# Is a Gastropexy any worse than a spay?



## maddogdodge (May 29, 2015)

So my boy will be getting castrated and a gastropexy when he's 12 months old.

I'm terrified about the gastropexy but know it's worth it. 

I was just thinking, I've never worried so much about my female pets being spayed... but I wonder, is a gastropexy much worse than a spay in terms of how invasive and/or dangerous it is and the recovery for the dog?

I'd feel better about it if I knew it wasn't any worse than a spay.... but perhaps I'm wrong...

I thought maybe some of you who's dogs have had a gastropexy might know.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I didn't notice any difference in Maizie's spay and gastropexy (plus a gastrotomy!) vs. my other females' spays. She bounced back too fast after her surgery! For the first day she was pretty knocked out, but she had really good drugs (Tramadol every 6 hours) so her pain was well managed. She vomited once the first day and another time the following day, but by the second day postop she was feeling better and starting to act like herself again.


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## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

I would not expect it to be worse than a spay. After all, they are not removing anything, just tacking the stomach to the abdominal wall. Believe me, you don't want to have to do this on an emergency basis on an elderly dog like I did! My pup is getting one when he's neutered, too, if not sooner!


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## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

Gastropexy has a long recovery time. My Dane boy was pexied a year after his neuter and we were told no running whatsoever for a full four weeks after surgery where his neuter was only a week. 


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

One of the people who bought one of Cammie's puppies had a spay and gastroplexy done at the same time. It was a more invasive procedure than a simple spay. It required an overnight stay in the vet hospital and a somewhat longer recovery. She considered having it done laproscopically which would have been more expensive but quicker recovery. You might want to ask your vet about that.

Your vet should be able to help you evaluate all of these things. My understanding it that while it may be a little bit worse than a spay, it is still a safe procedure. Of course it is important that you make sure that the vet who is doing the procedure has a lot of experience with gastroplexies.


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## Raven's Mom (Mar 18, 2014)

I had Raven spayed and pexied at the same time when she was eight months old. She bounced back so quickly I had a hard time keeping her calm. She did not require overnight care. Her stitches healed beautifully and she only wore the cone two days.

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## seminolewind (Mar 11, 2016)

I guess it would be worth thinking about peritonitis (stomach leakage). I would do some reading and find out if the prevention is worth the risks of surgery. I'm not trying to worry anyone. I'll be reading about it too.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

maddogdodge said:


> So my boy will be getting castrated and a gastropexy when he's 12 months old.
> 
> I'm terrified about the gastropexy but know it's worth it.
> 
> ...


The only dog I've had get an open gastropexy was an emergency gastropexy after a GDV episode, and the recovery wasn't easy. But I am fairly positive that is because recovering from GDV is a lot more difficult than a gastropexy done on a healthy dog. I recently had 2 dogs tacked laparoscopically (because one was already neutered and the other was already spayed). The incision was very small and recovery a breeze. The most difficult part by FAR has been keeping them calm for 2 weeks. So - I can say that the laparoscopic procedure is WAY less invasive than a spay.

As far as the open pexy on a healthy dog (a preventative pexy), I have heard that it is also surprisingly NOT that difficult of a recovery. The incision is a little bit longer than a spay, but a few friends of mine have had the open gastropexy done as a preventative and told me it was not a bad recovery at all, probably very similar to a spay, and nothing at all like the type of recovery a dog experiences with a post-GDV gastropexy. The recovery time is 2 weeks. 

I am spaying and tacking a bitch soon and I'm not at all worried about the recovery. I do recommend looking for a vet who has a fair amount of experience in the procedure. 

The lifetime risk of bloat in a standard poodle is 25.3%. You are doing the right thing. The recovery is much easier on a healthy dog than on a dog after bloating and they may not even survive a bloat episode.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

peppersb said:


> One of the people who bought one of Cammie's puppies had a spay and gastroplexy done at the same time. It was a more invasive procedure than a simple spay. It required an overnight stay in the vet hospital and a somewhat longer recovery. She considered having it done laproscopically which would have been more expensive but quicker recovery. You might want to ask your vet about that.
> 
> Your vet should be able to help you evaluate all of these things. My understanding it that while it may be a little bit worse than a spay, it is still a safe procedure. Of course it is important that you make sure that the vet who is doing the procedure has a lot of experience with gastroplexies.


