Hi everyone,

So our Loki is just over 9 1/2 months old and after some back and forth, my husband and I took an appointment to have him neutered this coming Tuesday. My main question is: is it really necessary for the vet office to keep my puppy with them overnight? I ask because I have read and heard from too many people that animals are left alone in the building overnight. I am already nervous enough about this whole thing, I really am not comfortable leaving him there without a human present...I will be in touch with the vet before Tuesday to find out if someone does stay overnight to supervise. I would still rather take him home the same day though...
What are your experiences like? Have you been able to take your pup home the same day?
Thanks for reading, guys.

We took our boy home a few hours after the surgery. Once he was awake and all vitals were fine we gently loaded him up and took him home to rest. It was the same even with the females we've had fixed. Some offices do more stuff during the procedure or it's late in the day and that maybe why they keep them over night. I would just ask the vet exactly why they want to keep him and if it's nothing more than observation then I would tell them you would prefer to take him home.

Kohdi had an appointmnt early in the morning and he was back home by mid-afternoon. Its unusual for no human to be present overnight if yours stays. I know the dr. wouldnt be there but I have always thought there is someone hired for overnight duties just in case any complications occur (otherwise, why are they keeping him?) or for the animals that are there for observation anyways (assuming its a vets office)

Thank you both. Your comments are really helpful.
I am also feeling nervous and on edge about the procedure itself. There is a big part of me that feels that having him neutered is not a good thing, and I can't shake it. I've read many articles about both sides of the coin, but it all seems so unnatural to me as a process. I really am having a tough time dealing with it.

He will be so much easier to live with once he's fixed. Keno was a mature unfixed male when we got him and we about pulled all our hair out in the week we had him before neutering him with the constant marking and crazies whenever a female was around. They get stupid when the ladies are in heat. Neutering him will also help with his interactions with other males. Some others around here have had issues with fixed males having bad reactions to their unfixed males because they aren't used to them. Any surgery is scary but it's routine, he will be just fine, and you won't regret not having to deal with the woes of an intact dog.

Well its really up to you if you want to do it. If he is doing well in his training, polite, non aggressive, and healthy, why get him neutered? But that is just my opinion. Personally I am not going to and I have gotten a lot of harassment about it from my friends I have talked to. On the other hand all of my friends from over seas find the idea of neutering horrifying. *shakes head* Really everyone will have a different opinion about the topic, but do what you feel is right for your boy.

As for the first question, when I had my boy cat neutered he came home the same day and was a bit groggy but otherwise fine except for having a few minor accidents in my chair. And my girl dog ended up being spayed twice because the rescue listed her as not spayed, it caused her a lot of problems all because of the paranoia and the unwillingness to deal with a supposedly intact female.

Our vets have always requested we have them stay overnight. I strongly believe that they are better off at home assuming no complications arose during the procedure. I have always insisted on taking my pets home the same day. I have even argued it one time and I have always brought mine home with no issues.

I could never understand the reasoning behind demanding that they stay overnight, unattended even less so.

Isn't it a far and away better case to have an animal both as comfortable as possible without stress and attended?

If complications do arise....what does it even matter if they're unattended??

For us, our vet insisted and we gave in and it kinda made us sick.  Knowing that it is possible to demand that they come home is good to know.  To boot, we found out that they non-consensually fed Link very low quality kibble and they knew full well that he eats raw food, and this made it even worse for us to handle in retrospect.

I don't think I would give in to my dog staying overnight for a routine surgery in the future if I could at all rightfully argue my case.  

Just my thoughts.  

Good luck with your dog's neuter.  The surgery itself is really not a big deal and the healing process was minimally even noteworthy.

seattlesibe wrote:

If complications do arise....what does it even matter if they're unattended??

I think it would depend on the nature of the complication. For instance, if an IV was required and the dog needed to be kept sedated then staying overnight may be in the dogs best interest. Again, IF there was a complication then it would need to be discussed and a decision made by the owner. In routine circumstances I see no reason for them to stay overnight, attended or not.

My dog came home the same day as her spay, but she did have to be hospitalized for pancreatitis once and I will never leave her at a vet that is unattended overnight again. She ate the cone off her head, ripped out her iv, and cried all night I'm sure. In hindsight I would have transferred her to a facility with overnight care or brought her home where she'd be monitored/quiet and return her to the vet the next day if need be. MOST vets don't have staff overnight unless they are 24 hour emergency facilities.

I think your boy would be fine to come home as long as no complications arise. He'll probably still be pretty out of it afterwards for a bit, but you'll be surprised how quickly he'll be back to his crazy husky self. Good luck!

We dropped Axel off in the morning when he was neutered a few months ago, then picked him up in the late afternoon. When he came out of the anesthesia he apparently freaked out, and had to be lightly sedated to calm him down so he wouldn't hurt himself. This meant he was a bit dopier and out of it for a bit longer. He was very needy once we got him home (would cry when my husband left the room!), I would be so sad at the thought of him alone at the vet good luck with it all!

Unless he's being neutered very late in the day I'm with the group who think that having him at home is going to be better for everyone than leaving him unattended overnight.
Of all the dogs I've have neutered, NONE have ever had to stay overnight.
As others have said, male neutering is minimally invasive and will generally heal quickly.
In your shoes, I'd ask Why they want to keep him overnight; if it's just for "observation", then find out who's going to be doing the observing; unless they have a vet tech overnight, I'd prefer to do my own observing at home.
Oh, he's going to be "dopey", but most dogs and owners handle that without any trauma.

I brought Ichigo home the day of the procedure and just had to monitor his behavior. His neutering was more complex as well as he had not dropped both. I had one issue with a cat years ago who broke her stiches with a spay. She stayed overnight after that occurred. Otherwise, all my pets came home the same day.

Hi Everyone

im new her. and would firstly like to ask.. What is a 3 in 1 injection (what does it include)?

Thank You

I think it all depends on if this is something to do with neutering (as this is a thread on neutering) that your vet is suggesting to do prior or due to neutering. If that is the case perhaps it's an infection preventative, but without knowing more info it's hard to say.

Or if this is a general 3 in 1 vaccine that has nothing to do with neutering. The general 3 in 1 vaccine that my vet gives is just a flu shot essentially and combats three strains that cause kennel cough. If this is a vaccine question and not a neutering question you can use the search bar at the top of the page and search shots and there are several threads that cover different puppy shots and what others have done vaccine-wise with both puppies and adults. After reading through those if you still have questions you can either create a new thread in the appropriate section or add your question to a thread that is related to your question.

Welcome to the forum!

We brought our guy home same day as procedure. He managed to destroy 2 cones in 3 days so we gave up on that and just watched him to make sure he didn't try to pull the stitches. He did fine and healed really well without any complications. Our girl was the same with her spay and also didn't do the cone just was watched at home. Good luck to your guy and to you too!