My chihuahua Bella went in this morning to be spayed. I could barely stand to leave her. The standard procedure is to keep the dog over night. I asked though and they said I could call after 3pm and they should know by then how her body cleared the anestesia and see if she was doing ok and they might let me take her home.

I called at 11:30 to see how the surgery went and was told that she was awake and doing well, but when I asked then if she thought she would get to come home the tech said no, without any hesitation. Should I still call and ask again after 3pm?

Bella is used to sleeping in my bed curled up next to me, the last time I took her to th
e vet just for shots, she got very traumatized and shook for an hour after we left and wouldn't eat for an entire day.

What should I do?

We have never left ours over night... And we have big dogs that are more prone to damaging the stitches. Maybe ask to talk to the vet, and say you want her home. I would not want to leave mine either.

I would definitely call again and see if you can take her. When I had my dogs neutered/spayed I was able to take them home the same day.

Ugh these answers make me even sadder. I called again, to check on her and they told me she was doing really good, just drowsy from the meds. I asked (practically begged) to bring her home tonight and they refused to let me.

I started grilling them after that. They will have someone on site, there is a house attached to the hospital and she will be checked on periodically. Throughout the night. I also asked if she was licking her wound and they said no she is leaving it a lone. Well that is odd since she licks and grooms herself like a cat, she does it as she is falling asleep every night. So I warned them to watch out for that as the meds continued to wear off. She has to be so scared and confused.

I would feel so much better if she was home with me. She is my baby. My youngest Dd thought we should just show up to "check" on her and grab her and make a run for it (I am going to have to watch out for this one when she is a teen). As it is it will be a long night, I plan on being there first thing in the AM, to pick her up.

hmmm, that is strange to me but I guess every office as their own rules. I am surprised they are allowed to "refuse" to give her to... she is yours and she is not in harm to be in your care.

Our vet has a policy that you just drop the off at 8am for being spayed, but with one of ours, we were not comfortable with that at all. So we discussed before hand that we would be waiting with her, as she has serious anxiety and I just could not leave her like that. They didn't like it, but they eventually agreed, as I said if they refused I would not spay her at all. I don't like doing thing like that, but my dogs are like my kids..I am a bit protective.

Good luck getting through your long night...that totally sucks!

I think if I had actually shown up at the office and demanded that they give her to me they probably would have, but my level headed dh kept telling me that they wouldn't keep her unless they felt it was necessary. After all the fuss i had made. As much as I want her home, I would feel horrible if something happened to her. It just bugs me that it is their"policy", I hope they are truly keeping her because it's the best thing for her.

I have major mama bear control issues. They were teasing me today, that they couldn't imagine if it was one of the kids having surgery I would probably be scrubbed in there standing next to the surgeon critiquing his work. Making sure he did the best possible job.


One of my best buds in high school is a vet, I almost took her too him, but he mainly does large animals so I chose this guy, because he specializes in small animals. I am kind of regretting that now, because I could have talked John into letting me bring Bella home immediately

I'm sorry about this. I know how hard this is. When, Endor, my pekingese was about 2 years old, she swallowed a greenie and it got stuck in her throat. This was on Christmas Day. We spent the whole day and night at the Emergency Vet. I wasn't going to leave her and I wanted to be available in case any decisions needed to be made quickly.

At around 9am the next day, after they were able to successfully just push the thing into her stomach, they still wanted to keep her for observation. It was hard to leave, but my DH convinced me that I needed to go home and get some sleep so that I could be ready for when we picked her up that afternoon.

It was really hard leaving her there. I totally understand your turmoil. Endor just turned 7 and she's doing great. Needless to say, she has never ever been close to another greenie since. My vet and the emergency vets said it was actually quite common for dogs to choke on them. So, we just do it the old fashioned way. I brush both of my pekes teeth every night.

Where do you live? State I mean.

I live in CA and was a vet tech for many years. We never kept pets over night after a spay/neuter. Honesty, not at any facility I worked for.

I also foster pets (well, just stopped about 4 months ago) and any babies I had spayed/neutered did not stay over night either.

I guess it also depends on what type of facility it is? Maybe it's a bit more pricey than others in general because obviously, staying over night is not cheap.

jcent is right though, you wouldn't have to steal her from them. LOL She is your baby and you absolutely could say that you would like her back in your care at any time.

During the second confirmation did they confirm that the surgery went smoothly? When you pick her up tomorrow, speak to the vet and ask a lot of questions. Ask why they felt the need to keep her over night, were there complications, did she react well to the anesthesia, did they charge you an additional charge?

*feel free to PM me of course if that first question is far too private* Didn't think of that but just thinking maybe different states have different policies.

Thanks gals, it helps that you understand. I live in the Midwest, so I don't think it's about being ahead of the times or some ritzy facility. Probably more the opposite. They are very highly recommended, and the vet who did the surgery is very educated but the oldest of the vets, so maybe he is more conservative? , they are a smaller family type operation with only three vets which I liked. She had the lazer procedure done if that makes a difference.

I will definitely ask lots of questions. In the AM. I already know that she is no longer on IV which concerned and reassured me at the same time. I am glad that she doesnt have the risk of ripping it out, but worried because she probably hasn't eaten and can get hypoglycemia which can be deadly in chi's as small as she is.

try not to over think or worry too much, or you will make yourself stresed. It sounds like just an ultra conservative practice. I am sure all is well, this is just how they do it. Still annoying though, as I believe pets, like humans, heal much better at home with family.

So how is Bella doing? Did everything go OK?

Late to the party, but mine never stayed overnight. I dropped them off at 8am, and picked them up by 5pm. Sally was super groggy from the anesthesia, but she slept it off at home in her doggie bed.

I used to work with animals too and our vet always kept the toy breeds overnight. Something about how it doesn't take much for their little bodies to go from ok to bad to worse. It was just a precaution mostly from the eating standpoint. When dogs get upset they dont eat. A lab, no big deal. A toy, huge deal! They dont have much to begin with, missing a few meals and trying to get over spaying is really hard on them.

hmmm, good to know elf, and that makes sense.