Dog / Spay / Travel - ugh. WWYD?

[ahisma]

We are headed to Maine next week. We have been quarantining and will have a negative text prior to leaving.

We have a 7 month old Old English Sheepdog puppy who we will board. I ran through the timeline with the vet and she was spayed today. It was abundance of caution, I did not want her going into heat while boarded. We're dog people, but I haven't had a female dog since I was a kid.

DH picked her up - she has staples. Remove in 10-14 days. We leave in 9. With the test and all of the arrangements, we cannot shift dates. We could cancel. I hate to do that, we've cancelled EVERYTHING. We've been much more cautious than most here, and our kids have been so good about it.

Any thoughts? I worked so hard to get this right. I do not want to put the dog at risk, of course. I will call the vet tomorrow, but thought I'd check here too.

[bisous]

You're driving, right? Can you shift by one day and get the staples out in ten? Then dog is ok, you still get to go... its just shifted a little?

[doberbrat]

Choices in the order that I would pick them

switch and board at vet
ask vet if staples could come out on day 9 in am. explain why. Some dogs are fast healers and it could be ok.
ask the boarding place if they have a vet who could remove staples
ask someone you know to keep her overnight and bring her to vet then drop off to boarding facility. (and pay them)
delay trip to Maine by 1 day

Welcome to dog ownership ;)

[ahisma]

You're driving, right? Can you shift by one day and get the staples out in ten? Then dog is ok, you still get to go... its just shifted a little?

Normally yes - but we have COVID tests schedules (which was tough for travel / no symptoms or exposure) and I can't manage to move them. So then we wouldn't be in line with the Maine COVID guidelines. Too many moving pieces.

[ahisma]

Choices in the order that I would pick them

switch and board at vet
ask vet if staples could come out on day 9 in am. explain why. Some dogs are fast healers and it could be ok.
ask the boarding place if they have a vet who could remove staples
ask someone you know to keep her overnight and bring her to vet then drop off to boarding facility. (and pay them)
delay trip to Maine by 1 day

Welcome to dog ownership ;)

Ha! Not our first dog, but my first female since I was a kid. Too true though.

No boarding at the vet. Hoping day 9 would work, but cannot shift trip (aligned with Maine's COVID testing requirements, we're stuck there). I just emailed the boarding place to see if I can pay the to coordinate it. Happy to pay them well for that! If not, I'll look for someone to keep her and drop her off - but worry she won't heal in time. She's a pretty sturdy dog, but I don't really have any idea how she'll heal
.

[Liziz]

If the boarding place can't/won't coordinate it, I'd try other vet offices, as most that I've used do boarding.

If that doesn't work, I'd look into in-home pet sitters. Potentially the pet sitter could just be responsible for the first day or two, bring the dog to the vet for staple removal, and drop off at boarder for the remainder of your vacation.

[HannaAddict]

I much prefer dog sitters staying at our house than boarding and would be worried a boarding place won’t want to board a dog post surgery or will charge medical boarding rates. I would try and find a dog/house sitter. A couple of the vet techs have lucrative side gigs pet/house sitting and that may be more expensive (it is about double what boarding costs in our area) but worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChicagoNDMom]

Surprised the vet spayed such a young dog given that she is a large breed. Recommendations now are to wait at least until 12 months to spay/neuter large breed dogs to ensure adequate bone/joint growth/development in order to avoid later significant orthopedic issues. Many, like my vet, are waiting til at least 18 months.

I would not rec taking staples out early. You do not want to have a wound dehiscence while she is being boarded.

[JBaxter]

Surprised the vet spayed such a young dog given that she is a large breed. Recommendations now are to wait at least until 12 months to spay/neuter large breed dogs to ensure adequate bone/joint growth/development in order to avoid later significant orthopedic issues. Many, like my vet, are waiting til at least 18 months.

I would not rec taking staples out early. You do not want to have a wound dehiscence while she is being boarded.

I agree I thought all larger breeds they recommended waiting beyond a year for growth development and No dont take out the staples early That beyond the early range.

[amyx4]

Find a vet that does house calls. Ask if she'll make a house call to the boarders.

There's a vet nearby that since she's had kids, she works for herself. So, obviously, there are somethings she cannot do in your home (surgery) but I know that taking out stitches is something she would do.

[SnuggleBuggles]

ETA- oops! Missed that it was done. I know nothing about dogs but would it really be terrible to delay the procedure until after your trip?

[ahisma]

Surprised the vet spayed such a young dog given that she is a large breed. Recommendations now are to wait at least until 12 months to spay/neuter large breed dogs to ensure adequate bone/joint growth/development in order to avoid later significant orthopedic issues. Many, like my vet, are waiting til at least 18 months.

