this inflatable collar:








CALM PAWS Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large - Chewy.com


Buy Calm Paws Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!




www.chewy.com





But had no use for either.

We let Peggy gently explore the area around her incision, but if she got too close, we gave her a little ah-ah. That was all she needed. It helped that the incision was the best I’ve ever seen. It healed super fast and clean.

The first night I slept in the living room, on a cot, with camping pads and blankets spread all over the floor for her. She vomited the whole night and it was traumatic for both of us. She was very out of it. We absolutely could not have managed 5-6 stairs together.

For a few nights after that, she slept in the human bed with a leash looped around my husband’s wrist. My husband had no trouble lifting her on and off the bed.

Then (much to her relief) it was back to the crate. No suit, cone, or collar.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Is a ramp an option? If you’ve got a place to store it, you might find it’s useful again at some point. Even for the humans.
> 
> Peggy hopped onto the couch herself the day after her spay. I _completely_ freaked out. I even posted about it here as I wondered how to get her down.  I ended up sticking her bed in front of the couch, with a bunch of blankets on it, and she stepped down, no problem.
> 
> ...


I don't think a ramp is an option because there is not enough space on our property for it to extend into (it would go across our neighbors' driveway). So I think we will have to carry her in and out for a while.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

@Raindrops had one for her mpoo boy that had a cute little trap door. My plan was to buy one, but then I kicked the can further down the road and never pulled that trigger on the purchase. But, I'll have to soon.

So, great timing for the question


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

I have a surgery recovery suit that was pretty inexpensive that I’ve never tried on phoebe. I can try it on her and see what it fits like and report back for Oona if you’d like.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

We were staying at a trailer when Annie was spayed, about 5 steps down for her to go pee. I carried her in the first day, including getting her in and out of the car,when she was too groggy to manage the steps, and after that I let her walk, but on leash, slowly.

Annie was VERY well banadaged by the vet (many of her clients are outdoor dogs/cats, living in straw filled dog houses, so a cone and supervision isn't happening, and she defaults to a bandage) with heavy duty adhesive bandage. I didn't have to worry about her bugging it until I took of the bandage. I kept it bandaged with rolled gauze and vet wrap and sometimes used a backwards tshirt tied to her collar. Annie hates cones, I only used one for a few hours when she was being very insistent.

After a few days, we went home, and I let her go up stairs to my bedroom, too.

Here's Annie in her silly bandage and diaper looks 









Removing adhesive bandage from poodle fur


As part of Annie's spay, her belly was wrapped in adhesive bandage that needs to be removed this weekend. Our vet likes to do this rather than a cone because a lot of the dogs she treats are outdoor dogs and it keeps the incision clean, she thinks they heal better, and it doesnt usually require...




www.poodleforum.com


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I've had several dogs spayed, and never needed to use a cone or suit on any of them. Even when Leo had her emergency abdominal surgery over Labor Day, she wore the cone out of the hospital and for the ride home, but she had gotten stuck in the car crate and was panicking a bit, so I took it off and never used it again. 

Concerning the steps, just keeping her leashed so that she doesn't try running up and down them is probably fine. That's what I do. 

The couch... now _that _I probably would try to avoid letting her do until she's healed up a bit.


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

Ev's a boy so no spay, but he definitely was insistent on licking his neuter site. It was easy to dissuade him during the day, but he'd lick at it hard enough to wake me at night. Ended up red and angry looking. The t-shirt trick wasn't enough (might not have done it right), he ended up in a shirt and a cone. A suit would have been less hassle.


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## Starvt (Nov 5, 2019)

Stairs are fine for a SPoo as long as they take them slowly, on leash, as soon as she is fully alert. This could be anywhere from immediately after arriving back home, up to 12 or so hours later. 
The couch would be a no go. Removing the back cushions plus pushing a bed or similar as a step up could be an option.
The incision protection is so variable, its hard to know ahead of time. Poodles are flexible and smart, some will be persistent and get around or through nearly anything (including chewing through surgical suits!) I think only border collies are worse. Others won't bother at all.
I can tell you that on average, the most irritating days are about 2/3-5, as that's when healing is really taking place plus hair starts to grow and is really itchy. 
In many cases the skin will be fully healed in 7 days if you did a good job of preventing licking and excess activity. 

