Dog de-knackering - recovery period?

Pedro's was a straight forward event. He had to have lead walks for a week afterwards and wasn't allowed to jump about (practically impossible to enforce!). He healed really well.

Milo was de-knackered on halloween last year ?

The operation was really straightforward, I took him in early in the morning (about 8/8.30) and then picked him up in the afternoon, I had to pick him up in the car because they din't want him walking to far and he was still dopey. That night was a nightmare if I'm honest because he kept trying to lick his stiches and I tried to stop him but also drifted off a few times. By the time morning had come he'd ripped two of them out so we had to go back where he was sedated and a load of staples put in (poor thing) and then needed antiobiotics, he came home with a cone that time. Once he got used to that he was absolutely fine and had no problems. I think it was a week later he had the staples out and he was a big brave boy.

Even with having to hunt for his retained testicle he should have the same sort of recovery time as a routine castration.

He will be groggy after the op, but should be fine by the next morning. He has to go back to the vet normally after 3 days, they need to know that he is eating and drinking ok and going to the toilet normally, then he has to go back after 10 day to have his stitches out (if they are nylon ones) and for the vet to make sure the wound has heeled.

In the 10 days post op he has is to be lead walked, prevented from jumping (too much) and may have to wear a collar to prevent him licking at the wound.

hth

Yep, 10 days is the average if there are no complications. Dexter barely even seemed to notice he was missing anything!

I did laugh though (a bit) when he was having the stitches out, the nurse held him up under his front legs (so back legs dangling down) and as the stitches were being snipped and pulled out, he was trying to cross his legs! Bless him.

Sorry to crash your thread HH, but how soon can you have them done? We have a 5 month old german shepherd and ideally I'd like it done asap - although H isn't as keen, typical man reaction!

Thanks for all the replies. We've been advised by the vet to have his knackers off/out due to one of them being retained.

We were advised to do it before he's 2 (November)

He's now nearly 18 months old, and as far as we're concerned, sooner rather than later.

No idea how early you can get them done though.

quote:Originally posted by GlenCoco
Sorry to crash your thread HH, but how soon can you have them done? We have a 5 month old german shepherd and ideally I'd like it done asap - although H isn't as keen, typical man reaction!

id="quote">
Ideally after 6 months old, but on male dogs a lot of vets will do it when they are 5 months old, providing they don't have a retained testicle. If they do have a retained then the vet will often want to wait to see if it drops on its own before opening the dog up and hunting for it.

Castration is best done asap. The younger the dog the quicker and easier the recovery. Also, by having a male dog castrated it normally makes for a calmer, less aggressive animal as there is no testosterone production, and also prevents the development of prostate cancer in later life (cancer of the womb in b*tches).

I would recommend anyone who does not intend to either breed or show their dog to have it castrated as it could prevent serious illness in later life.

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