# Swelling/Bruising after Neutering?



## joebeans

My José was neutered today and I've never had a dog go through it so maybe I am just paranoid, but, I am noticing tonight that his scrotal sack is swollen and there appears to be fresh bruising appearing. There is no active bleeding, but it is tender to the touch to him so I am concerned. I have given him a baby aspirin for pain/inflammation control but I will be calling the vet in the morning to check on it. Anyone noticed this before after a neuter?


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## TiffsLilChi

I'm not a professional at all. But I've had a few dogs that have gone throught it. There was a little bit of swelling just cuz its trying to heal, I was told as long as nothing is oozing or really bad swelling is occuring theres no reason to be worried, but its not wrong at all to call the vet if you have any kind of concerns. Thats what their there for right?


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## ilovesadie

joebeans said:


> My José was neutered today and I've never had a dog go through it so maybe I am just paranoid, but, I am noticing tonight that his scrotal sack is swollen and there appears to be fresh bruising appearing. There is no active bleeding, but it is tender to the touch to him so I am concerned. I have given him a baby aspirin for pain/inflammation control but I will be calling the vet in the morning to check on it. Anyone noticed this before after a neuter?



2 questions, are you seeing actual swelling (fluid build up under the skin) around the scrotum, or is the scrotum itself just loose. 

It's not abnormal for the scrotal area to be sore post-neuter, since during the first part of the surgery, the dr has to physically peel the testes from the spermadic cord/scrotal skin, and area of ligation usually bleeds a bit or the skin tears post-op. However, it's usually not traumatic enough to make a dog bruised to the point of extreme pain. If your buddy is still in pain tommorow, I'd ask your vet for some pain medication or NSAID to ease the swelling. Most vets today are pretty good about pain management, and really most neuters are relatively painless, as the surgery only takes a few minutes and isn't nearly as invasive as a spay.

If you are seeing "black and blue" coloration on the skin, and it is very swollen (even if there is no fresh bleeding), I would highly consider taking him to the ER. These are indications of hematoma, bleeding out, and it's possible a ligation may have slipped. Any signs of dizziness, extreme pain, difficulty breathing, acute lethargy you should be wary of. When the vet examines the scrotum they will be able to tell you exactly what's going on. The best case scenario it's just tissue damage at the suture site that causes the bruising and serum fills the space. Worst case scenario, there's a problem and you'll be at the vet already to take care of Jose. 

Let us know how your dog is doing!

-Nate


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## xx-nathalie-xx

how is josé doing?

kisses nat


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## OzzyAndLilysMom

awww poor jose no I dont remember Ozzy having any major bruising or swelling but different people/ dogs heal in different ways - definately give the vet a ring if your worried :wave:


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## KB

FEEL better Jose, keep us posted!


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## nabi

Bella sends Jose a hug..hope he is feeling better today.


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## luv4mygirls

hope he feels better


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## SunnyFLMum

I actually have a question....?? 

When my toy poodle got neutered 10 years ago, he was castrated, so he has no sack or anything left. But now I see dogs with their little sack still there? Is this how they do it now? Becuase if so is ot something that needs to be requested, I would like Gizmo to keep some of his little manhood ya know?! :lol:


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## Armando...

Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando


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## Armando...

Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando


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## joebeans

Well it is morning and he doesn't look a whole lot better. Thanks Nate for replying, I was hoping you would... I am a human medical person.... so I am familiar with hematomas and he definitely has one... I can feel free fluid in the scrotal sack... so something is bleeding into it. Yesterday I watched the neutering and saw that his little sac was empty and loose and now it looks like he wasn't even neutered, the reason for my concern. It is tender to my touch and I can palpate some fluid inside of it... until he yelps and doesn't want me to touch it anymore. Phoned the vet this morning and spoke with the vet tech, she told me some swelling is common, but I explained I don't think a hematoma like this is common after a neuter so she said I could come back in and get some pain medication, but I have a feeling there will be more involved in that... My poor baby... a simple neuter and he looks just pitiful. I will let you guys know how it goes after I take him back in this morning.


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## Armando...

Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando


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## joebeans

I took some pictures to show Nate, and see what he thinks.. I didn't want to directly post them here, some people might not want to see, but if you do, click the links below... Yes... I took pictures of my dog's scrotum LOL

Click here to see Picture #1

Click here to see Picture #2


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## luv4mygirls

yikes, that doesn't look good. glad you are taking him to the vet! i hope he heals soon!


by the way you've got men all over the world cringing with those pics) :twisted:


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## ilovesadie

Joe that is definately abnormal. To me it looks like a bleedout and I can't believe it that neuter looks excruciating. Can't tell without physical examination, but it should be seen to determine if it's just serum filling the cavity, or actual hematoma. If they used the method of tying off the cord and slicing the testicle off at the stalk, usually the area of ligature is what is traumatized and swollen.

