How long is the recovery after a dog spay or neuter?

When your dog wakes up after surgery, we extubate the tube in their throat for the anesthetic. As soon as that's out, we'll give you a call and let you know that they're safely awake. They'll spend three or four hours with us at the hospital, so we can continue to observe them to ensure a smooth recovery. They'll then go home that afternoon.

It takes about two weeks for them to fully heal with the incision, either on their abdomen or on the scrotum. They need to be confined on a leash during those two weeks when you take them out to the bathroom. You don’t have to confine them while in the house. They can run around, but they will need a cone to stop them from chewing on their incision.

It can vary, but generally you're looking at anywhere from around five to seven days of them having to be rested and calm.

Recovery time tends to be about a week for both. It might be a little faster for our males. Five to seven days for our males versus like seven to 10 days for our females. But either way, it's not a long turnaround time. They usually come out of it a lot easier than we do.

The recovery period typically lasts about a week. We ask that you return with your dog a week after the procedure so we can check the incision and ensure everything is healing correctly. In rare cases, such as with older patients, the recovery might take slightly longer.

The average recovery period is about one week before we lift restrictions and allow your dog to go back to its normal activity.

We generally recommend keeping them calm for the first 10 to 14 days. This is the most important healing time.