Spay & Gastropexy Surgery - After Care Advice?

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

So my baby girl goes in this week for the double surgery, I'm just reaching out for feedback/advice on aftercare.  I know the gastropexy is much more invasive than the spay and I know I'll get a checklist of things to do from the vet when I pick her up but looking for feedback from those who have already been through it (hits, misses, things to watch for, etc).  I'm just real nervous for her, she's my odd little wild child so I'm concerned about her plus the surgery facility is not local so any issues will fall on my vet and/or at an emergency facility. The more I know the better prepared I'll be. This poor girl had a rough start in the beginning so I want to make this as easy on her as possible.

It's been a while since my other two were spayed and neither had any interest in the stitches luckily but Sassy was extremely hyper (spastic) the week following her surgery so keeping her calm was a real challenge.  I'll be home with her the first few days then will do a tag team with my daughter.

Any advice on keeping her from the stitches if it poses a problem, resuming her normal diet (vet office briefly mentioned transitioning slowly back to kibble), walking, stairs, downtime, etc.

Thanks in advance

Jolene and Miss Maisie

[Stacy]

Hmm, I wonder if I should have asked my vet for an estimate when I scheduled that. Oh well, it's only money, right?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, our motto! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I keep seeing $400 mentioned in various articles. That would be in addition to the normal costs of the spay surgery, and I imagine there are other incidental costs tacked on (extra surgical supplies, etc., like you see on hospital bills.)
But I've also heard people mention higher prices, so I don;t know. I've read that doing it laparascopically is more expensive and also that it's not the best way to go because of the difficulty in visualizing the positioning of the stomach.

[Stacy]

This won't be laparoscopic. My vet only does the open procedure and since she's going to be spayed at the same time it only makes sense to do it all at once. $400 more doesn't seem out of line. But they might surprise me... Maggie's dental was only like $350 and they did pre-op lab work. I thought that was low. Contrast that with Willow's first checkup and some vaccines and fecal and 3 months of HW which was closer to $400. I feel like going to the OR should cost more than an office visit, but not so much.

The laparoscopic version for Maggie is where I get stuck. The surgeon who would be doing that is the same one who operated on Ava at 3am, and I trust him implicitly. But it's at the emergency vet facility and nothing that happens there is inexpensive. I guess I could have it done old school. I just feel guilty about that, since she's already had surgery for spaying. It just seems mean.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I understand that, but it's not like laparoscopic surgery isn't surgery, with anesthesia, and pain, and recovery afterwards. I had abdominal surgery done laparoscopically a couple of years ago, and afterwards, there was plenty of pain, pain meds, etc., I had to spend the night in the hospital and there was a long recovery period. And you do have incisions...small ones, but incisions just the same.  So if she's going to have to go through that anyway, why not do the open surgery with your own vet and make it easier on your budget? 

[Stacy]

You make a really good point here. Honestly, I haven't even given any thought to having it done open. I got stuck on laparoscopic and then never really considered anything else. I'm going to have to think about this though. I really think doing two at once might not be the worst thing in the world either. Nobody can play for a couple weeks. Just get it over with. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If your pocketbook can handle it, I think that's a great idea. Otherwise, you have one who can't play and others who will try to egg her on. This way, nobody feels like playing...hopefully. 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

I agree with Karen I've had a handful of laproscoptic surgeries, two failed and they had to open me up anyways.  For minor things I think it's a great idea but major I'd rather they get in there get if fixed and send me on my way.  The handful of vets I called said recovery would be the same for the spay/gastro surgery only the cost and visual scarring would be different. Granted there are not many facilities here in southern California who do the gastro preemptively, I'm driving over an hour away to have it done for my girl at a price I can afford, LA and Orange County the quotes were in the thousands! 

[Stacy]

I'm kind of surprised they aren't doing more of that in California. And good grief! I thought my vet costs were high. I can't imagine a prophylactic gastropexy costing thousands! That's what you pay when your dog has torsion and they do it emergently! That's what I'm trying to prevent here.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yeah, those prices were crazy, Jolene. 
I'm going to try to remember to ask my vet what he charges for a gastropexy when done at the same time as a spay/neuter.

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

What was odd is all but about 2 that I called had never done the surgery with the spay or even before it became an emergency and they seemed baffled I was even asking?  We know how rare doodles usually are around here and thinking about it I can't tell you the last time I saw a poodle walking around or at a dog park?  LA and OC is more of a pocket pet (a Paris Hilton dog - small dogs they can carry and drape with rhinestones and frilly dresses) or pit bulls. lol

[Stacy]

It is strange. I don't even think of GDV as a doodle thing. I know standard poodles have a high prevalence. But when I think of GDV I think of Great Danes. Maybe they don't have a lot of those out there either! There are a lot of breeds prone to bloat though. I would think that a lot of the sighthounds are prone to bloat. it's a structural thing. But I think a lot of it is education. Why would the vet learn to do a gastropexy if none of their clients were interested in the added cost to do it.