We had our bitch Meddy sterilized on Monday (11.9.2017) she was just about 3 months after her first period.
We arranged it for the morning so Meddy had her dinner a little bit earlier and that was all food she had prior to the op. I liked the way it was done as when we got there, they gave her an injection, “to put her in the mood” then we were told to sit down and leave her to calm down with us being there about 5-10 min later they gave her the anesthetic injection. 5 min later she was alseep, he came and picked her up, we were told to be back an hour later. By the time we came, Meddy was done, she was sort of aware we were there but pretty much out of it all. Her tummy was stiched up about 10cm or just under it, sprayed silver grey all around the cut. We drove home, put her on the floor in the workshop with some of her bedding from the car. I put her there as we were going to be out and around so I could keep an eye on her. After lunch she was able to stand, she went for a wee but did not really want to do that much more, went to her bed, she licked all the grey stuff off, of course she was sick, actually she had a couple of biscuits and some water during the first day, both of which she did not manage to keep.
Day 2, we went out for a very short walk in the morning, on lead, still was not that interested so took it easy all day with on and off breaks outside but another day of sleeping, she did eat and managed to keep it, so I split her meals in little portions and gave them to her throughout the day, and we went on from there with every day noticeable improvement. If we were outside she was there too, we just have not incorporated her in our jobs as much as we had done prior to the op. Today we are on day 6 she is walking off the lead in the morning with me keeping an eye on her so she does not go and chase anything, I wash her tummy after the morning walk with diluted TCP, Depending how it looks I put Germolene on it as well, as about 3 days ago I noticed her licking it lots so I looked and it was a little bit red with red patches around it, I guess some dirt got onto it, hence the use of disinfectant. Since then we have not had a problem. The cut is a little pink but otherwise looking good. We are playing with ball, catching and running I am just trying to do it with a bit of consideration. We are suppose to go back to the Vets about 10 -14 days for a check up.
We did not use the Elizabethian smart collar, the Vet did not suggest it, but even if he did I would not have put it on her. I think it makes it more stressfull and I rather keep an eye on it myself. Even though she licks it I keep a watch and if I believe she is overdoing it I just make sure she stops it.