Spaying

The dog was spayed today.   I was glad she weighed over twenty pounds (she was 22.3 pounds this morning) so they could do the surgery laparoscopically, giving her a more easy and quicker recovery time.  Matisse is going through some teenager hormonal changes of late, with obstinance and forgetting all training topping the list of changes.  

I had to almost drag her into the office this morning, which isn’t typical because the vet’s office is where she goes for dog training classes, which she likes.   Although on Monday night I had to nearly drag her into class and then she decided to ignore all food and drag at the leash, trying to smell the other dogs near her for the majority of the hour.   When I talked to the trainer about it she asked how old she was and when I said she was just under six months and she was about to be spayed, the trainer said, “well, that explains it.”

I had to pick her up after getting my son from school.   Aunt Margaret was with us in the car and helped us get her in the house and in her cage with the cone on her head.   Matisse isn’t happy about the cone, but not overly so.   She’s mostly resting now and low energy.   The vet said because of how they were able to do the surgery she’s not worried about her tearing anything or internal bleeds, even if she jumps up, although to try and keep her calm for a day or two.

My children were both interested in how she was feeling.   My son wanted to see the incisions but decided they weren’t that interesting once he had a look.   I don’t like that she’s uncomfortable, but it needed to be done.   Hopefully she’ll be back to her bouncy self in a few days.

The Big Boy Update:  My son said he was glad Matisse had had the surgery because he didn’t want to have any more, “dates” with her and wanted to play with her like they used to.   (“dates” = mounting behavior)

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter wanted to understand what I meant by a cone on the dog’s head and why she needed it.   I took off the cone and let her feel the flat, semi-circle of plastic.   I asked if she could find the two velcro sections.   Then I coiled the cone up and had her see how it was velcroed together.   I explained how Matisse wouldn’t be able to get to her incisions with the cone on and this was to protect her from hurting herself without realizing what she was doing because dogs sometimes licked wounds or bit at stitches.   Then I put the cone back on the dog and let her feel her head inside it.   She wanted to know if Matisse got to have popsicles after waking up from surgery like she did.