[Serawyn]

Yesterday, my husband dropped Ellie off at our regular vet so that she could get spayed. We love our vet and trust her to do a good job. She did prior blood tests to make sure there was nothing wrong with Ellie's kidney, liver, etc. before the surgery.

The vet called after the surgery to let us know Ellie did well. However, the vet's policy is to keep the dog crated at the office overnight so they could rest and someone knowledgeable would monitor the dog. This morning, the vet went in to check on the sutures to make sure Ellie was fine.

Now, here is the guilt. Ellie was last fed on Monday night at 6pm. She had water up until midnight and then nothing was given on Tuesday morning due to the surgery. Since Ellie stayed overnight, we couldn't have fed her dinner or breakfast. It is now Wednesday and I am stuck at work. My husband is stuck at work as well and we cannot get to her to pick her up!!! I won't be able to get to her until 3:30pm today, which means she would have gone at least 45 hours without eating. I am dying thinking of how hungry she must be. I cried last night because the house was so empty and quiet. I kept thinking of her being away and waking up in a different location. I called the vet and they said they could give her a bit of wet food, but she normally eats Orijen and they don't carry that. The vet recommends not to give her a different kind of food since we won't know if Ellie is throwing up due to the surgery or new food. So right now all she gets is water.

I am the world's worst golden mother! I wish I had though about the food situation before letting my husband drop Ellie off at the vet.

 

[Angelina]

Don't beat yourself up about it. She will be on pain meds and groggy and won't have much of an appetite anyway. She will sleep.

I hope she heals quickly and is back to her old self fast.

 

[MikaTallulah]

The vet is to blame for your pups hunger not you. If they keep overnight at the office than they should make sure to tell the owner to bring food for their dog when they drop them off.

 

[My Big Kahuna]

Your obvious care for your golden makes you an AWESOME GR mom!!!!!!! I know you're stressed but you'll pick her up at 3:30 and feed her and all will be back to normal Deep breaths

 

[GoldenCamper]

I think you could soak the Orijen to the point it turns into mush. Same food just turned into wet slop.

 

[Serawyn]

I think the vet was expecting us to pick her up this morning so Ellie would have only missed her dinner last night.

Thank you all for the kind words. I still feel like I should have thought more about it. I'll get to see my little girl in 3.5 hours! Yay.

 

[cubbysan]

Sometimes we live and learn.

I am sure she probably isn't very hungry at this point.

When my dog Brady had a blockage, and then surgery, he probably didn't eat more than a couple teaspoons for over a week.

You know, I never thought to bring my dog's own food when being boarded for medical reasons, I have always had them feed them the food they had there. Though I did bring hamburg to Brady doing his recovery, because he wouldn't eat for the vets.

 

[jluke]

It'll Be OK

When Maisie was spayed last week, she came home that evening -- but wasn't very hungry. And her vet told us to re-introduce food sparingly. I understand that you feel upset, but your pup will be fine and get back to normal quickly. And you'll be giving pain meds with food, probably spaced out a bit, so she'll be getting small meals -- that may help.

Sorry you feel bad, but we can't always foresee every circumstance. Like toddlers, puppies are resilient. She'll be so happy to see you!

 

[Sosoprano]

Ditto what otters have said. When Pippa was spayed a couple of months ago, we brought her home the afternoon after the procedure and she was very groggy. We didn’t feed her until the next morning, thinking she must be starved--and she promptly threw it right back up. She really didn’t feel like eating properly until that night. So it might even be a bonus that Ellie's tummy has a good chance to recover from the anesthesia before trying to digest anything. What a good GR mom you are!