Not for a spay/ neuter but in general to keep them calm after surgery, I found the combo of gabapentin and trazadone to work wonders for Perry - when he had his surgeries and was on crate rest for soooooo long, it's the only thing that kept him chilled out AND kept me sane!I'm glad Jolene is resting and is getting comforted by Charlie. My biggest challenge with Jasper was trying to slow him down. The vet tech told me he was even wagging his tail in recovery. The procedure for females is more complicated and she's so tiny. It hardly seems fair. I hope the rest of her recovery goes smoothly and you get some rest.
I've always been on the side of less meds, but realized during the last year that Perry's comfort is the most important thing -and both the trazadone and gabapentin (as long as they tolerate them well) are safe for them - and are much safer than torn sutures or complications from surgery because they were too active. Plus, at least for Perry, he seemed much less distressed on trazadone than without it since he didn't understand why I wasn't letting him run around and was keeping him in his crate.That is the combo we started her on yesterday, when she woke up ready to take on the world! We just gave her another dose of just trazodone, as her morning dose had worn off and she was trying to play with Charlie again, and it knocked her out pretty well. I hate to have her so doped up but the vet said the #1 most important thing is that she heals well, and there’s no way that’s going to happen without the help of drugs. Thankfully she is being SUCH a good girl with the meds, I was worried about it given how tiny her mouth is and how opinionated she is, but she’s been great.
Also, a tip for anyone whose dog is getting surgery— for Charlie’s spring surgery, and for this one, I asked them to shave as little as possible bc their skin gets irritated. Previously, whenever Charlie had an IV, they shaved a huge band on his wrist, which I always just assumed was necessary. And it took MONTHS to grow out. But then @krandall showed us the tiny little spot they shaved for Panda’s emergency c-section, so I learned it was possible to do with very little shaving! And the request worked… it looks so much better, and there’s also one less thing for them to worry.
I don't think I could decide if the meds have anything to do with it - since we moved back to the US and he had the surgery all within the first spring we were back so he was on them his first full winter. I did feel like he was colder this past winter than when we've been back before - but in the past we were here for a couple of weeks at a time, not the whole winter. He has always worn a fleece when we were in the US in the winter, but this past winter I also got him a coat because he seemed to be even colder - but who knows if that's meds-related or just being here for a full winter.VERY good point. I know you’ve mentioned Perry gets cold very easily… I’ve noticed the same w Jo the last few days, though we also cut her hair the shortest it’s been so it could just be that. Did you notice anything about getting cold more easily when on the meds?
This is where she needed to be this morning after being forced to go outside in the frigid weather by her mean, mean mom (it’s 56 degrees….). And she had a onesie and a fleece on too!
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