Pet Care: What Every Dog Owner Should Do After Neutering to Prevent Infection
Do you know that neutering can make your dog healthier and add more years to its life?
There are many benefits to neutering for the dogs, their fur parents, and the community. Here are some of these advantages based on data from the North Shore Animal League of America:
- Minimizes or eliminates risk of dog marking or spraying
- Dogs experience less desire to roam, hence they’re less likely to get involved in fights, get injured, or become victims of car accidents.
- Dogs are no longer at risk of testicular cancer, and it also decreases the incidence of prostate illness.
- It decreases aggression, including dog bites.
- Dogs live longer, healthier lives.
- Lowers the number of unwanted dogs/puppies. This benefits the community since stray animals can cause damage or destruction to public spaces and even to private properties. Eliminating unwanted animals also costs the country billions of dollars and is often done inhumanely. Fewer stray dogs, cats, and other animals means a healthier environment and better funding for more important government projects and programs.
However, according to PetHelpful, you should also bear in mind that neutering may cause infections and complications in dogs. The following signs of infection may occur 10-14 days following the surgery:
- Reddening at the incision site
- Swelling worsening at the incision site
- Discharge or green pus from the incision site
- Bleeding from the incision site
- Fever
- Decreased appetite
- Shaking, hiding, or drooling due to heightened level of pain
- Lethargy
You should also watch out for any reactions to anaesthesia and sutures or unusual swelling in your dog, which are signs of complications. If you have observed any of these signs or symptoms, you should bring your dog to the vet immediately.
Meanwhile, here are the things you can do for your dog after neutering to help him fully recover:
- Observe your dog’s appetite. Due to anesthesia, your pet may feel nauseous and might not want to eat after returning home from neutering. As soon as your dog wakes up, give him water and a small amount of food. If he vomits, stop feeding your dog until the next day. Your pet’s appetite should gradually return within 24 hours.
- Request a pet cone or e-collar from your vet so you can lessen the risk of infection following the surgery. This helps in preventing infection because the pet cone will stop your dog from biting, licking, or scratching while its wound is healing.
- Limit your dog’s activity for 2 weeks. Keep your dog indoors to stay clean, warm, and dry. Most veterinarians recommend no running, playing, jumping, swimming, or any other strenuous activities during the two-week recovery period.
- Observe your dog’s behavior. Check for any signs of infection or complication at the incision site twice a day. You should make sure that there’s no redness, discharge, or swelling as the incision heals.
- Keep watching out for signs of infection. There may be some pinkness, a bit of swelling, and bruising at the incision site while the wound heals. But if the incision is unusually red and hot to the touch when bleeding or excessive swelling is present, or you notice a discharge from the wound, you must contact your vet immediately since your dog’s incision might be infected.
- Keep watching for signs of other complications. Consult your vet in case two or more stitches fall out or if any bruising suddenly appears. You should also contact your vet if the incision does not heal in two weeks, or your dog continues to suffer from vomiting and loss of appetite after 24 hours since there may be a serious reason behind it and treatment is required.
