Taking care of your pets after spaying/ neutering is an important task. As a responsible pet owner, it is common for your pets to undergo spaying/ neutering surgeries. By doing this, you are actually doing a vital and often beneficial part for your furry friend in the long run.  And also, give yourself a pat on the back- You have just helped to decrease the potential number of strays in your community. Most of the time, your pet might stay at the hospital the night after the surgery for further observation. However, some pets are allowed to go home right after the procedure. Therefore, here comes your obligation as a pawrent to take good care of your furry kid. Although spays and neuters are pretty flexible in terms of the procedures and costs, please bear in mind that your pet has just undergone surgery and requires proper care to recover. So, here comes the million-dollar question- how to provide proper care for your pet after spaying/ neutering? Listed here are a few insights for the actions you need to take in order to give your “postsurgical” pets proper care.  

1. Be Wary of Any Incisions and Sutures

The first thing you need to do- once your pet is going home after the surgery- is to check out for the incision line. Your pet might have external sutures that are often visible, or it might also have intradermal sutures that lie beneath its skin. Regardless of which types of sutures your animal companion has, you should always look out these areas for any swelling, redness, and heat to avoid inflammation or infection.  

2. Look After the Wound

Not only you need to look out for the sutures, but you should also know how to take care of the wounds. The incision site should be kept sanitized and make sure to apply certain wound or skincare products if necessary. That should help to boost the healing process and soothe any pain, or irritation – which might cause your pet to bite and lick these post-surgical sites.  

3. Avoid Licking and Chewing

Speaking of biting and licking the wounds, it is paramount for you to keep an eye out of your pet to prevent them from doing so. This is to prevent further infection and minimize the chance of reopening the wounds. You may need the Elizabethan collar, which is most commonly known as, the dreaded cone, to prevent your pet from chewing the incision sites.  

4. Provide Pain Medications Only If Necessary

Pets are like humans, too. They would feel the pain after their surgery but would not express their pain the same way as what any humans would normally do. Therefore, most of the time, your pet will probably be given an injection of pain medication at the vet. In some cases, the veterinarian might also provide you with pain medication for your pet but that does not mean your pets have to take them frequently. The prescription of the pain medication is to prevent your pet from suffering severe pain. However, some pain can be used to restrict your pet’s activity. Therefore, it is not always advisable to remove their pain to the point that your pet might be overdosed on by the medication. This would only cause more problems not only to you but your pet as well. Again, it is best to discuss with your veterinarian first before giving it to your pet.  

5. Occupy Your Pet’s “Timetable”

Your furry friend needs you! Keeping your pet occupied would be the best thing to distract your furry friend from the pain. Your pet may be more focused on you and might look to you for comfort and reassurance. So, take this opportunity to bond with your pet, or teach a new, easy trick- but never a rough one as it would risk reopening the wounds. Clearly, we don’t want that to happen. So, to prevent further complications, it is best to stay with your pet most of the time during the healing process.  

To Sum It Up

The guidelines above are the basic actions you need to take if you want to provide your pet with proper post-surgical care. Knowing what to expect and be prepared is better than stressing over for solutions after the problems arise. Be that as it may, taking care of your pets after spaying/ neutering might get complicated from time to time. Therefore, it is more advisable for you to pay your veterinarian a visit if things really did go out of hand. Bear in mind that never prescribe your own medication to your pet as some medication that works well for a human doesn’t mean it will work well for pets, too. Now that you know what to do after spaying/ neutering your pets, make sure to take good care of them and assist them to heal during this period. It won’t be long until you could see them going back to their normal routines.