Preparing Your Home For Your Dog After Its Surgery
Dogs are known to be man's best friend, and because of this bond, you want to make sure you do everything in your power to keep your pet comfortable and happy. Because your dog is booked in with the vet to have surgery to remove a small cancer, it is important you know about changes to make at home to aid in their recovery. Dogs left to move about without restraint after surgery risk the chance of breaking open stitches or using the energy they need for recovery. Consider making these three changes at home before you take your pet to the vet on surgery day.
Install baby gates
Baby gates are an ideal way to keep a pet limited to a room without closing the door and isolating them. A dog locked away by themselves after an operation becomes stressed. This rising stress level leads to erratic behaviour to get your attention, and this action could damage the surgery point.
Installing a baby gate in a little-used room like your laundry, for example, means the dog can still hear and smell human movement in the home. Being able to see and hear you removes the chance of them suffering isolation anxiety. Baby gates can be purchased new at your local department store, or you can pick up second-hand ones at garage sales and on social media buy/sell groups.
Buy non-slip rugs
After your canine buddy has had their surgery, they will be a little unsteady on their feet. Even after they have recovered from receiving anaesthetic, there is the healing of the surgical site to get through. If your dog is wearing a cone to stop them chewing their sutures, this item can cause your pet to become unbalanced when moving around.
The last thing you want while your dog is off-balance is for them to slip on the floor and pull open their stitches. The purchase of anti-slip rugs gives them a reliable place to walk on as they move through the home. You can buy these at a department or flooring store.
Consider their bedding
Finally, while your dog recovers, they need access to a comfortable bed where they can rest and heal. However, the bedding they have used in the past may not be appropriate at this time. For example, if they have previously jumped up onto your bed to sleep, this manoeuvre is not wise while their wounds heal. Likewise, a blanket on the floor could get tangled in their feet while they are unsteady. If the current bedding situation is not conducive for their recovery, purchase a soft, padded dog bed which is.
Talk to your vet to obtain further ideas about how to help your furbaby heal once their surgery is complete.