Hate to break it to you, but if there is a hematoma they may likely have to reanesthetize your pup to see what bled and repair sutures. This totally sucks and my heart goes out to you. 

I don't want to jump say it's a hackjob since it does happen especially if the dog moves around a lot, but if I were you I'd nicely ask for Jose's medical records (after he's fixed) and consider a new surgeon in the future. 

Joe I hope that everything goes well at the vet. The worst thing you can do at this point is start an argument with the vet about it before your dog is taken care of, but I would be outraged if they don't acknowledge that something went wrong on their end. It's not like you took him on a hike after he came home, or probed around with a hemostat. If there is a problem with your vet having an integrity issue, please ask me for advice before you pursue legal action. 

Please keep us posted. I hope that it is the better of the two situations and Jose is just fine. -Nate

EDIT: I looked again and it also appears that Jose has razor burn (from the clippers) around the perimeter of the scrotum. Have these people ever heard of gentle trimming? Sorry, but it makes me a little angry Joe.


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## ilovesadie

SunnyFLMum said:


> I actually have a question....??
> 
> When my toy poodle got neutered 10 years ago, he was castrated, so he has no sack or anything left. But now I see dogs with their little sack still there? Is this how they do it now? Becuase if so is ot something that needs to be requested, I would like Gizmo to keep some of his little manhood ya know?! :lol:


When a young dog is first neutered, the skin from the scrotum is loose, and just looks like an extra flap of skin. The skin loses its elasticity over time and the area becomes flat. Older dogs that are neutered often retain this extra flap of skin. Any dog that has visible "full" scrotum either is not neutered, or paid extra for neuticlel implants. 

SunnyFLMum, very very few vets implant "neuticles" after the neuter to simulate testicles. It's a cosmetic insert, and that is allt. Forgive me for saying this, but having neuticals is not going to give Gizmo any part of his manhood back =( In fact, there are very few vets that use neuticles because there have recently been reports of allergic reaction to the synthetic material causing dogs to chew them off themselves (how's that for manhood?), and cancerous masses that have grown adjacent to the neuticles. My opinion is that neuticals are unecessary, and there is no medical reason to insert them, and there is medical reason not to. 

Just my 2 cents! =) Hope it helps your decision.
-Nate


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## joebeans

Wow, thanks for your reply Nate. You're a great source of advice. I just returned home from the vet. He took a quick look at him and said that it just looks edematous and it usually only happens to large breed dogs and its not common on little dogs. He gave me Clavamox 62.5mg to give q12 hours to prevent an infection and Rimadyl 25mg to give q12 hours for the pain. I asked him if it needed to be drained and he said no that it would only fill back up and that the pressure inside the scrotum will prevent any further bleeding and it will resolve on its own within 1-2 weeks. I watched the entire procedure being done yesterday, they weren't extremely rough with the clippers, just did a quick shave, and it looked to me like he made a single ligature around the cords and then cut off the testicles. José is ok otherwise, he is just REALLY sore... I would be too if I had a huge hematoma hanging between my legs!! I just gave him the Rimadyl and Clavamox... I hope it helps with his pain, I know he is hurting. Do you think what the vet said is proper or should I consider taking him to another vet for a 2nd opinion??


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## ilovesadie

joebeans said:


> Wow, thanks for your reply Nate. You're a great source of advice. I just returned home from the vet. He took a quick look at him and said that it just looks edematous and it usually only happens to large breed dogs and its not common on little dogs. He gave me Clavamox 62.5mg to give q12 hours to prevent an infection and Rimadyl 25mg to give q12 hours for the pain. I asked him if it needed to be drained and he said no that it would only fill back up and that the pressure inside the scrotum will prevent any further bleeding and it will resolve on its own within 1-2 weeks. I watched the entire procedure being done yesterday, they weren't extremely rough with the clippers, just did a quick shave, and it looked to me like he made a single ligature around the cords and then cut off the testicles. José is ok otherwise, he is just REALLY sore... I would be too if I had a huge hematoma hanging between my legs!! I just gave him the Rimadyl and Clavamox... I hope it helps with his pain, I know he is hurting. Do you think what the vet said is proper or should I consider taking him to another vet for a 2nd opinion??


Joe, sent your picture to work to have a Dr. look at it. They said the bruising does happen on occasion, usually a result of tearing of the skin at the suture site. If the vet examined it and recognized it as not a huge threat, then it probably looks way worse than it feels probably. The edema is probably not blood, it's probably serum that collected after the testicles were removed at the stalk. However, they said you did the right thing by having the doctor re-examine, a real hematoma does present itself similarly, and without physical examination it's hard to tell the difference. What is odd is the pain, since most canine neuters have very little post-op pain and bounce back the same day even with the swelling. 

If your pup doesn't improve, or you start seeing blood or darkening in the urine, or increased soreness, I'd have the doctor recheck again. 

