Little Miss Pudgey is Home
This afternoon, I went to Guide Dogs in San Rafael to pick up my little pudgeball, where she was recuperating after her spay surgery yesterday. For some reason, I thought Cabana would be really calm, maybe sedated and woozy from her operation. Boy, was I wrong! She came out like a bucking bronco, wearing that horrendous contraption of an e-collar. The e-collar was attached to her flat collar, and I didn't know how I could get her head collar on through it, so she pulled and flailed all the way to the car.
The first thing I did was take that e-collar off her, poor thing! I've been running around like a headless chicken for the past couple days while Cabana was gone, trying to finish up all my Christmas shopping and preparations--so now I can relax and keep a close eye on Cabana. I am surprised at how oblivious Cabana is to her stitches--she hasn't made any effort to lick her incision at all so far.
Minutes after getting home, Cabana went straight to her bed. She is exhausted! Usually, she wakes up when she hears the camera shutter, but not this time.
Here's her poor shaved tummy and stitches. 
They also shaved a little rectangle off her front right paw. Anyone know why?
As far as Cabana's girth, we will cut back to 3.5 cups a day (2 in the morning, 1.5 at night, since she'll have more opportunity to burn her breakfast off). I personally don't think she's fat right now, but as others commented, it is winter, and her activity may be somewhat reduced, especially during the next two weeks. Cutting back on her kibble will also give me more leeway for occasional carrots and green beans and whatnot. ;)
The area shaved on her paw, is for an IV. I am not quite sure why they use an IV while doing spay and neuters, but mostly all vest do them.
Ah, I'm happy she's home again! If you pick them up the same day as the surgery they're usually groggy and still coming out of sedation, but not the next day. I'm happy at this point she doesn't need the e-collar, I dislike those, sometimes necessary, things!
It's nice that she's ignoring her stitches! Ellie did too. Hard to believe!
I don't know exactly why they shave the dog's leg, maybe they hook them up to something during the spay or draw blood? No idea. Ellie had it too, and so did Barrett for his neuter.
Good luck with the weight loss program :)
Yay for being home!!! THat's so great. Glad she's doing well. I like your new banner on your blog.
The shave area on her leg is for the sedative they give them before they go under (pre-surgery). Glad she is home and not feeling the effects of her spay!
I'm glad to hear that Cabana is home, happy and that you don't have to constantly be on guard for her to go into heat and you can finally enjoy pet-dom!
As far as the shaved spot on her leg, (as far as I understand it)that's for a catheter in the event of an emergency. If they don't put it in first and there is an emergency, they would waste possibly precious seconds shaving and inserted the catheter. It's generally a precautionary step.
Their little shave spots are so pitiful. Like Kaitlynn said, the one on her leg is for an IV. Rina had to have one when she went in to have a tooth removed.
Have fun with her! No more waiting for her to go into season! :D
Glad she's doing so great! They use the IV to administer the sedation & fluids, & that way if anything arose & they needed to give other meds they could do it easily & quickly. Just like for people. :-) Yay for Cabana...I'm sure she's happy to be home!
Aww! Don't worry yourself sick over keeping her calm, though. Honestly, I've had 2 pups spayed while in my care and they both did great about their incision and I didn't have to use an e-collar, and I'll admit that I was not good at keeping them calm, and there was no adverse effects.
Glad she is ok and happy to be home! They shave the front leg for IV, it is also used in case anything goes wrong and they need to give them anything. Her hair will grow back in a few weeks or so. Hope she enjoys some extra spoiling
Glad Cabana is home and doing well! The dogs with the e-collars always were the most pathetic ones when you walk through the kennels. Poor things! Cabana's lucky she got hers off rather quickly. :)
Glad she is home and doing well. The shaved spot on her front leg is where they put in a IV as a precaution for emergency care as well as to administer the sedative, but I'm sure if I had taken the time to read all the other comments I'd see that everyone else already said that. LOL
So when Chelsie had her surgery. she was shaved from about 2 inches above her back left toenail, all the way to her hip, a little shaved spot on her paw like Cabana has and one in the middle of her back - which I found out later was for an epidural. THEN...when the little hussy decided to chew out her stiches, she had to be mildly sedated again...and had the other paw shaved...thankfully, her labbie fur grows back very quickly and she pretty much looks normal now.
I love that picture of Cabana...she is one passed out pooch!!!!
Yay Cabana is home!!
her poor little tummy! good thing you made her a stretchy cover might be good at keeping her tummy warm until her fur grows back.