Warning to all dogs everywhere - Page 2

with some dogs we have had we bought some bitters.  sprayed some directly in their mouth then sprayed the area a few times a day.  some this worked with some it didn't, but always was worth a try.

I thought about that.  I am concerned the alcohol will make it burn.   Right now it is an open wound I treat twice a day.  So far the donut is working, but she has only had it a day.  There is a heavy canvas around the tub so maybe it will make it the 7 days.

Looking at the picture I can't help but laugh,  I think of my dogs over the years who have been in similar situations.   The poor pitiful look they give you trying to make them look so abused.  Just like a child they will use for every advantage.

LOL!!! Poor rose....
I had a kitty once who somehow managed to get the cone off and wound up with an infection.. not good at all.
Then there was the GSD puppy (11 months or so) tore his leg open on a fence. Cone of shame it was, and crate
rest (yeah right!!!) He ate the cone off, ate the bandage (pooped green.. thankfully it all worked its way out) and
broke out of the crate several times. Talk about a challange.

Melissa

When I had Ranger neutered, his scrotum swelled up something awful, and he was in total misery. The next time I have a mature dog snipped, I will ask the vet to remove the scrotum, too!

He had to wear a cone, as he would not leave the incision alone. His sleeping pad was one of those flat ones with a rolled edge, and he liked to use the edge as a pillow. Of course, he couldn't do that with the cone. After trying to get comfortable, he came over to me, and leaned against my leg and moaned. I damn near cried, I felt so bad for him!

A friend who worked for a vet told me to give him either aspirin or Tylenol (forget which) and that seemed to help. The next day, we went to his regular vet for a recheck, and he gave him a steroid shot, which reduced the pain and inflammation to the point where I could do away with the cone.

That is useful, Sunsilver.  We had one youngster neutered last year and
he was very bruised and swollen afterwards - though not to the extent
you describe,  he was pretty sorry for himself too.  First case I'd known,
other dogs castrated at various numbers of months have all healed more
quickly and easily.  I'm thinking now that as castration looms like more of
a possibility for my boy Taz - who is almost 10 years, and increasingly
getting bouts of prostate swelling - that I should ask my vet to take the
sac away too ?

My vet did a procedure that left no external sutures, so there was nowhere for excess blood/fluid to drain to. His scrotum swelled to the point where it looked like he'd never been neutered at all. Needless to say, I am sure that was very painful. Also, I was watching  The Amazing Dr. Pohl neuter a dog on TV  the other day, and he REALLY had to strain to get the testicles free from the scrotum. He commented that the older the dog, the more attached they seemed to be to their testicles! So, the procedure is no doubt a bit harder on them because there is more connective tissue anchoring the testes to the scrotum than there is in a young dog that's only had the testes recently descend.

So, yeah, I think I would recommend removing the scrotum too for an older dog, so it can't swell up the way Ranger's did.

He had to be neutered due to a really bad case of prostatitis. I probably would have left him intact otherwise, as I don't see having an intact non-breeding male as being a big issue. You just have to make sure your fences are secure!

Tthe one advantage of his neutering is he doesn't pee on the counter at the vet's anymore...   He still gets into the odd scrap with other male dogs, and will actually mount and tie with an in-heat female, though now that he's 10 years old, and has arthritis in his rear, that might be rather painful for his old joints!

I wouldn't put it past him to try, though!

Thank you.  We have managed ok up til now using Tardak injections
and last time the Ypozane tablets.  But the older he gets the better off
it might be to get him done sooner rather than later !

Agree with you about leaving them their bits if you can be responsibly
in control;  he has never sired any accidental pups and I wouldn't want
to breed with him, too many faults.  Mind you he never marked the
counter in the vets office, either ! lol

I am not relying on castration if/when it comes to be a cure-all for his
macho attitudes (though it would be NICE if he mellowed out around
more other males he meets)...

Your picture of him still - creakingly - mounting the females made me
chuckle, I've heard about other neutered dogs doing so, but not ever
witnessed it myself.

Scrotal swelling in a mature male dog after castration is very, very common and expected. I've seen some the size of basketballs, not kidding. Aspirin and warm compresses usually help a lot.  The vets I worked for never removed the scrotum, so I can't comment on that. Sounds like it may not be a bad idea.

Blitzen: OUCH!!  I'm crossing my legs in sympathy, and I'm female.

Hundmutter, well, now you've seen it! I'd had some people tell me it wsn't possible, so I had to grab a photo for posterity. The ties lasted a good 10 to 15 munutes.

The first time it happened, I was in the middle of negotiating a real estate deal: selling one house while purchasing another. The agent and I were in the living room when suddenly Star started to scream. I ran out of the room to find the two of them tied together. I was groping for the words to explain what was going on to the agent when she patted me on the arm and said, "It's okay, Jane. My parents used to breed dogs!"

"Oh, GOOD!" I replied. "You hang on to Ranger, and I'll look afer Star until Nature takes its course here!"

Star never did have puppies, though I had hoped to breed her. Her pigment is too faded, and she x-rayed as mildly dysplastic in one hip a 2 years.