On a side note, I bet most PF folks are favorites of their vets. We see so many people who ignore the recommendations (an example- owner of a 4-yr old chihuahua who got spayed asked me why the dog stopped walking less than a quarter of the way on her usual walk *that night). *I love seeing g how conscientious y'all are.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Winnie had a surgical suit for her spay and it was wonderful but I only had the one and didn't think about having to wash it before she was out of it (Duh!) 

I went to the local supermarket and bought a pack of cheap baby romper suits and cut the feet off them. She wore them backwards so the poppers were on her back and her tail could stick out at the end. It was really easy to flip the back legs off and let her poop and pee. If I had known they were going to be so effective I would have just bought these instead of the suit. So much cheaper.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> Winnie had a surgical suit for her spay and it was wonderful but I only had the one and didn't think about having to wash it before she was out of it (Duh!)
> 
> I went to the local supermarket and bought a pack of cheap baby romper suits and cut the feet off them. She wore them backwards so the poppers were on her back and her tail could stick out at the end. It was really easy to flip the back legs off and let her poop and pee. If I had known they were going to be so effective I would have just bought these instead of the suit. So much cheaper.


I think I'd need a romper/PJ for like a 12 year old to fit my clydesdale of a poodle! But not a bad idea to check out.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Oonapup said:


> I think I'd need a romper/PJ for like a 12 year old to fit my clydesdale of a poodle! But not a bad idea to check out.


Ah yes I hadn't thought about the difference in size


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Oona was very compliant with her heat diapers and left them and herself alone when they were on even though she licked a lot when they were off. So I have hope that she will not chew through her suit. I ordered this, hope it will fit. Can try the T-shirt trick as well:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08P4W81HH...KaS&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_img&th=1


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Good to hear that standards may be able to manage stairs slowly sooner than I thought. Lifting her is totally possible in the short term with my husband's help (and certainly we would make it work as long as she needs) but my arms are too short and not strong enough to be confident carrying her myself, I worry it would be more dangerous than having her go slowly herself.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

I tried a surgical suit with Loki after his neuter/gastropexy. He came pretty close to figuring out how to unsnap it. I think if I had used it more, he would have. 
Mine was machine washable, but could not go in the dryer. It took almost a day to dry. He managed to get it wet licking it so I had to go back to the cone. While I was waiting for it to dry, it started raining and didn't stop for multiple days so we stuck with the cone. 
I kept him in his playpen for the first week. When the pain medicine stopped, he decided that it was time to escape his playpen. I started allowing stairs at that point so he could sleep in my room as normal. He limited himself to going up slowly until after his stitches came out. That may have been the cone. He was a lot more cautious when it was on vs the surgical suit. However, he could lick his back stitches with the cone on, but he didn't do it much.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Ok poodle friends, Oona’s spay is tomorrow. She’s had her last supper and I will bring her to the vet’s tomorrow between 8-8:30 am and will pick her up later in the day when they’re done. I have a surgical suit for her and I think I will sleep with her on the main floor for the first night at least. I practiced lifting her and I’ll be able to do it for in and out of the car but I don’t possess sufficient size or strength to do staircases safely. I hope tomorrow isn’t too rough on my sweet girl. Hold our hand/paw!


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## Happy'sDad (Jul 4, 2020)

Good luck. Hope all goes well. We'll be waiting for good news.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

I'll be biting my nails waiting on the good news! Be strong!


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Heard from the vet at 11:30 am, and everything went great - she is sitting up and looking around. They'll keep her till 4 so the anesthesia wears off, so that's when I will go pick her up. Luckily I had extremely boring performance review documents to put together for my yearly review, so that helped distract me most of the morning. The vet tech says stairs will be fine as long as she goes slowly.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

That’s great news. Hope her recovery is smooth and pain free


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Oonapup said:


> Ok poodle friends, Oona’s spay is tomorrow. She’s had her last supper and I will bring her to the vet’s tomorrow between 8-8:30 am and will pick her up later in the day when they’re done. I have a surgical suit for her and I think I will sleep with her on the main floor for the first night at least. I practiced lifting her and I’ll be able to do it for in and out of the car but I don’t possess sufficient size or strength to do staircases safely. I hope tomorrow isn’t too rough on my sweet girl. Hold our hand/paw!
> 
> View attachment 487064


This photo tugged my heart strings HARD. Isn’t it so awful not being able to explain to them what’s about to happen?? 

