Recent Spay - Concerned....

[Meredith Spencer]

Hey Folks!  My Georgia was spayed last Tuesday - so it has been almost a week....  She's handled it really well - just a little pukey and grogginess the first day - but I've started to get just a little concerned about the incision area - this is my first puppy so I have no idea what to really look for.  I was wondering - do you any of you think I should be concerned about the way this looks 6days post-op?  Any advice would be appreciated!!

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

It does appear to be a little red.  Doesn't appear to be oozzing though. I always say, when in doubt give the Vet a call.  Better to be safe with a little one.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think it looks good except for the small area that is purplish, which is probably just a hematoma--blood collection. The sutures and incision look like normal healing to me. Do those sutures need to come out? If so unless things look worse or she seems ill I would say you could wait til you go to the vet.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I agree with F. It looks good to me.

[Meredith Spencer]

Thanks so much you guys - I had really no idea what to expect, and I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing!  She is acting just like her normal little charming self - stitches are supposed to come out this Saturday, so I'll just keep an eye on it daily until then!  While on the subject - how long until she can really play like she normally does with other dogs (or what should the incision area look like before we do)?  I am sure she is about to start missing the bark park a lot!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

The vet said minimum 2 weeks before regular-length walks and 3 weeks for play time with other dogs.  We waited the full 3 weeks before returning to the dog park and Luna was totally fine.

Basically - the incision (and internal healing) needs to be fully done, with no redness etc. because you don't want to risk anything coming apart so your baby would have to be operated on again, increasing the risk of infection etc.

[Nugget's Family]

I know I'm a little late in reading posts on DK this week...but if you're still concerned, ask if you can send a current picture for the vet to look at before making a visit in.  (I've done that with our vet and a tick bite on our ALD and they were great about it.)

Hope all is well.  She is beautiful.