After your dog has surgery

[maxiesmom]

How long do you go before you feel comfortable leaving them alone in the house? One of my dogs, Murphy, just spent 2 nights at the Vet. He had an abcess, and had to have tubes, so the vet kept him for a few nights. Now the tubes are out and he is home. Usually we have someone in the house pretty much all day long, so there shouldn't have been a problem with having someone to keep an eye on him.

Unfortunately, there has been a family emergency on the other side of the state, so now instead of having someone here all the time to watch my dog, there is only me. The good thing is I am off tomorrow, but I am supposed to work Wednesday. And I am just not sure if I should be leaving my dog home alone for 8 hours at a time by then or not.

What do you guys think? I do have another dog, so I am a bit worried that they will play and cause Murphy to reinjure himself. I don't know, am I crazy for worrying?

 

[PlutoPony]

I do have another dog, so I am a bit worried that they will play and cause Murphy to reinjure himself. I don't know, am I crazy for worrying?

I understand your concern. Can you keep Murphy separate from the other dog while you're not there? If you don't have a crate, can you use kiddie gates or an x-pen to keep him confined to one room and keep the other dog out? That would minimize the chances of them wrestling around and something happening.

Does Murphy have an incision that he might lick excessively or chew on if you're not around? If so consider an Elizabethan collar to protect him from himself . They come in several different styles now from the traditional "conehead" to the newer "life preserver" style (google will show you the differences).

 

[Art 1]

One of our dogs has had hip surgery and another time had a cyst removed. I'm sure we left her alone immediately and always in the house and with the other dog, two beagles. We never had problems with her licking her wounds but if so the cones do work.

 

[maxiesmom]

Does Murphy have an incision that he might lick excessively or chew on if you're not around? If so consider an Elizabethan collar to protect him from himself . They come in several different styles now from the traditional "conehead" to the newer "life preserver" style (google will show you the differences).

He has an incision, and it is draining, which the vet said would happen. It is near his right shoulder. He can't reach it to lick it, but he can scratch at it with his paw. The vet did have him in a collar, but then said it was pointless.
They had us put him in a t-shirt to keep everything covered up.

 

[Jockaroo]

You are the best judge for Murphy. If you are concerned, please call your vet and see what the doctor advises. You may also ask how much the clinic would charge to board/observe him for one day. If this isn't possible, do you have a trusted neighbor who could check on him once or twice while you are at work?

With my current dog's spay, I would leave her a few hours in her crate after the first couple of days. With my dog who had emergency spleen removal (and several days in doggie ICU), we didn't leave her for a week or so, but this was a very serious surgery and she had some heart complications.

I hope Murphy is healing. He does need to rest, so you will want to limit his play time with his buddy. Also, make sure the buddy dog doesn't lick or chew the incision either. Good luck and sorry you are facing a family crisis.

 

[SC Minnie]

How cat has MPL surgery on both back legs in Nov. She came home on a Fri afternoon and we had to go to work on Monday. We kept her confined for a week then the meds wore off and that was the end of that.