So glad she’s out of surgery and doing well. Sounds like you have a good plan for tonight.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Hooray!!!


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

My zonked out surgical sailor, snuggled on her rarely used floor bed. She is really out of it, so we will see what happens later/tomorrow when she is able to absorb our temporary sofa ban.


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## BennieJets (Oct 10, 2021)

Oonapup said:


> My zonked out surgical sailor, snuggled on her rarely used floor bed. She is really out of it, so we will see what happens later/tomorrow when she is able to absorb our temporary sofa ban.
> View attachment 487114
> 
> View attachment 487113


Aw! I'm sending quick healing vibes 💚
(The couch ban photo gave me a giggle... but I'm also tucking that idea away in the back of my brain for future use!)


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## Happy'sDad (Jul 4, 2020)

So glad to see her resting well. And love your couch deterrent system...


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Awww, Oona. Mend quickly, sweet girl 🤕🌼.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

How’s she doing tonight?


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> How’s she doing tonight?


Night 1 was pretty good. In the evening I could tell she was uncomfortable because she had a hard time trying to lie down but was almost falling asleep standing up. Sh kept sitting half on me as if to ask for help and I would rub her back. We had her rest in her crate so she would not be tempted to get up too many times (which is her normal thing to do, be a busybody and follow everyone around). At bedtime I set up a mattress on the floor and she settled pretty well with me, though she did wake me up at 2:30 to go out and pee. Pooping was a little uncomfortable first thing morning but after her morning metacam she had a loose poop which was probably for the best in terms of not having to strain. Today she’s trying to get on the couch, bark out the window, and play a little with her squeaky ball. She’s managed the stairs most times but I have lifted up twice when I was too impatient to wait for her (it is like -20 c out). Thinking that tomorrow or Monday we can let her back on the couch with the back cushions off, because she settles best there, it’s pretty low to get on and off, and we humans want our furniture back. Picture is last night on our floor bed/couch substitute.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I’m glad she’s doing as well as can be expected. That photo looks very cozy.  When you’re ready, you could try putting the back cushions on the floor in front of the couch to create a step for her.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I’m glad she’s doing as well as can be expected. That photo looks very cozy.  When you’re ready, you could try putting the back cushions on the floor in front of the couch to create a step for her.


Current view: enjoying our all day sleepover/floor bed: long underwear day for humans and a pajama day for poodle. Tomorrow I’ll roll up the floor bed, lay the back cushions flat in front and give her couch access back. She’s already gotten up there once to peek out the one window she can see out of in its current position. Even with the chairs on there. So I think she will be ok to get up and down soon.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

That actually looks like the best day.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Today was no pain meds, return of sofa privileges (no sleeping on the back cushions though) and a snow day. I explained to no avail that she was not supposed to leap and zoom so our compromise was that she could briefly run/bounce around me on leash like I was lunging a horse. I chose a plowed path for our afternoon walk only to be forced to the side 3 times by plows - we had to clamber through 2 and half foot snow drifts to get out of the way. Frustrating, but Oona seemed to be happy to have found a loophole for the “no bouncing” rule. We will try to take it easier tomorrow and hopefully more people will have shoveled so we will be able to walk more easily. For those interested, a pic of her incision (this is day 3 or 4 depending on how you count it) - a little bruising that was there since she came home but that is fading, and very little swelling. And a pic of a brief moment in the snow between opportunistic attempts at mitten thievery.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Oof, two weeks can’t come soon enough. Oona is absolutely full of beans from not being allowed to run, in spite of a long midday wander and added training/shaping sessions. Her harassment of the child has amped up in the house and she is reactive to everything out on walks - if she’s not bounding around trying to steal our mittens, or climbing to the top of snowbanks to poop, she’s looking around suspiciously for things to bark or lunge at. I can’t wait until she can run some of this pent up energy off. We will need to do some aggressive counter conditioning and training tune up, and I am doing what I can now, but it will be much easier when she’s allowed to blow off steam physically, so I’m kind of white-knuckling it through the rest of the week.


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