Stella is getting spayed next week, any good advice to offer?

[Katrine]

We've been told that she has to wear the cone for TWO weeks... I've also heard that she can't be around un-neutered dogs for two weeks as well so the dog park and daycare are out. Any suggestions on how to burn her energy and keep her occupied indoors? Sadly we don't have a yard... Any help would be appreciated! 

[Bella]

I know, our Bella is being spayed this week and I have the same question. I'll be interested to kow what experiences people have had with this.

[Kim, Abby & Beckett]

Me too. Abby goes in next Thursday to be spayed. She is such an energetic girl who loves to run around the yard. I don't know how I am going to keep her calm and occupied for that long!

[Anne G.]

We had the same experience as Roberta. If you watch her with the cone off and she starts to lick at her stitches tell her no. After a few warnings she left that area alone. You definitely want to keep her activity level down, especially the first few days.

[Tricia]

Glad I tuned in. Bridget goes into be spayed April 13th. Can't say I am looking forward to it :( Is there a problem with her doing stairs? We bought her a giant dog bed for her to use in our bedroom at night. She will never be able to sleep in her crate with a cone. Not enough room.She would only need the stairs to go to bed at night and come down in the a.m. She spends 99% of the day on the main floor. Once in a while if we are spenidng time upstairs, we will let her come up to hang out. So, I think I will plan to stock up on bones.Maybe pull out the new, bigger Kong I got her.

[Kim, Abby & Beckett]

Crap, I didn't even think about the stairs. Thanks for reminding me to ask the doctor about that. So nervous for my baby girl!

[Tricia]

Let me know what you find out, Kim.

[Bella]

I didn't either, we have stairs off our deck to get outside, hmmm. This is going to be interesting.

[Kim, Abby & Beckett]

If Abby wasn't spoiled and babied before.. she sure will be now. I have a feeling I am going to have to carry her upstairs at night and down in the morning. She's worth it, of course :)

[Pattty Oehrlein]

Quincy gets spayed in late April, so I am also very interested in this post. My vet said she does not like the cone and will use it only if absolutely necessary. She prefers a t shirt on the dog. She said the cone can depress the dog, and will show me how to outfit a shirt on her.
I didn't know they will not be able to do stairs, but that makes sense. Our girls is 43 lbs now so carrying her up and down stairs is not impossible but tricky. I think we will move to the guest room on the first level until she is healed.
As far as activity I think that will be the biggest challenge. We have some toys and a dog puzzle and I just ordered a bag of sweet potato chews from snooks.
I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's experiences.
Thanks DK'rs

[Tricia]

Patty, I would be interested to hear about the shirt as opposed to the cone.

[Linda K Gregory]

When I was breeding/showing cats we had them altered before they went to their new homes at age 4 months.  I was in the operating room with my cats and once they woke up I took them home and cared for them.  The females I wrapped a ace bandage around the tummies so they could not get to the incisions. I did this for 10 days and they did pretty well.  It was hard to keep them from jumping running, but the pain medication did help the first few days.  I then crated them until we took the stitches out.  Hope this helps some.

[Katrine]

Thanks Linda, I'm wondering about getting one of those t-shirts that calm dogs down, your ace bandage suggestion made me think of this. Will ask the vet.