Just Spayed, won't eat?!?! ASAP please

I would forget the pain pill, I still beleive a good scratching behind the ear is the best pill but, have you tried things like peoples hamburger or other peoples food...There is no way that she will starve  but if you can;t get her to eat then call and ask if you can give the antibiotic on an empty stomach...I never sent  spays out with antibiotic and never saw an infection develope...but every one is different...you might try getting water into her by using a turkey baster....
but in any even I still think she will be fine  with or without the pills.....but try her on peopls hamburgeer or the likes...

Honestly, I won't give my dogs pain meds post spueter.  The small discomfort they *might* have serves to keep them from overdoing.  And I can't imagine the "why" of the antibiotic, but I'd not worry much if you can't get food in her tonite.  I've actually never had a dog allowed to eat the nite after a spueter.

Usally the vet gives the dog a pre-surgery pain med which las about a day. The only time i've ever heard the vet telling someone to feed their pet the night of the surgery is when the dog is in very poor shape and needs the food in their body. The post meds are for the confort of the dog, the pain mostly. Hamberger is alright for a dog but don't dare give it a hot dog as wheaners are somewhat toxic to dog along with balongie (sp?) and most canned meats.

I hate to ask this but i was in practice for allmost 50 years and never heard the term----spueter---would you clue me in

My experience with Willow was that since she was older at the time of the spay, the surgery was a little more involved and they did give her some extra pain medication, but before she came home.  We didn't come home with any type of medication at all. 

She could only have small amounts of water that night and then she could start eating again I think it was the next day.  God, time flies, it's already been 3 years since she had it done. 

Anyway, I don't want to give advice over your vet but would it be possible to hold off on ALL food tonight.  There is still a good chance she would get sick if made to eat just yet.  Especially, since she came home at 6 and only 4 hours later you need her to eat.  I remember Willow didn't even get water for that many hours. 

How old is she?  Why did they give the antibiotic, was there some issue?  I'm just curious. 
 
Sorry, didn't even give an answer to your question, sort of went off on my own little tangent. 
 
I'd say if she doesn't want to eat tonight, start the medication tomorrow.  Let her get some rest tonight.  I noticed a big difference in Willow the very next day.  That first night, she was really out of it.

Thank you all for your advice!  I just put her meds in with the food and left the bowls of food and water by her all night.  The antibiotic was because when the vet went in there was an existing scar and scar tissue, it's just a precausion.  I am not sure what the scar is from.  The vet thought for a moment that she had already been spayed, but she hadn't.  We rescued her a few months ago from life in a crate (all day and all night!).  Thanks again!

Sorry doc.  Spueter is my lazy way of typing spay/nueter.  Didn't mean to confuse you!  And I know, being an older folk myself, we DO confuse easily!

My dog was spayed on Monday evening. The vet gave me pain pills & I gave them to her Tuesday evening & Wednesday & one on Thursday morning. I have a friend who thinks dogs don't need pain medications. That's crazy! If a human has a hysterectomy she has pain & a dog is no different... they feel pain just like we do.
 
I picked Chloe up from the vet late Tuesday afternoon & they told me she had not eaten for them. When we arrived home, she would drink but wouldn't eat. Late that night she appeared to be experiencing some pain & I decided to tempt her with "human" food so I could give her a pain pill. While she ate a couple of slices of ham, I pressed her pain pill into shredded cheddar & pressed it tightly to completely cover it. She swallowed it down without incident & I have continued to use shredded cheddar to hide her pills. I won't give her much b/c I don't want her to become constipated.
 
She started eating normally again on Wednesday & wanted to play fetch again. She is more tired than normal, but that is to be expected.
 
I hope Laila is doing well.

I got my Great Dane spayed a few weeks ago.  I always go to the HS to get my dogs spayed/ neuter.  They don't charge as much as the vet which is great for me because I'm a student and the only money coming in is from DH.  They never give me pain meds and I think it helps them stay calm after surgery so they don't pull anything.  I found my after care sheet from them and it said your dogs appetite may not return to normal until 1-2 days after the surgery.  I don't think your friend was crazy saying that your dog didn't need them unless she seemed to be in severe pain.  I wouldn't want to give any of my dogs meds that the really didn't need.

