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Spay & Neuter Home Care

General Information

Your pet has just undergone surgery to remove his or her reproductive tract (the ovaries and uterus for a female; the testicles for a male), and he/she will require special attention over the next few days.  Because of the effects of the anesthetic, your pet might be sleepy for 24-48 hours and might not have a bowel movement for 2-3 days. Most animals return to “normal” within approximately 3 days.

Important Points to Remember

  1. Keep your pet in a warm, quiet environment for the next 24 hours. He/she might be disoriented, so keep him/her indoors all night tonight.
  2. When you bring your pet home, limit food and water to small amounts at a time. Normal diet can resume the next morning.
  3. No bathing or swimming for 14 days post-surgery.
  4. Restrict his/her exercise for 10-14 days. No jumping, running, playing, or romping. When outside, dogs should be leash walked only.
  5. Observe the incision site daily for 10-14 days, looking for swelling, redness, or discharge. Sutures for female cats and dogs and male dogs are buried under the skin and do not need removal. Males cats do not have sutures and should be mostly healed in 3-5 days. If your pet licks at the surgery site excessively, you will need to purchase an E-collar to prevent him/her from damaging the incision site.
  6. Females that were in heat at the time of surgery must be kept completely separate from males for 10 days to avoid internal injury post-surgery.
  7. Please call the clinic if you have questions or concerns directly related to the surgery or if you notice that your pet has vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of appetite in the next 48 hours.
  8. If your pet received a vaccine at our clinic, a “booster” vaccine might be needed in 3-4 weeks. Rabies vaccines are good for either 1 year or 3 years.
  9. If your pet received a vaccination, he/she might experience discomfort and swelling at the vaccination site, mild fever, decreased appetite, and decreased activity. A small, firm swelling under the skin might develop at the site of the vaccination and should disappear within a couple of weeks.
  10. We will make every reasonable effort to treat at OUR CLINIC, at minimal cost, any postoperative complications resulting directly from the surgery, if the post-op instructions described above are followed. Your regular veterinarian must address illnesses or injuries that are not a direct result of the surgery.
  11. If your pet is in pain call the clinic, we do not want any pet in pain after surgery and will provide additional pain medication if needed for surgical pain.

IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THE SURGERY CALL OR TEXT THE CLINIC AND LEAVE A MESSAGE.  VOICEMAILS ARE FORWARDED DIRECTLY TO THE DOCTOR’S EMAIL.  TEXTS ARE FORWARDED TO THE DOCTOR’S CELL PHONE.  YOUR CALL WILL TYPICALLY BE RETURNED WITHIN A COUPLE HOURS.  IF YOUR PET IS HAVING A LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCY CALL AN EMERGENCY VETERINARY CLINIC.

Homeward Bound Pets Spay Neuter Clinic 

723 NE Evans St

McMinnville, OR 97128

Office: 971-267-2567

Spayneuterclinic@hbpets.org