# questions in relation to neutering



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

No personality changes at all! Don't worry, your boy will be the same wonderful dog after his neuter. A neuter is a pretty simple recovery, just keep him from licking his stitches and be sure to walk him on a lead to potty. You shouldn't need to take any time off as long as you can be sure he doesn't get to his stitches. 

Are you going to tack his stomach as well? If so, recovery will be a bit more involved although you still shouldn't need to take any more time off.


----------



## Aberdeen00 (Jan 8, 2018)

Good on y’all for waiting so he could meet his full growth - I plan on doing the same with my girl. I have never had personality changes (like the “lazy” myth) with any of my boys. It’s scary how fast they are back on their feet, you will have to remind him to take it slow. Your vet will let you know how long he should be monitored for but usually boys bounce right back- it’s spays that are longer to heal. Worst case he will be in the cone of shame for a little bit lol 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tifamaroo (Jan 17, 2017)

CharismaticMillie said:


> No personality changes at all! Don't worry, your boy will be the same wonderful dog after his neuter. A neuter is a pretty simple recovery, just keep him from licking his stitches and be sure to walk him on a lead to potty. You shouldn't need to take any time off as long as you can be sure he doesn't get to his stitches.
> 
> Are you going to tack his stomach as well? If so, recovery will be a bit more involved although you still shouldn't need to take any more time off.


I am not sure about the tacking. I don't even know if vets around me do it.I wanted to do it at first but I have heard that it doesn't actually prevent bloat at all.... Also, I have seen pictures of the surgical incision and it is really really big..... I might need a whole separate thread for my insecurities about that. LOL


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Tifamaroo said:


> I am not sure about the tacking. I don't even know if vets around me do it.I wanted to do it at first but I have heard that it doesn't actually prevent bloat at all.... Also, I have seen pictures of the surgical incision and it is really really big..... I might need a whole separate thread for my insecurities about that. LOL


I recommend gastropexy without a doubt. It prevents their stomach from flipping, which can kill them very quickly and painfully. They can still bloat in that they can fill with air and you would need to get them to the vet to have the air removed from their stomach with a tube down the throat. Still, this is a much different scenario from one where the stomach is twisted, organs are suffering necrosis, and major surgery is needed while the dog is in shock, which may or may not save the dog's life. 

The incision is large, unless you have it done laparoscopically. I've had it done both laparoscopically and with a traditional open incision. I've also lost a dog to bloat where 90% of his stomach and esophagus were dead only a few hours after he had been playing, and had a family dog bloat and be saved in emergency surgery. 

If you do decide to do the tack, the most important thing is that you find someone who is very experienced doing it.


----------



## Aberdeen00 (Jan 8, 2018)

Tifamaroo said:


> I am not sure about the tacking. I don't even know if vets around me do it.I wanted to do it at first but I have heard that it doesn't actually prevent bloat at all.... Also, I have seen pictures of the surgical incision and it is really really big..... I might need a whole separate thread for my insecurities about that. LOL




I work at a vet and have been discussing it - a plexy doesn’t prevent bloat but it DOES lower the chances. The stomach cannot twist with a plexy, but the dog can still “bloat”. The heal time is longer and the incision is about twice that of a spay. We will only perform them on our list of at risk dogs. I let my heeler out one night into the back yard, when he didn’t come when called I found him behind our shed, dead, all in a ten minute span. Heelers are not prone to bloat and are not on our at risk list. I take all the precautions with slow feed bowls and my dogs eat about 75% of their meals in Kong’s. Then no exercise for an hour before and after eating. I am VERY CAUTIOUS because of my heeler, St. Pete. It was a hard way to lose a beloved friend. I am still on the fence about the surgery (I feel as if my dogs are very low risk with all these precautions) but my vet is recommending it to me. It’s definitely something to think on especially because it’s no cure all! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Aberdeen00 said:


> I work at a vet and have been discussing it - a plexy doesn’t prevent bloat but it DOES lower the chances. The stomach cannot twist with a plexy, but the dog can still “bloat”. The heal time is longer and the incision is about twice that of a spay. We will only perform them on our list of at risk dogs. I let my heeler out one night into the back yard, when he didn’t come when called I found him behind our shed, dead, all in a ten minute span. Heelers are not prone to bloat and are not on our at risk list. I take all the precautions with slow feed bowls and my dogs eat about 75% of their meals in Kong’s. Then no exercise for an hour before and after eating. I am VERY CAUTIOUS because of my heeler, St. Pete. It was a hard way to lose a beloved friend. I am still on the fence about the surgery (I feel as if my dogs are very low risk with all these precautions) but my vet is recommending it to me. It’s definitely something to think on especially because it’s no cure all!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Pexy  My pet peeve. Sorry!


----------



## TorontoSpoo (Apr 2, 2017)

We just had our 1 year old Spoo neutered and the gastropexy surgery last week. We really wanted to wait a bit longer, but we're going on a two-week long trip and finding someone to board an intact male was proving to be impossible. Although our vet routinely performs the gastropexy surgery, he brought in a specialist who did it laproscopicly. Our vet thought that the recovery time would be much less. The incision for the gastropexy seems to be maybe an inch long. (You can kind of see the small redish incision line in in the attached photo.)

Obviously it's way too early to say if his personality will change. But I am completely amazed that within a couple of days he's bouncing around like nothing ever happened. The vet warned us that tearing his stitches is a major issue, and would basically result in another surgery. It's not as simple as re-stitching it. After surgery, our vet sent us home with a 5-day supply of pills that would keep him mellow, but said get more if he is too active. We did go back for another week's supply! I'm pleasantly surprised that the cone of shame hasn't been too bad of an experience for him. We bought an inflatable Kong cone. He is tolerating it quite nicely.


----------



## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Neutering did Not change Asta's fun-loving personality at all! Did not do a plexy and wish I would of. My 1st poodle died of bloat. I was very inexperienced with poodles at the time. I have learned so much here at poodle forum - a wonderful community.


----------



## Charleeann67:) (Nov 6, 2017)

Does anyone follow Dr. Karen Becker's recommendations for not spaying or neutering? I've been watching her Youtube videos on the subject. All my previous dogs were spayed or neutered around 6 mos. of age. The disease numbers she mentions are what concern me having recently (last April) lost a 7 year old lab to hemangio carcinoma (sp) and the prevalence vets are seeing of that growing. Thoughts???


----------