If a human has a hysterectomy she has pain & a dog is no different... they feel pain just like we do.

 
They have some pain but you don't want to medicate and make them think they are fine.  They need to be still for a few days afterward.  Whereas a human understands they need to recover.

I don't not give pain meds post op for spay or nueter.  The minimal discomfort they feel keeps them from over doing without my constant intervention.
 
And actually, I had a hysterectomy done 25 years ago.....I refused all pain meds post op.  The pain was not severe enough to take opiates

Vets can back me up on this, but it's my understanding that as far as we can figure, pain functions slightly differently in dogs than it does in us, because of their limited self-awareness.  Mild pain says to them, "Find a quiet, safe place, don't do anything."  Plus, of course, "Figure out how to avoid doing THAT again!"  By contrast, pain makes us anxious, which adds to the pain, because there is a level that our self-awareness adds - we are asking ourselves, "How can I stop this?"  Our instinct is very limited by contrast - if we can't get rid of the pain by our efforts, the anxiety can become worse than the pain.  If the pain is distracting, it can hamper healing by creating a depressive state.  A dog will lay quietly and simply wait for the pain to pass - it's instinctive.  We can reproduce this through various self-distractive techniques and they do work to lessen pain (anyone who has done a full Lamaze birth can verify this - the pain is there, but not at a distracting level).

Prey animals react to pain differently still - if it affects their mobility.  Fear creates depression, which can hamper healing.  We use pain meds in this case to stop that cycle.  Dogs don't get to that level easily - their depression is linked to an instinctive fear of being kicked out of the pack.  A continuation of the normal routine, as far as possible, can avoid this state.  I'd also definitely use pain meds if possible - ie, if the dog were immobilized enough that the normal routine were completely broken.

Post op pain meds are often counter-productive for dogs and cats because you can't reason with a dog that he's still required to stay still for his health.  For speutering you do need that quiet post-op day at a minimum, and even rattling around in a crate can cause problems. 

Plus, many vets use Rimadyl or other anti-inflammatories for routine pain control, and I'm not 100% convinced that the risks of using these are worth the level of pain control they provide.  Imagine if your doctor gave you meds after a hystorectomy, but told you that there was a risk of liver damage with their use - would you be so gung-ho to use them if you had a nice quiet bed to lie in, people to wait on you hand and foot, etc? 

I'm allergic to narcotic and narcotic type pain meds and anti-inflammatory type pain meds are rarely allowed immediately post-op - so I'm very familiar with the level of pain  that occurs post-op, since I've had three major surgeries and a few minor ones.  Day one is great as the operative anesthetics are still in effect.  Day two is the worst - it's the day I watch for the worst discomfort and occaisionally do use the pain meds.  Day three in dogs is almost always great (I'm still miserable on the third and fourth day, but I'm a wimp [8|]) and I can stop the pain meds with no apparent repercussions on the dog's attitude.  By the fifth day, even wimpy me has adjusted to the pain and - except for the time I wrecked my truck and had to have my right leg and left ankle rebuilt - can go med-free entirely.

I understand both points of view - I medicated Chloe b/c when she winced from pain she also wanted to lick the incision. Do animal medications cause problems? Sure that's a possibility, the same as with medications for humans (have you ever read the warning labels on a bottle of aspirin or 90% of the OTC meds?).
 
My "La Pit" (lab/pit mix) has a very high pain threshhold. My beagle mix pain threshhold is much lower.
 
As a person with serious medical diseases (some of which are rare & life-threatening), I too, try to live without medication, but there are times when I cry UNCLE. I use them occasionally & then only sparingly when needed. On the other hand, I've met people who cry when they get a minor bruise but I cannot judge their pain threshold.
 
For the record I don't advocate poochie popping pills & this will probably be the only time this year she has pain meds - her once-in-a-lifetime spay. []
 
Thanks for everyone for sharing your views.