Spaying complications

[Believe3838]

My dog went through her first heat cycle a month ago. We spayed this past wednesday. They found and egg-like cyst of which they removed and sent off to pathology. My dog is only one year old. Since post op she has a huge reduction of appetite and will not drink much at all. She is not urinating very often. She is on a heavy abx which I am certain is responsible for her symptoms. Nonetheless, I'm worried. I'm waiting on pins and needles for the diagnostic testing to be completed. She has a very minimal vaginal discharge of dark brown. She has no temperature. Slight swelling at the site. I'm concerned we have something brewing...

[ginger899]

If this was an ovarian cyst, it may have been disturbing her hormones quite wildly, and they may need time to even out and settle down.

But nevertheless, post-operative checks by the vet, and questions asked are usually part of a vet's 'duty of care' post-surgery. My vet did one post-operative check, and another about 10 days after the surgery (when sutures were removed) That was included in the cost of the surgery.
So -with some vets it may only be one check up included. I don't know for sure where you live.

But PLEASE if you have any worries or questions, go immediately to your vet.

No temperature is a very good sign. If there was infection, there would be likely to be a temperature. But I am not happy about a "dark brown discharge". There can be some discharge immediately following surgery....and 7-8 days later -I suppose it is possible. But I would be very watchful of this. Does the discharge smell okay? Or slightly bad? (Just slightly 'bloody' is okay, but a bad smell signals infection.)

Never mind what I say -get your vet on the phone (or go to the surgery) and ask them.

[Ghilly]

Where was the cyst that they found?  Was it on one of the ovaries or the uterus or was it just somewhere else on the dog and they decided to remove it as long as they had her under anesthesia?

You said that she was spayed this past Wednesday which would have now been 6-7 days ago.  She should be acting like her old self by now, although some dogs do take longer to recuperate from surgery than others.  

Does she tend to be a "prissy" dog normally?  In other words, if you accidentally step on her toe does she act like she has been shot through the heart?  Dogs like this usually DO languish longer than others after a surgical procedure, they enjoy the pampering and attention and they are smart enough to realize that when they act normally they don't receive the same amount of attention, HOWEVER, no matter what her usual demeanor is I would take her in and have her examined ASAP.  A spay, while a very routine surgery, is STILL major surgery and there can be complications afterward.  It might not be her body, a gauze or sponge could have been left inside her, anything could have happened.

The slight discharge wouldn't normally worry me too much since it's not unusual for the stump of the uterus to bleed after the surgery and produce a small discharge, but combined with her acting "off" and appearing to not feel well I wouldn't mess around, I'd take her in and let the vet look at her.  It shouldn't cost you anything, this should all be considered part of the surgery since a post-operative checkup is part of it all.

I agree with you that the antibiotics could very well have a lot to do with her attitude and actions, but better to be safe than sorry.

Fingers crossed that the pathology report comes back clean.

Ghilly

[JanisM13]

A spay on a female is not a simple surgery,they open her
belly,remove the uterus as well as tubes and overies,like
with a human they will be sore and have some pain. Did
your vet give her meds for pain?
The other thing that would cause additional pain is the
removal of a cyst as it's more invasive,harder on her,she
should be eating,try a good quality canned food,it has some
added moisture over dry food. Maybe put some low sodium
chicken broth on her food to tempt her to eat, this is also a
way to get liquid in her. Try giving her several small meals
instead of feeding her twice a day the normal amounts,the
smaller amounts for several days are better for her now.
The discharge sounds normal as long as there is not a lot
of old bleeding ( brownish discharge is from old blood and
due to the surgery as she would have had some bleeding
inside and that's the discharge coming out.
She should NOT be doing any running or jumping up or
down off of the couch or bed,carry her out to potty if she's
got steps,you need to keep her from doing this for the first
several days after surgery which I'm thinking your vet told
you?
If you try doing this tonight and tomorrow morning and she
is still not eating or drinking by MID-DAY,don't waste any
more time,call your vet and take her in to be re-checked to
be sure things are alright. She can NOT go longer without
eating and will dehydrate very quick without drinking water.
I hope she picks up soon and is fine,please come back to
let us know how she is doing.
Jan