Home after spay

Little Buggle had her spay today. She has been home for about half an hour. The vets told me she has not eaten since the op but they wanted her to go home as she seemed very scared at the vets and thought she would recover more at home.

She is in her cage area now (all clean and sterilised), and she is really quite worrying me. I know I was told to expect her to not eat, but I think I expected her to bounce back just because of the sort of character she is. I have given her basil and mint and some nuggets, which have not been touched. Toilet roll tube stuffed with hay, I got quite excited as I thought she was eating it, but she just yanked some out and then stopped. The rest of the time she has been sitting facing the back of the cage.

I know it is very early on still and she has had a major trauma, but is there anything I can do to speed things up. She has a heat pad wrapped in a sheet (not touched it yet), puppy pads on the floor and newspaper where her litter tray would be, and some muslin clothes in the other corner. Her partner Pancake (who is free range in the room but not allowed in her cage at the mo obviously) was so happy to see her home and all excited, but she has not acknowledged him yet. They are able to see each other in their set up (although she cant as she is just facing the back of the cage).

Am I better off staying in here with them to monitor her closely, I have the main light off and a lamp on, and no tv or music. Or would she prefer it if I turned all the lights off and left her alone totally?

Thanks

Going from what my vet told me, unless she's still not eating come morning then I wouldn't worry. She's had major, major trauma and may well still be sleepy/sore/generally shattered.

Has she pooped? Has she done a wee? If those are yes and it's only the not eating, then don't worry too much yet. BUT if she's still not eating come morning then phone your vet straightaway. (I fed mine everything they shouldn't have - treats and other usually restricted stuff to encourage them to eat and that was okay but luckily they were eating okay when they came home anyway). What time was her op do you know? She may still be feeling the effects of the general and is a bit woozy; give her a couple of hours and she may have perked up a bit but don't panic if she hasn't.

She may not have acknowledged her partner yet because she's shattered. Having had an operation myself, you just wanna sleep/relax. My 2 girls were very quiet when I brought them home afterwards but were okay the next day.

My vet said that to keep an eye on them until I went to bed and then check them in the morning i.e. I didn't have to sleep in the room with them. If she's not used to you being in the room at night, that may unsettle her anyway. I'd suggest just leaving her be. Let her sleep it off and check her before you go to bed but then leave her till tomorrow.

Sending healing vibes x

Hi,

Our little Ellie had her spay nearly 4 weeks ago - I was worried about her, sounds in a pretty similar way to your little girl. She was clearly in a lot of pain, very wobbly and I put a whole buffet in with her when she got home...the only thing I could get her to nibble on was dandelion leaves, and then a bit later she ate bits of grass! She hardly moved from when she came back to lunchtime the next day..bless her.

Took her a day or so to come round to eating a few more bits. Its heartbreaking seeing them so out of character eh.

Good luck, Elaine.

Aww hope Buggle is feeling much much better in the morning!! (hugs)

My two were spayed last week and are pretty much back to normal...although getting fairly cross that they have restricted space at the moment (for recovery!!) :roll::lol:

My poor Cookie wouldn't eat after her spay, but did manage to lick water off a spinach leaf. She seemed more thirsty than anything.

Good luck, and best wishes.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice.

I got her to eat 2 fine beans last night (the long green ones) and a few more today. She has just eaten a few mouthfuls of readigrass and I think she has a mouthful or two of chamomile hay last night. She has refused pellets (2 types) herbs spinach, carrots, brocolli, etc. Will only eat one or two green beans at a time and then stop.

She has done lots of poos, mostly normal but some very small and black. Has wee'd also. Once on me whilst I was giving her metacam!

The is so obviously in pain and traumatised. Hate to see her like this. Pancake is lying right by her on the other side of her cage.

post spay

Hi all,

i had my 2 girls, india and lagonda spayed on friday, but as it was good friday and the 2 day later check up would be today - easter sunday they kept them in friday night till sat afternoon so technically that was the first 24 hrs, india is eating lots but very sleepy and lay down lots fully stretched out, never seen her like that amd lagonda has done a few poos but has only nibbled on bits and also very sleepy..... it has now been 48 hrs since thier op..... they ar ein a quiet room quite dark, should i be worried? they have a check up tues am also....

Having had a my rabbit spayed quite recently, I think the best thing you can do for them when they return home (for them AND for yourself worrying!) is to just lay out a buffet for them, nice clean bed and then leave them completely alone for a few hours. After that, just check on them every couple of hours. Do not worry if they eat virtually nothing for the first 24 hours, just call your vet for advice if they have eaten nothing after that. Do not make any attempt to pick them up or stroke them as they are really quite tired and sore and will start picking up in the coming days. I think my Simba probably took 3 weeks to recover completely.

Try not to worry too much, it is a major operation for them xxx

Thanks

Lagonda has picked up great and eating and hopping about, india at 1st seemed the one who picked up but now a slight other issue, she seems really lazy with her back legs, lies down alot and almost sits like a dog as to not use her back legs, she has come out and hoped around abit but there is something not quite right with her legs???????? any advice, they have a check up tomo am x

I hope you've been sent home with some metacam for them. I had a weeks worth so I knew she was pain free.

I remember when Doughnut was done last year, when she got home she wasn't in pain and I was trying to put her in her hutch for rest and she'd jumped up somewhere, nearly fainted. It was 24 hours before she ate anything and I gave her her meds on a tiny bit of weetabix. She was a bit more tired and didn't want any pellets for a few days but gradually got her appetite back.