ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Stacey

Misha turned 8 months old yesterday and was spayed 9 days ago (she has never been in heat) and had 1 baby tooth extracted. I brought her home 2 days later and she seemed fine, just a little tired. That evening she ate normally and slept fine. The next day she would eat only a small treat and a little water. That evening she threw up at 1am up until the next morning (about 8 times), I would give her water after each episode, which I now know (as per my vet) I should'nt have done. I stopped food and water for the rest of the day and she did not throw up again. That evening I re-introduced water and she would drink it, she has refused all food and would throw up if she drank too much water. She has seen 2 vets, both saying her inscision is healing well and there are no complications from the surgery. I brought her home and she still would not eat (3 days now), all she would do is lay on the couch looking half-dead and sad. She has always been a happy, engertic puppy, the only exception is when I first got her she had kennel cough and dirreah and didn't eat for a few days, but she snapped out of it and has been in perfect condition since this episode. She has been in the care of her vet for three days now, she began to progress a bit (eating small amounts of food and not throughing up) but this morning went back to throughing up again. She is on iv fluids and offered food regularly. Her vet has 35 years experience and comes highly recommended. I also know she is given a good amount of attention. I am literally sick to my stomach with worry... Has anyone heard of these symptoms or can give some advice? Please help, I don't know what I'd do without my sweet little baby!

DISCUSSION:

Dear Stacey: I don't have any further advise than to follow what you Vet said. But here's what I did after KoKo and Shayna were Spay. I introduced them to water and food by first giving them ice to lick and waited to make sure it set well in their tummy. I remembered doing that with my children when they had the flu. And I always do that after I have surgery. Than I gave them one piece of dog food at a time. Waited to see that they held it down and gave them another. It took awhile but it worked with both of them. KoKo, Shayna and I are praying Misha is doing better real soon. Give her our love.
-Shelley

Oh gosh. YOu must be going nuts! We had quite a bit of trouble when Lucy was spayed, too. She also was miserable and didn't want to eat or drink. (She didn't throw up, though) What she did was cry ALL the time, screaming, really. I called the vet and she said Lucy was being overly dramatic (she is a big baby) and not to "pamper" her too much. What I did was hold her or lie next to her and pet her and I fed her food by hand, tiny piece of Pedigree chicken by tiny piece. She still was miserable and cried like a scream most of the time (now going on about day 3 following surgery). Finally, I called the vet again and said, look, somethings wrong. I'm bringing her in. Turns out she had a staph infection in her incision. If I were you, I'd pester the vet every 15 minutes if you have to until he clears up the problem, whatever it is. I can tell you that my son's aierdale was spayed and within about 48 hr she was up and about and pretty much back to normal. Outside of some licking here and there, you'd never have known she'd had surgery. Just like human doctors, veterinarians aren't always right. My vet, relying on years of experience and my phone calls said "there's no reason for this except Lucy wants to be babied." Well, she ate those words when she saw Luce's belly! And, she apologized! I know you are worried sick; I was with Lucy. Just remember YOU'RE THE MOM AND YOU'RE THE CLIENT; it's the vet's job to find the problem and help your pup through it. I will think good thoughts for both of you and hope that she is having only a little reaction to the anesthesia and once it's out of her system she'll be fine. Please let us know. And give her a hug from me and a kissie from Luce.
-cathy brown

When my dogs were spayed, my problem was keeping them down. After the first day they were up and eating and feeling fine, and eating normally. Something here does not sound right. About the 35 years in vet business, I was told a long time ago and found this to be true. When considering years in practice, you want an old attorney and a young doctor and vet. I changed from my vet of 20 years to a new one, and the change was what I needed. The newer ones are more in touch with the new methods of treatment. After the happy vet change, I changed to a young doctor, and again was very happy with the change. Don't be afraid to get a second opinion. I normally get second, thirds and whatever it takes to be sure medical problems are taken care of. I hope your puppy gets well soon.
-Marsha A.

My Maltese ate a pacifier when he was four months old and he threw up alot, too. It sounds to me like your poor baby wasn't put back together properly and they need to go back in and fix it. An intestinal blockage causes the same symptoms that you are describing. I had a female dog spayed and she was absolutely fine two days later, back to playing ball and everything.
-Ruth

Your poor darling :( I really only want to reiterate the advice above. I've never had a dog react that way after spaying. It's always amazed me how active mine have been. I too have a vet that I am very loyal to, confident in, and I would not consider changing (he cares about my babies nearly as much as I do), but I think under the circumstances where your vet hasn't been able to pinpoint the problem it is necessary to get another opinion. If he is a good doctor help in these circumstances should be welcome. I really hope that by now your Misha is feeling tons better. She is in our prayers tonight.
-Carina

Hi---I hope your puppy is much better today! I returned from Memorial Day and picked up my maltese from the vet/kennel and she has had very bad diarreha ever since. She is on antibiotics and kaopectate now and seems to really feel punky. She is about 5! So I am sick with worry too. Today she is a bit better- the vet advised no food/water for 24 hours- that was a day ago so I fed her and she still is sick. I plan to pester the vet too today as advised by another respondent....I think it's our best bet! Good luck!
-molly

I'm so sorry to hear about your problems. My Chilli was spayed at 8 months. She stayed overnight and was ready to be picked up the next morning. It was obvious that she was sore, but other than a little hesitation sitting down and lying on her stiches, she was back to normal almost as soon as we brought her home. I'm sure some of that was luck. But I would strongly recommend that you consider getting a second opinion from another vet. I wish you the very best of luck and please keep us posted!
-Wendy

I just wanted to update everyone on Misha's condition. She was operated on Saturday morning, the vet discovered she had an Intussusception, the small intestine was telescoping inside the large intestine, causing her to be unable to pass food through. He said it was caused by Enteritis, an inflammation of the intestinaal tract. This is why the poor baby was throughing-up so much. The vet said the cause of this is unknown and it could happen again, he also says that the spaying was not the cause of this. Is anyone familiar with this condition, and if so could it be a result of the spaying, and if so how would I know? Anyway, Misha should be home by the weekend, she has not been sick since the operation (just a bit of dirreha) and is now spoiled eating only egg and various coldcuts, which I don't mind, as long as she's eating! The vet says it will take a while, about 6 months, for her to get back to normal eating patterns. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and good wishes, I really needed the support, I didn't feel my friends really understood what I was going through. I'll keep everyone posted and welcome any further feedback, Thanks again!
-STACEY

Stacey, Glad to hear your vet found the problem and the baby will be ok. I know how hard it is when you can see them being miserable and can't find the fix. I don't know if the enteritis could have had anything to do with the spaying. But maybe you could quietly check around to see. One thing certain is that we have to have every confidence in our veterinarians. If you have a question in your mind, try to get it answered or you will worry every time you need to rely on the vet's advice. Glad all is well at your house. (But wait until she finds out she has to go back to doggie food! :-)
-cathy brown