On Tuesday, September 4th I took my boy (22 months old) to the vet's office for his neuter surgery. This is the first time we've been to this particular vet, but I was referred to him many times by family and friends. Dr. Hanson was very knowledgeable and reassuring, since I was really anxious about the operation. We also talked about my pup's panosteitis, which has returned and is affecting his other leg, though not severely. I left Savage there at about 10:00am and called at 12:00pm, at which point he was out of surgery and recovering.
When I finally got back to the clinic around 2:30 my puppy was awake and aware, so they released him and I loaded him into the truck for the ride home. I was advised that aftercare would be minimal, and I should limit his exercise for a week or so, and not let him go swimming. He was not given any pain medication or antibiotics. I will be able to remove the stitches myself after healing. Since I had not given him anything to eat after 8:00pm on Monday, I offered him a slice of ham on the 2 1/2 hour ride home, but he wasn't interested, which was very strange for my dog. That afternoon Savvy was still kind of "spacy" and tired, not at all interested in food, or the other dogs in the waiting room, or walking around outside. That night he threw up three times in the house, mostly bile and the grass he had been eating at any opportunity. I'm guessing that the vomiting may be related to the medication used for anesthesia, xylazine hydrocloride, administered along with the drug ketamine. But it really worried me, of course. He was also drinking quite a lot of water, and sleeping all the time.
On Wednesday I only let him out in the yard in the morning to pee, and he was more interested in getting back to sleep on the couch. That afternoon I walked him outside in the clearing beyond our house. He seemed almost normal, sniffing around and peeing on everything, but after only 5 minutes or so, he got tired and laid down in the grass to rest. I took him home and put him back to sleep. Randy and I offered him his regular meal (chicken backs and eggs), as well as irresistable treats like cooked hamburger and lunch meat (and even a spoonful of honey), but Savage refused them all. Last night I couldn't wait to call his vet with my concerns, but this morning he finally accepted a hot dog from Randy, and then when I offered him a chicken meal he ate the whole thing.
My beautiful guy is now resting on the couch (still!) and taking it easy. We've limited his exercise to short walks and he's been getting all sorts of hugs and affection from his family. Things are looking up. The first photo above was taken a day before Sava's surgery. Kind of a "farewell" to his testicles. LOL.
On a side note, I am now working on a new computer and new operating system, and it's been a bit difficult to get used to, which accounts for the big gap between website updates. I will hopefully be posting more often now that I'm getting used to this Mac stuff.