Vet question - should I trust this vet?

[New Rottie Owner]

A couple of weeks ago I had posted asking if it was normal now to send a dog home the same day it was spayed. From the answers I got, it is fairly normal these days. Well, finally got my Rott in Friday and she had the surgery but several things have raised questions in my mind about the vet. First of all, was the fact that they let her come home the same day. They brought her out and she was still so messed up from the anestesia that she could barely walk. Her back legs kept giving out when she tried to walk. It seems like she could easily have done serious damage to her hips. Also, my wife dropped her off in the morning and I had her ask if he could x-ray her hips while she was out so we could catch any potential problems early. Now we obviously have no intention of breeding her but my old vet had recommended that we have the hips x-rayed so that we could treat any problems early on and that a lot can be treated easily nowadays. Well this new vet, talked my wife out of it and said that we shouldn't waste the money since we don't plan on breeding her. He said to wait and see if she develops something and then do the x-ray if necessary. And another thing that looked very odd to me was the size of her incision. This is the biggest incision I've ever seen for a spaying and I've had several big dogs before. Maybe I'm just being paranoid here but this guy gave me a real bad vibe. His office is very nice and the people seemed nice enough but some of things he said and did seem very strange compared to all of the previous vets I've dealt with.

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

If you are not completely comfortable with the vet then don't go back there. I know some vets let the dog go home the same day but I still think (at least for a female) she should stay overnight. Many vets won't keep Rottweilers overnight because they don't like them and/or are afraid of them. As far as the x-rays go the vet had no right to tell you not to have them done. Now if you still want them done you will have to risk putting the dog back under and any vet knows its wise to avoid that. Trust your instincts they sound right on to me.

[This message has been edited by Diane Heller (edited January 31, 2000).]

[AngelBunny]

How old was your girl? Depending on her age, the vet should have told you x-rays of a young dog to identify joint problems are problematic. This business of not his not wanting you to "waste money" since you won't be breeding her is nonsense. Rather than suggesting to "wait and see if she develops something and then do the x-ray if necessary" it would've been better for him to suggest that if you're planning to do any work with her, x-rays of her hips would certainly be in order.

Perhaps he didn't clearly communicate that x-rays on a young dog will only show the grossest deformaties.

At any rate, you didn't like him, so don't go back. Just like I can't imagine seeing a doctor who didn't like women, say, I can't imagine taking my dogs to someone I didn't take to.

[New Rottie Owner]

More good news(strong sarcasm). I go home last night to see that my pup has got swelling about the size of a baseball around her stitches. Of course when we called the vet last night and got his emergency number, he said that it is either just swelling of the tissue from too much activity, or a hernia. Either way, not too serious. Just run her by sometime tomorrow. Of course he tried to blame us for letting her get too excited despite the fact that she's been kenneled for the majority of the time we've had her home. Needless to say, we'll run her by this morning. We'll run her by someplace else of course.

[grabo454]

Advice: DITCH THE VET!!!!! Obviously to me, this doc has some priorities seriously messed up. I would by all means have any rottie of mine x-rayed for displaysa for his/her own health. The breeding comment should be discarded. Rotties hips are naturally wobbly, because of the way the "open" ball and socket is designed. (There is notmuch of a socket at all) But I don't see any reason for alarm, Most post op rotties i have seen can't walk worth a crap because of this reason. Swelling of this size isextremely uncommon.

[This message has been edited by grabo454 (edited February 01, 2000).]

[donna]

grabo - rotties' have the same 'ball and socket' hip joint that all other dogs have.
i am a vet at a teaching university, and large spay incisions are done to completely remove all ovarian and uterine tissue (up to the cervix). if any of your vets are doing spays with only an inch or two long incision, there is always the chance (and common occurance) that ovarian or uterine tissue is left behind which can lead to mammary cancer, stump pyometra, etc. the point is that longer incisions are (contrary to popular belief) better in the long run (and sometimes in the short run). think about it, the ovaries are attached to the dorsal part of the abdomen - a large incision allows you to safely and properly remove them - a small incision means you use a spay hook to search for them, and there have been animals who have had damage to abdominal organs and/or uncessary bleeding. as far as the swelling - i agree - if it were my dog, i d get another vet.

[New Rottie Owner]

Donna,

Thanks for the help about the incision. It was just very strange to me because I've never seen one this big(I'd say 4.5 inches or so). As for the swelling, my wife took the dog back to the same vet to have it checked out. Of course, I told her not to do that but that's an entirely different issue. He told her that it is just the tissue swelling and not a hernia. I have been told that the hernia is a very serious situation because you run the risk of having a portion of the intestine pinched off and stop functioning. Is that true? If so, what is the time frame that you need to catch this in because the vet doesn't seem to be very worried about it? Anyway, the vet gave her a shot(I don't know what of) and said that it would take the swelling down in 6 to 8 hours. Well, the swelling never went down so we called him and he told us that it would take a few days for it to go down. Is that correct? Now, I'm worried that this could become a hernia. How can I tell the difference between a hernia and the swollen tissue? Thanks for the help.

[Lynne W]

After reading you last comments, if you are really worried about your rottie having a hernia, then take her to another vet ASAP, just to put your mind at rest if nothing else. We have taken our rottie to a different vet for good reason. Hope all goes well.

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Lynne

[Michael C.]

Our little girls incision was about the same lenght as yours and it healed up perfect. She also had swelling which just ended up being fluid. The vet just drained it. I would take her tomorrow and have it drained. Ask them for some sedatives to help keep your dog calm also. I don't know what we would have done without them.


Mike