Puppy sedation...spaying a engergetic young DD

[Cire Yamel]

My six-month old DD (48 pounds), was spayed on Wednesday morning (it's Friday evening now). The doctor was concerned that she not run and jump around a lot, especially in the first 72 hours -- and to try not letting her run at all, or minimally, for the first week.

Knowing my pup, I guffawed at the notion.

He perscribed 25mg pills of ACEPROMAZINE and said to give her 1/2 to 3/4 of a pill every 8 hours or so for a few days to keep her mildly sedated.

The vet gave her half a pill thursday and that seemed to do, sure enough, nothing. :roll: So I called the vet this morning and they said to give 3/4 this morning before we left her in the large kennel and another 3/4 when we got home from work. Then stop and just pay attention to her incision and any signs of infection for the next week -- no more sedation. Well, I did that, and when I got home eight hours later, she was kind of wild again (running full steam, jumping on stuff -- just not acting like her usual hyper-glad-to-see-you-when-do-we-play-fetch self -- really "wired" acting). So I gave her another 3/4 and she ate a huge dinner -- and then practically collapsed into her crate with bloodshot eyes. She's now sleeping like a baby, with a lot of gas and a huff and a puff here and there.

Now that I'm writing this out, i think I'm realizing that that's maybe exactly what the vet wanted to happen. For her to just "chill." It just seems strange that she's got so much energy after her surgery and that now she's such a chilled out chick. Maybe I'm just not used to seeing her like this.

Any thoughts about what you read here for those of you that know this drug and the whole spaying process? (This is my first spay, as you can probably tell.) Should this drug have clobbered her so hard after the third dose of less than one pill? Do lil' girls usually kind of crash a couple days after surgery?

Any thoughts or comments would be apprecited.

cy

[Cire Yamel]

OK...my dog is completely back to herself today. I also think it helps that she gets the whole weekend inside the house to be "Queen for a Day."

I talked to the vet this morning and he said that as long as she is ignoring the fact she had surgery, I should, too. Let her go about her normal routine, but don't let her run hard for anything other than short bursts.

See...I talked myself down from the ledge!

[Tony]

See...I talked myself down from the ledge!

We were afraid to comment for fear that you would jump.

I'm glad to hear your pups is doing well.

[sherrie]

Wow, I've not ever been prescribed anything to tone my dogs down after a spay or neuter. They've usually pretty mild upon arrival back home, then back to normal by the next morning. Only thing I tried to do was keep them out of the water. My one dog chewed out her staples then the super glue, and she still healed w/o a scar. Glad your dog is doing well!

Sherrie B.

[Cire Yamel]

I actually took a new kitten in for some routine maintenance (shots) today and had a nice talk with the vet, which made me feel a thousand times better.

He said he was concerned because the pup was "too normal" when she left the clinic and his experience had been that "working dogs" need a job and that the incision would become "job one" as soon as she was alone for awhile. He expected her to be a little disoriented, or slow, by the next morning, but she was ready to go -- and I felt great with his compliment that she's just a very secure, happy dog with energy to burn.

We both kind of laughed, because the bottom line was that we both overreacted in a way.

(He even gave me a bunch of stuff to put in her emergency kit...which is a good reminder that vets get "samples" just like people Dr's.)

[ENL]

(He even gave me a bunch of stuff to put in her emergency kit...which is a good reminder that vets get "samples" just like people Dr's.)

The key is making sure the vet knows that you're putting together an "emergency" kit and a "first aid" kit. I can give first aid even if I was at home, an "emergency" kit means that I can't get to a vet and I need to act myself.

ENL