Caring For Your Pet After Surgery
You can assist your pets recovery at home by making sure that they’re kept comfortable and warm as it is hard for your pet to maintain their own body temperature after having an anaesthetic.
Feeding after surgery: You can feed their normal diet post surgery but please ensure to feed only a very small meal of about ¼ of what is normally fed as the anaesthetic can cause nausea which can lead to vomiting, so it is best to give a small amount in case this occurs. It is important that they should start eating normally within 24 hours following surgery. If your pet had a dental procedure, please feed soft food (canned food) for the next couple of days as the teeth and gums will be quite sore, your pet will be able to return to eating hard food (dry biscuits) after this time even if all teeth have been removed so don’t stress.
Fresh water should be available at all times.
What to expect after dental surgery: After dental surgery it is expected that there will be a bit of red/pink coloured mucous mixed in with saliva coming from the mouth, this is blood coming from the holes where the teeth have been removed and will start to subside after a day or so.
Your pet seems very sleepy, why is that? Your pet has had a general anaesthetic which can take a number of hours to wear off and in some cases cause patients to appear drowsy for a day or so. They may have been placed on a gaseous anaesthetic where a tube is placed in the airway to assist breathing and introduce gas anaesthetic into the airways; this can sometimes irritate the throat for a day or two causing a cough.
Why has hair been clipped from your pet’s leg? There may be a patch of hair clipped from their front leg, this is where the injectable induction anaesthetic was given or an intravenous drip was put in. There may also be a bandage on the leg, this is to stop any bleeding once the drip/injection was removed, you can remove this yourself at home after a couple of hours.
Exercise: Your pet needs complete rest for 1-2 days, this means they must be confined, perhaps in a small room or somewhere they cannot jump onto things or run around a lot. Limited exercise for 3-5 days after this time is needed, so no strenuous exercise such as running, small walks are allowed but nothing too extreme. After this time you can let them return to their normal exercise routine.
A Light bandage may have been placed over the incision site, it will fall off on it’s own, if not please remove in 3 days.
Please book an appointment for your pet to have their sutures removed and/or a wound check 14 days post op, there will be no charge for the wound check/suture removal. If your pet has dissolvable sutures, these will dissolve in about one months time or so, please make sure to keep them dry for 14 days.
Please ensure they are kept clean and dry, NO bathing or swimming during this time. Your pet is NOT allowed to lick, bite or scratch at the stitches. If stitches are removed by your pet they may require another anaesthetic to re-suture (additional charges apply).
If your pet does lick at the stitches we suggest a few options: (Available for purchase in clinic)
– Woundgard Spray (scent/taste deters licking, antiseptic)
– E-Collar/Cloud Collar/Soft Collar (goes around the neck, physically prevents licking/chewing) and must stay on until the stitches are removed, but it can be taken off when your pet is eating.
When should I be concerned?
- Lethargy and or vomiting (particularly after 24hrs)
- Excessive redness or irritation around the surgical site
- Swelling or lumpiness around the surgical site
- Bleeding or discharge from the wound
- Unwilling to eat a normal meal 24 hours post surgery
Please call us on 63264900 if you have ANY concerns