Two Thursdays ago, we took Sophie in to have her spay, they told me at the clinic that everything went great and sent us home with some pain pills. By that evening Sophie started bleeding and I was a bit worried. On Friday the clinic called to check on her and told me that sometimes it is normal for female dogs to bleed a bit after surgery.
Saturday evening I decided to call a 24 hour vet hospital when I realized that she was still bleeding because I just didn't feel like it was normal. The vet hospital confirmed what the clinic said but that if it didn't stop by Sunday evening we should bring her in. They also instructed us to watch the color of her gums to determine if she was loosing too much blood.
Sophie continued to bleed on Sunday so Monday I called the clinic and took her back down to have the vet look her over. Turns out, she had an infection so they gave us antibiotics and sent us on our way. Tuesday morning we woke to find Sophie covered in blood and after calling the clinic again and being told to check back in on Wednesday, I decided to take her to our regular vet to get their opinion. Our vet agreed with the infection but wasn't sure why she was bleeding, he thought maybe she had a clotting problem and wanted to do some blood work. When he brought back a quote for $288 I nearly had a heart attack and decided we would watch her for another day. That evening while Eric and I were applying a warm compress to her belly, I noticed a small hole above her incision that was bleeding. Feeling confident in my own veterinary skills since I wasn't getting any answers from the actual vets, I decided this is why she had been bleeding so much the last day.
Wednesday morning I called the clinic once more and nicely insist they see her again. Hours later, I was called back and told to bring her in immediatley which I did when I was able to leave work. At first glance, they told me they would stitch up the hole but when they got a closer look, they decided to open the poor dog back up and start over. When I picked her up a few hours later they informed me she had a drainage tube placed under the incision and that they used nondissolvable stitches. I was also told that she had to be as inactive as possible for the next 5 days, total piece of cake with a lively puppy.
So, Sophie has been confined to her crate since Wednesday and I think she is starting to go a bit nuts. We let her out at night once the kids are in bed, she gets too crazy when they are up and a few times during the day to use the bathroom. Hopefully on Monday when I take her back to have the drain removed we will be able to be a little less restrictive with her. It will be nice when things are back to normal and the dog drama around here is over with!
