post-neuter complications

[elegy]

a question for those of you who have had dogs neutered as adults.

how many of your dogs have had complications? (significant swelling, bruising, etc) how many have required additional follow up veterinary care that a normal neuter would not have required?

the cat is out of the bag at the vet hospital where i work that i am not going to neuter steve until he is two. i said this and one of my coworkers looked horrified and asked if i'm worried he's going to chew his scrotum off post-op.

um, no. no, i'm really not worried he's going to chew his scrotum off.



now, we neuter adult male dogs with regularity (like, today!) and i can't remember the last time we saw one back for a complication. so i'm just asking you fine people, who largely don't believe i'm freakish for my belief that it's healthier that i let my dog grow up the whole way before taking away his hormones.

thoughts? experiences?

[Zoom]

Sawyer was around a year and a half when he was neutered and I never saw any ill effects from it.

[Jynx]

my gsd was neutered when he was almost 3, and one fast jaunt around the yard was all it took for his scrotum to swell up bigger than prior to neutering )) We had to aspirate and keep cold compresses (which he loved) on the area..took a little longer to heal but it coulda been worse I guess

[Baxter'smybaby]

Wilson was neutered the week he came home--no complications what so ever. And he was up and running around like a maniac within a day after the surgery.

[Laurelin]

The only male dog I've ever had neutered was Trey. He was 2 when we did it. He was weird going into it and weird coming out, lol. Can't remember any complications at all. He did have issues constantly walking his conehead into everything and then I'd have to save him.

[elegy]

Originally Posted by Jynx

my gsd was neutered when he was almost 3, and one fast jaunt around the yard was all it took for his scrotum to swell up bigger than prior to neutering )) We had to aspirate and keep cold compresses (which he loved) on the area..took a little longer to heal but it coulda been worse I guess

luce got a big seroma at her spay incision because i let her do too much right after surgery. it was kind of scary at the time because i didn't know what it was, but it went down and she healed up just fine.

even if steve does have some minor complication like a swollen scrotum... oh well? i mean, i'd like for that not to happen, but it doesn't really change my decision about it. i still think it's to his benefit to stay intact until he's a bit older.

mushroom was neutered as an adult but i didn't get him until like a week later so i don't know if he had any complications immediately following surgery.

[Romy]

Our adult male fosters were neutered as adults. The only complication we had was with Seamus and coming out of the anesthesia, which probably would have been a lot worse if he went under as a young puppy.

Other than that, most adult dogs are pretty into grooming themselves so don't be surprised if you've got to keep a cone on him for a couple of weeks until the sutures heal. That was always the biggest worry. Seamus almost pulled his out once because his neck was fatter than his head and we couldn't keep the cone on him.

[pawzaddict]

I don't think its bad to wait. We are going to wait to neuter our APBT until he is fully grown. My other males did not have complications at all

[Gypsydals]

Peewee was between a year and a half and 2 when we got him neutered. He did end up with slight bruising BUT that was because of being tied out to do his buisness. The first 2 days he was fine, but after being outside on a tie out to poop he ended up with a bit of extra bruising.

[lizzybeth727]

Several of our dogs at work that were neutered at 1-2 years old did end up with swollen scrotums recently. But they healed within about 1 or 2 weeks, they seemed to only be really painful for a couple of days. A week or two of uncomfortableness is, IMO, a lot better than the side effects of being neutered early.