Neutering a dog - what to expect

[JnB]

I have decided to neuter my 2 year old Lab. I'm wondering what I should expect after the surgery. My biggest concern is the next day, I work a 12 hour shift. I will have people staying with him, taking care of him, but I'm going to worry anyway. I've had friends say they had to keep their dog coned for 2 weeks but the Vet told me they don't even cone them at all, I can if I want to. So, can you share your experiences, let me know what to expect? He'll have pain meds - do they keep the dog knocked out pretty good? Will he be able to go to the bathroom normally (or will it be painful)? Will he be able to walk much?
Thanks for your info and any advice.

[mistymama]

It's really not that big of a deal for males.

Our puppy came home without a cone, he had licked at the incision a little bit so the vet sent us home with some bitter concoction to put on the stitches. We only had to use it one time.

We tried to keep him from running much, gave him bones to chew and things to do laying down. But to be honest he felt just fine, went ot the bathroom just fine and was ready to run and play very quickly.

[Ola_]

I agree, it's much less of a deal for males than for females. We adopted our male at 5.5 years old and didn't even realize till a week later (when looking through his paperwork) that he was neutered on the day before we got him. He did not have any issues after the surgery at all and we didn't do anything special since we hadn't realized he just had the surgery.

And good for you for having your dog neutered!

[JnB]

Great, thanks ladies. I'm so happy to hear your good stories.
I'll admit, I didn't want to neuter him but his marking and sniffing out other dogs is making his walks a dreaded chore.

[Noelle C.]

Heh, the "how will my dog feel afterward?" question is one I've heard a lot. A friend was worried enough about it to not get his older dog fixed, but did finally get his pupy fixed when I pretty much made him.

Male dogs are just fine. It's a tiny incision in the scrotum, a stitch or two (sometmes just this glue-stuff), and it's done. I've had several males fixed, and most of them were running and playing as soon as the anesthesia wore off like nothing had happened!!