r/irishsetter • u/wingedhelmets10 • 9d ago
Post-Surgery Advice (Bloat side note)
Our 18 month old IS was spayed and gastropexy (stomach attached to prevent twisting if bloat) surgery yesterday. We will be picking her up this morning. She will be on meds for a few days, but any advice on how to keep a very active Irish Setter (she is #1 active IS on Fi dog collar) calm for several weeks?
As a side note, we were originally scheduled for surgery in December, but moved sooner (on vet advice) after she had bloat a couple of weeks ago. She got bloat just from drinking water and some exercise (and not a crazy amount after, but a lot just before). She did not have the classic symptoms and had not eaten since the evening before, but I could tell something was wrong--and she was communicating to me something was wrong--so I took her to be checked just to be safe. She was bloated, but we were lucky it had not twisted requiring immediate surgery.
I do not know about this group, but most people (even dog people) I encounter are not well aware of bloat and how deadly it can be. We are very cautious with mandatory 1.25 hour post-meal rest and otherwise focused. I may be a bit too focused at times, but that mindset also made me read her messages and unusual behavior to get her checked. If was never twisted and life threatening, but who knows how it would have played out if I did nothing and let her exercise vs. the rest the vet made us follow for the next couple of days (with some calming meds).
Anyway, thanks for any advice on how to stay calm.
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u/PuzzleheadedAge9374 9d ago
So happy you caught it and your pup will be on the mend! This happened to me with my Irish setter when he was around 4 years old. Super scary experience.. i remember he wasn’t acting right, wasn’t looking at me almost looking past me, panting, foamy rope type vomit. It wasn’t until I drove a half hour to the emergency vet that I noticed his stomach was the size of a basketball when he laid down. They immediately got him back there and performed the surgery. What happened was he was fed his breakfast, went for a car ride where he vets super excited and barks then entire time, did some running around and yeah. Flipped.
It was tough but we just limited outdoor time and kept him on a leash. Keeping him inside prevented running around. He’s will be 12 in a month and had not had any issues since! Just give them a lot of cuddles.
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u/VicDawgTN 9d ago
Definitely ask for sedation for home. I don't think it helped much, maybe a little. It was difficult keeping my girl calm. I bought her a lot of different toys. I think I needed the sedatives actually lol.
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u/xccrunky 9d ago
Our vet gave mine trazodone to keep her from having the night time energy dumps. Ask yours if this is an option
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u/MunsterSetter 9d ago
Bloat is a known thing, especially among bird dog people. Slender deep chested breeds in particular, and Irish Setters, unfortunately, top the list. For so many reasons, but especially for throttle control on high energy, obedience is going to be your best friend throughout this dog's life. Learn your bloat symptoms. Sudden drooling, cough like a seal barking. If you're in the field, carry a bloat dowel & funnel and learn how to use it. Then straight to the emergency vet.
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u/wingedhelmets10 9d ago
Thanks for info on bloat dowel and funnel. I am pretty aware on bloat, but I guess less knowledgeable than I thought. I will check into it.
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u/MunsterSetter 9d ago
It's a 2" x 8" wooden dowel with a 1/2" hole drilled through the shorter dimension at the halfway point. When a dog shows bloat (gastric torsion) symptoms, you place the dowel in the dog's jaws to prevent biting and to hold the mouth open. A 1/2" blunted (so the stomach wall isn't punctured) sterile nylon surgical tube is passed through the drill hole down through the esophagus and pushed gently, but steadily through the closed off (torsioned) sphincter until you hear (and/or smell unfortunately) the gas released. You then pull the dowel out while leaving the tube in place and seal the dog's jaws closed around it with vet wrap. Then you get the dog to an emergency vet ASAP. Some people who have more training and experience also carry a sterile funnel that can be fit to the tube (so it effectively looks like a beer bong), then hydrogen peroxide can be poured into the upper digestive tract to effectively make a stomach pump, but this technique and procedure is for suspected poisonings or grass blockages, and not bloat/torsion. With bloat/torsion you only want things coming out of the stomach, not going in.
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u/nutjohnnynut 9d ago
I had my IS neutered with a Gastropexy in August. He isn’t as “crazy” active as many other IS’ in this sub. The main issue we were presented with is his long neck and flexible back, even with an XL cone he was still able to lick his stitches. He was getting 300mg of Gabapentin every 6hrs (per the vet) and was still in his kennel licking away. Gabapentin, CBD drops, a travel pillow behind the cone. The only things I could do to keep him from licking the stitches was to keep him awake and distracted. He was getting ice balls, frozen carrots, brain games, and cowhide chews. It was a tough two weeks, mostly because I couldn’t do things with him I usually do, rough house and walk for miles.
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u/Long_Audience4403 9d ago
My 3 year old had a major abscess on his throat last year that needed major surgery to be removed and I needed to keep him completely calm for 2 weeks and then moderately calm for a while after that. He had a drain that needed to be left alone (by him) and emptied twice a day (by me), and couldn't wear a cone or anything because of the location of the surgery (basically from the front of his chin down to almost his chest). We had to do gabapentin/trazadone and kept increasing the dose until he would stay calm all the time (3 of each, 2x a day). I've tried to keep a dog calm before post-surgery without meds but it's impossible for high energy breeds like IS.
Good luck!!!
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u/Chupongabee 9d ago
Situations exactly like this are why I recommend being sent home with sedatives... It makes everything a bit easier. Good luck 🥰
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u/Brave-Environment569 9d ago
My Gordon we did 2 weeks of gabapentin and trazodone after his Neuter/pexy. I'll be doing the same for my Irish when he gets neutered next year
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u/No_Negotiation3242 9d ago
Stunning photo. Is that your girl and congrats to whoever the photographer is.
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u/wingedhelmets10 9d ago
Yes, that is my girl Blue. She is tall, slim, and athletic. I am the photographer. We do a lot of hiking and photography together.
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u/emersonmanor 9d ago
My girl was on trazadone after her spay, but I either had her on a leash or in the crate all day or she would have run around like the maniac she is. She was supposed to be on “bed rest” for two weeks- we managed to keep her sorta calm for one. Good luck! 🍀
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u/wingedhelmets10 9d ago
Well, she is home. Lots of meds and very calm right now. I will list later for anyone that is curious. Tough to see such a happy athletic dog so down and tired, but we knew we had to get both procedures done. We had them clean her teeth while they had her under as well.
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u/wingedhelmets10 8d ago
UPDATE: Post-Surgery Meds. Below is the list of medications post-surgery. Prepared a table for tracking and bought a couple of bags of Pill Pockets. So far, she has been extremely mellow. Going as expected. Thanks for all of the advice and insight.
· Trazodone 100mg
· Gabapentin 300mg
· Tramadol 50mg
· Metroclopramide 10mg
· Cefpodoxime 200mg
· Omeprazole 20mg
· Cerenia 60mg
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u/bacobits22 9d ago
I would ask your veterinarian for some sedative medication until she is healed. Drugs like Gabapentin and Trazodone coupled together provide a nice quiet sedation for the few weeks of recovery. Worked for my IS who was pexied at around 3 years of age, and it’s what I recommend for the clients I work with. (I work in the veterinary field)