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Post-castration swelling

77K views 40 replies 16 participants last post by  wolfy dog 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So here's my story...

My 1 year old GSD was castrated last week. The vet kept him over night and we picked him up the following afternoon. When they sent him home, his scrotum was at least the same size as it was before the castration, if not a little bigger, and there was a fair bit of bruising (maybe 20-30% of his scrotum looked bruised). I crated him that evening with the e-collar on and most of the next day, just to restrict activity, and after that I started letting him wander around the living room - but no playing and if he started getting wound up he went back in the crate. We rearranged our furniture so that there was no place for him to go that I couldn't see him from where I was working on the couch, and if I so much as went to pee or fill a glass of water the e-collar went back on. I was bound and determined not to let him lick that site or do too much.

The next day I went to look at his site and noticed that the bruising was spreading, now we were up to about 50%, and it was a little more swollen. But he was acting fine - good appetite, friendly, seemed totally oblivious to the fact that anything had happened and kept giving me those sad eyes, not understanding why I wouldn't play with him. No signs of infections or anything. So then I took him out to pee, looked away for a minute to readjust my glove, and he'd launched himself into a nearby snowbank. :mad: He managed to either scrape off the scab over the incision on the snow or something and he was dripping bloody fluid all over (not just blood). After about an hour when I was just starting to consider the emergency vet it stopped. After that, I started icing it for 5-10 minutes or so a few times a day.

That was 2 days ago. Now, It's about twice the size it was, and is 100% black and blue. The site itself still looks fine to me, it's no warmer than his normal skin temp, no pus or discharge and no redness other than the purply red of the bruises, but he was acting in so much pain today that he didn't sit down for 2 hours. He just stood there panting and whining, and when he started trying to sit he'd yip and bolt forward and look behind him like he thought someone had kicked him in the butt. Needless to say I drove him straight to the vet the earliest time they get him in today.

Vet takes a look at it and kind of freaked out on me. Said that it was absolutely not normal swelling, it was a complication, and it was infected. She told me that I let him do too much activity, and that he was probably licking it when I wasn't paying attention. She asked me how long it had been swollen like that - saying it didn't even look like he'd been castrated. I said that it was swollen when I picked him up from the surgery (at least to the size it had been before i dropped him off) and she kind of snapped at me saying, "It did not look like that when he left here" (I didn't say it did, let me finish grrr). But that it had been getting steadily more swollen and more bruised since then, and told her about the one jump into the snow bank.

She gave him antibiotics, two pain medicines, and I'm supposed to be doing warm compresses on his scrotum every couple hours. He's also restricted to the crate for the next two days (this should be fun), and is supposed to be in the e-collar 24/7, even when he's eating. And if it's not showing improvement in 2 days she's taking him back for surgery to drain it.

So tonight I tried to do a warm compress on it, and the second I even touched his scrotum (literally the second, there was no pressure at all) he screamed. That's the best word I can think for it, it was a noise I'd never heard from him before. I tried again a few hours later (After another pain pill) and got the same response. I'm not sure what to do now, the warm compresses don't seem to be an option. The poor boy's in so much pain, and hating being crated like this, and I'm feeling like a rotten dog-mom.

I don't know what to do other than hope the antibiotics and crating works before he has to have more surgery... I just hate this...
 
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#38 ·
rad10,,, in people this drug is called ultram. in people, it can affect the prostrate of older guys. no idea if it would affect a dog in this way. it can also cause excessive thirst. first be alert for the inability to pee, distended ab and will feel bloated to the touch and will be painful to the touch. my working theory would be his urinary tract is inflamed including the prostrate due to the surgery. the med may have added to this, should only become an issue if he is unable to pee. should pass.
 
#40 ·
Gosh I feel for you! My 2 year bully sack blew up to the size of a orange and they kept him over night! Took him home the next day luckily it asnt got any bigger but still roughly the same size 5 days on I’ve really been strict with just little walk in the garden so he can pee and poo of cause he wants to play and go made and 5 days on he’s becoming very frustrated I feel bad also but I have to be firm otherwise who knows what will happen he’s back to the vets tomorrow hopefully will receive good news! I restricted him to 1 small area with his cage in there if I heard to much moving about I put him in his cage and I also used herbal sedation which did help slightly! Just hoping tomorrows visit to the vets is good news!
 
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