Okay. Please don't take this to be critical because I'm honestly not intending that. But... Okay.. it's gastropexy, not gastroplexy.

Sorry. I just had to correct that. :angel2:


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## frecklesdmk (Mar 27, 2013)

Lexi had hers done at the same time as her spay. She had a reaction to the stitches which delayed her recovery of the incision site.

The physical restrictions for a pexi are longer than a spay. I had a hell of a time keeping her from running.


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## seminolewind (Mar 11, 2016)

So it's a 25% risk? That's high. Gotta think about this.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

I would ask for it to be done laparoscopically on a male. For a female it's in the same general anatomical neighborhood. For a male it's gonna feel like two separate ouchies, I'm guessing. Let it not be a full on abdominal surgery ouchie. I am trying to be realistic with these small poodle sample lifetime percentages, so consider that 75% dodge it.


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## maddogdodge (May 29, 2015)

Wow thanks for all the responses! I'm feeling a bit better about it now  I will get a quote to have it done as keyhole surgery as my boy is impossible to keep still... like seriously, he's a living bouncy ball! If he wasn't allowed to jump or run after surgery I'd have to crate him, and even bringing him out on lead would be tricky because if he's super excited he still likes to bounce around!

If I can't afford the keyhole surgery though I'll just go with the open one and hope for the best with recovery!


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## Eclipse (Apr 26, 2010)

Both of my girls had a prophylactic gastropexy (not laparoscopic) done at the same time they were spayed. They were both spayed at around 18 months, after they each had had one heat (neither came into heat the first time until they were well over a year). I let my dogs go through a heat prior to spaying for various reasons related to bone growth, etc. and the benefit to doing a pexy at that time is that the dog is mature and the organs are fully developed so there would be no further (or little further) growth of the stomach and the dog in general as there would be if you spayed a dog at say 6 months and tacked the stomach then. Neither one of my girls had any problems with the surgery. 

The incision is longer than if just a spay was done of course. Each did very well with the surgery and recovered well - came out of anesthesia okay, etc. Though she usually keeps pexies overnight, my vet let me take both mine home the same night when she was sure they were okay as I am a bit more experienced with dogs than the average pet owner. Both received a shot of pain medication before coming home and basically peed on the way to the front door, came in, had a drink of water, collapsed on their bed and were out like a light until the next morning. I had them both done when I was on vacation so I could be around for at least the next several days to monitor. They were obviously quite sore the day after surgery, got up and laid down very slowly, were in discomfort to squat for pee/poo, but then after that it was quickly a battle to keep them calm for the recommended recuperation period. I had to keep them on leash whenever they were out for the next 2 weeks or they would have been galloping around the yard (want to make sure the tack heals strong and don't want any excessive activity to compromise that). Most dogs are okay to resume normal activity after 2 weeks, because mine do performance work I resumed obedience/rally after 2 weeks but did not return to agility class for 4 weeks.

I will note as CM mentioned, it is very important to find a vet who is experienced in the procedure. Some general practice vets may rarely or never do it, in which case you may need to be referred to a specialty practice. My regular vet used to be the director of the local 24 hour emergency clinic and has done many, many pexies on dogs in emergency situations so is very experienced. The other thing to note is some vets do not agree with doing a prophylactic gastropexy, feeling the risks of the surgery outweigh the possibility that a dog will bloat at some point. My vet does not subscribe to this. She says she would much rather do the pexy on a young healthy dog as a preventative (obviously considering the breed and bloat risk when discussing surgery) than on a dog that is already compromised by already being in bloat or torsion. 

A good friend of mine from my agility class had his lovely Doberman boy bloat this week. Dobermans are another high risk breed for bloat. Fortunately, he got him to the vet on time and they were able to stabilize him before he torsioned. However, he was pexied (which is the usual procedure for a dog in bloat since once a dog bloats the likelihood that they will bloat again increases as well as torsion since the stomach muscles have been stretched) and spent 3 days at the emergency hospital. This is what I hope to avoid by having done the pexy on my girls. Of course, they can still bloat, but if they do, I hopefully have extra precious minutes to get to the vet before they can torsion.....


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