Update - Infection after Neuter

My poor lil Finny. He was neutered on Monday and I just had to drop him off at the vet again because I am prettty sure his incision site is infected. It's very red, and he is FRANTIC about it. I feel so bad for him. :-(

Anyone else's dog get an infection after being spayed/neutered?

UPDATE - Finn does indeed have an infection. He is now in the cone of shame for 7 days. We were told not to take it off at all for at least 3 days, then after that we can only take it off when we are right there and can assure he does not lick the incision site. He is on an oral antibiotic and we have a topical antibiotic as well as additional pain meds.

Poor guy, you can just about guess how much he is enjoying the cone. He bumps into everything, this is going to be a long week.

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Permalink Reply by Laurie, Fudge, and Vern on June 14, 2012 at 7:01am

Yes, Fudge's incision got infected after she was spayed. She had to go on antibiotics, wear a cone, and have the incision site covered. It is hard to see in this photo, but she went back to a back room with the vet's assistant and came out looking like a clown. I thought that incision site would never heal, but it did, and she was fine. I also had to take her back to the vet periodically to get the incision site checked. I am sorry little Finny is having problems. The vet should be able to fix him right up. Possibly when he comes home, a pair of underwear would cover the site in case he is licking it or he may have a cone. We have had lots of discussions here on this subject. Good luck to you and Finny!

Permalink Reply by Jennifer on June 14, 2012 at 7:10am

Thanks Laurie. We did put underwear on him last night to try to prevent any licking and he got to sleep on our bed where we could keep a better eye on him. :-) He is so uncomfortable though, poor guy. I'm sure he'll be coming home with a cone today. I'm guessing he'll be looking a lot like Fudge in that pic. :-)

Permalink Reply by Laurie, Fudge, and Vern on June 14, 2012 at 7:13am

Maybe they can give him some pain medicine, too. Poor little guy. I thought I would go crazy, but we survived. Fudge is chewing a bully stick in this picture. I used them to distract her. Good luck!!

Permalink Reply by Lia & Pippa on June 14, 2012 at 7:17am

Hey there. Pippa got spayed last Tuesday. She was doing fine up until Sunday. We had been covering her incision using t shirts (got the idea here) and for the most part she was leaving the site alone. Sunday morning we woke up and there was some major swelling under the incision. It looks like a ball of fluid has collected in that area. I was pretty freaked out but the actual incision site didn't look infected and Pippa was acting perfectly normal. I took her to the vet Monday morning and he took a quick look at her and told me the collection of fluid was from her being too active that first week. We had tried our hardest to keep her calm but keeping a 5 month old doodle calm is so difficult! She would even grab her tennis balls and roll them across the house to play fetch by herself (I've since hid all balls from her). He said she needed to be crated for 7-10 days and the fluid would go away on it's own. So far I don't see much of an improvement but at least it hasn't gotten worse. Poor thing is stir crazy - I've gotten her lots of new things to chew. Hope Finn feels better soon. I bet antibiotics will work quickly. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Becka on June 14, 2012 at 7:26am

Lia can you take her for walks or is all activity forbidden? Good luck keeping her calm--that can be quite a challenge with a pup, and the chew toys/treats are a good idea. Do you ever stuff a kong with peanut butter or yogurt and stick it in the freezer for an hour or so before giving it to Pippa? That was one of Sadie's favorites when she was younger.

Permalink Reply by Lia & Pippa on June 14, 2012 at 7:30am

I've been taking her on walks just down our block and back to go to the bathroom. I figure it will give her a little more stimulation than just going to the back yard to go potty. I've also let her sit on the couch with me when I'm watching tv and stuff since she'd be doing the same thing in her crate. I do stuff a kong with peanut butter and give it to her when I put her in her crate but haven't frozen it yet. I presume that makes it last longer? I'll give that a try today! I hope this fluid goes away soon so she can get back to running around!

Permalink Reply by Jennifer on June 14, 2012 at 7:48am

Thank you for the insight everyone. I suspect he may have gotten part of the stitch out. When we brought him home Monday you could see stitches and as of yesterday we could no longer see them, so he either removed them or we can't see them due to swelling. I also suspect he too may have a collection of fluid like Lia mentioned. He has been far too active but aside from crating him for a solid week, it is impossible for me to keep him calm. He wants to run and jump and play just as much as he usually does. I've got him on a leash when we go outside to prevent him from zooming around the yard. I put the underwear on him yesterday to prevent the licking but alas the site looked much worse this morning. The underwear appeared to have a fluid stain on them too. I've also been giving him his pain meds as instructed but they don't seem to be helping with his discomfort.

The vet was going to take a look at him between surgeries so I'll probably hear back this afternoon. Will update then.

Poor, poor Finn. I feel so bad for my little fur-baby. :-(

Permalink Reply by Diane, Hurley and Sidney on June 14, 2012 at 8:15am

Poor Finny. Did the vet say how long he would be keeping him? Please let us know how Finny does and when he can come home.

Permalink Reply by Alexis Kuypers on August 27, 2012 at 3:53pm

My Oliver had one of the worst infections!!! He was neutered on 8/15/12 - a Wednesday. By Sunday, the scrotum was very swollen and the was starting to get this... thing on the side of his leg. He spent the day at Banfield- where they did the job, and Dr. said he thought he had a hematoma. He suggested I use warm compresses. I did some research and asked all the medical type people I know, and mostly everyone/thing suggested cold. I was upset and decided to call my normal vet.

By Monday, the thing on the side of his leg looked like a second penis. I brought him in, and my regular vet informed me that he had never seen anything like it. He gave me an anti inflammatory. I brought him back for a check on Wednesday at Banfield, where a different Dr. saw him. She said that she believed he had a cellulitis -- or a skin infection.

Thursday morning, he wouldn't eat for the first time. He had an abscess in his scrotum and it was swollen to at least 3x normal size - before the neuter. Graphic part: I brought him straight to my regular vet. As I was trying to take him out of the car, he started to scream --- when I grabbed him, I guess I squeezed his legs a little -- the abscess popped!!!! The most traumatizing day! Puss & blood all over my car.

Anyway, they have him on antibiotics and he is doing so much better. The thing on the side of his leg was almost completely gone by Friday morning. He has a wound in his scrotum, but I am hoping that will be totally healed within a day or two.

My vet says he has never seen anything like what happened to my poor Oliver. I tried to find anything on the internet -- and strangely -- this is the first thing I could find. Strange that doodles are getting these infections - but I think mine was due to a not sterile enough neuter.

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