I would not rec taking staples out early. You do not want to have a wound dehiscence while she is being boarded.

Seriously? Could we not drive by judge everything here? We were trying to do the right thing. We talked to our vet, who we worked hard to research and choose. They suggested it. Now I'm feeling awful for having had done it. I cannot unspay the dog. Maybe we could try to be kind to each other and cut the judgement?

[DualvansMommy]

I know nothing about dogs but would it really be terrible to delay the procedure until after your trip?


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

That is my thought too. Plus isn’t she on the young side to be spayed? That solution would be the easiest in terms of logistics. Otherwise dog sitting at your home is next best scenario and have sitter drive dog to vet for stitches on planned day then go to boarding.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[dogmom]

They can stay in later, but they might irritate dog (I’ve seen them in for a month in humans) or come out early and be replaced by sterile strips. 14 isn’t a magic number. Call the vet.

Yes. You are correct. WHEN to spay or neuter a dog is very much up in the air and not completely settled. Besides, she already did it.

To OP. Not a big deal. You will figure it out. Sorry you are stressing.

[twowhat?]

How long will you be in Maine? If you're there for just a week it may not be a stretch to delay staple removal until you get back (ask your vet first...because I have no real idea). Otherwise, I would probably look at in-home pet sitting and you probably want a sitter who can do more than just a day, in case staples aren't ready to be taken out on day 10. Ideally find one who can just keep the dog for the whole time you're gone for this time, and then next time use boarding?

You could also look into mobile vets - you may be able to find one who can go to the boarders and check/do staple removal if ready to be removed.

Re: spay/neuter - I am out of date on the whole "best time to spay/neuter" thing but the bone growth stuff makes sense. Most rescues here will spay/neuter young (if they have a young dog) but I guess it's because the benefits of early spay/neuter (prevent unwanted puppies) far outweighs the risk when it comes to adopting out dogs? So there are plenty of dogs out there who were probably neutered "too young". Anyway - don't worry. Your dog will be fine and you are right that you don't want any "accidents" if you go with boarding!

Have a great vacation!!

[carolinamama]

It sounds like a talk with your vet is the best answer I have for you. I'm not sure how far beyond the 14 day mark you are coming home, but it may be that the vet recommends having the staple removed then. My biggest concern in that scenario would be the dog messing with them at the boarding facility.

I wanted to also add that we neutered a dog a few years ago on the young side based on the advice of our vet and our particular situation. Rescues and animal shelters do it all the time too. I wouldn't worry about that.

Enjoy your vacation!

[ezcc]

We have used rover with great success to find people who board pets in their own homes. I bet you could find someone who could handle the vet visit for you as well.

[mikala]

I'd talk to your vet and would also consider a smaller in home boarding situation for the trip, ideally someone with nursing or vet tech experience that could keep an eye on her and notice if there are any curve balls with healing.

[doberbrat]

She has already been spayed - thoughts & opinions on that aren't needed.

OP let us know what you worked out. The suggestion of a vet tech at your vet's being able to care for her is a good one.

[dogmom]

Also, check with the place you are boarding. One of the places I use has show dogs and breed and I know would take them out given the situation is so specific. I’ve taken surgical staples out, you just need the right tool to do it. Not hard at all.

Staple Remover Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPPNSPM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_i90dFbJC14ARS

[ahisma]

Thanks, all. I talked to the vet who was helpful. Said that typically he would wait and their office practices fell down due to COVID, but he wasn't alarmed that she was spayed. We talked about the staples / boarding / timing and he felt confident she would be okay to be boarded, especially at the place she's going.

Boarder is willing to watch staples and take her for removal.

[twowhat?]

Yay! Great update! Hope you are relieved that's taken care of and can focus on VACATION! :)

[zukeypur]

Surprised the vet spayed such a young dog given that she is a large breed. Recommendations now are to wait at least until 12 months to spay/neuter large breed dogs to ensure adequate bone/joint growth/development in order to avoid later significant orthopedic issues. Many, like my vet, are waiting til at least 18 months.

I would not rec taking staples out early. You do not want to have a wound dehiscence while she is being boarded.
Maybe she can unspay her dog, get your vet’s number, and drive to your location a year from now to do it the right way.

[doberbrat]

Yea! Geez nothing is easy these days huh? Enjoy your vacation

[Liziz]

Thanks, all. I talked to the vet who was helpful. Said that typically he would wait and their office practices fell down due to COVID, but he wasn't alarmed that she was spayed. We talked about the staples / boarding / timing and he felt confident she would be okay to be boarded, especially at the place she's going.

Boarder is willing to watch staples and take her for removal.

Phew! Sounds like it will work out just fine! Enjoy your vacation! (and ftr, my dogs are both shelter rescue dogs that were spayed suuuuper young and they're totally fine)