Sorry for creating such alarm in my previous post! At our hospital we get a lot of referrals to do repair work from people who have had hackjobs from low-cost spay/neuter clinics, and have seen more of these scrotal hematomas, so I'm more inclined to be cautious of one. As they say, better to be safe than sorry!

-Nate


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## Auggies Mom

Poor Jose Having such terrible problems with what is normally a fairly routine procedure for males. I hope the vet is correct and Jose is better soon. I would be totally freaked out if Auggie had looked like that. Hugs and Kisses to Jose


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## Gadget's Mom

I am praying that Jose is ok and he gets better very soon.. 

Good luck and God bless


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## joebeans

Thanks again Nate. He is acting fine other than his scrotum being sore... He kinda waddles a little bit... otherwise he is acting ok... he's eating and drinking, peeing and pooping just fine... no vomiting or diarrhea or blood in his urine. Hopefully he will be better.... and it was a low cost neuter clinic  I don't think I will do that again. Although my sister's dog was neutered by the same vet, and didn't have this problem. I'll post an update soon and let you guys know how he's doing. Thanks for all the well wishes. :wave:


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## Rachael Polachek

So, so glad to hear he seems to be recovering nicely.  

But those really are some nasty looking pictures. :lol:


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## SunnyFLMum

ilovesadie said:


> SunnyFLMum said:
> 
> 
> 
> I actually have a question....??
> 
> When my toy poodle got neutered 10 years ago, he was castrated, so he has no sack or anything left. But now I see dogs with their little sack still there? Is this how they do it now? Becuase if so is ot something that needs to be requested, I would like Gizmo to keep some of his little manhood ya know?! :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> When a young dog is first neutered, the skin from the scrotum is loose, and just looks like an extra flap of skin. The skin loses its elasticity over time and the area becomes flat. Older dogs that are neutered often retain this extra flap of skin. Any dog that has visible "full" scrotum either is not neutered, or paid extra for neuticlel implants.
> 
> SunnyFLMum, very very few vets implant "neuticles" after the neuter to simulate testicles. It's a cosmetic insert, and that is allt. Forgive me for saying this, but having neuticals is not going to give Gizmo any part of his manhood back =( In fact, there are very few vets that use neuticles because there have recently been reports of allergic reaction to the synthetic material causing dogs to chew them off themselves (how's that for manhood?), and cancerous masses that have grown adjacent to the neuticles. My opinion is that neuticals are unecessary, and there is no medical reason to insert them, and there is medical reason not to.
> 
> Just my 2 cents! =) Hope it helps your decision.
> -Nate
Click to expand...

Ok that is gross, why on earth would someone stick an implant in there?? No Gizmo is definately getting neutered, I just wondered if there was a new procedure going around that I didn't know about since I see so many doggies who are neutered with little sacks...not full testicles, but just the little sack. My little poodle got neutered at 8 months and he has nothing in that area now...but thanks for letting me know what that is, I had no idea people went to such extreme measures to create a "testicle" look...totally bizarre..

Thanks alot for that info, your awesome!


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## chimom

So glad to hear Jose was better yesterday. How is he today? Give us an update when you get a chance. 

Hugs to both of you {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}


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## joebeans

José is doing much better today. The swelling is starting to come down a bit and he was actually in the mood to play wrestle with Chiquita so he is going to be ok I think  Thanks again for all the well wishes... José soaks up the attention like a little sponge!


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## NoahFL

Glad to hear he's doing better. I almost lost Zeus due to a botch neuter job. I made a bad decision to take him to the vet who had been seeing him since his birth rather then my vet that I've used for years. After Zeus' neuter job, the following day I had to take Zeus back to the vet because Zeus couldn't urinate on his own and the vet had to resedate Zeus to correct the problem. He claimed the sutures were too tight, causing massive swelling and not allowing him to urinate. Zeus had a 1 inch incision that couldn't be closed up to allow draining. It was awful. Twice a day, I had to put antibiotic ointment in the hole. I had taken Zeus for a follow up to my vet as I told the other vet he won't be seeing my dog again. Zeus was still not urinating correctly. I took him to my vet and he had drained about 50cc of urine from Zeus. He said 1 of 2 things had happened. The other vet either pierced his urethra and sutured the urethra or completely went around the urethra and clamped the urethra shut with the suture. I had to re-pottytrain Zeus all over again and it took a good 2 weeks for him to completly recover. I remember sleeping next to Zeus on his bed on the floor during the night just to comfort and watch over him. I couldn't keep him in my bed while he was still leaking.

I thank God that I took Zeus back to the vet when I did. The vet said had I not brought him in when I did (even though they still wanted me to wait alittle while longer to see if he'd urinate on his own), his bladder would have ruptured and I could have lost Zeus.


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## luv4mygirls

NoahFL said:


> Glad to hear he's doing better. I almost lost Zeus due to a botch neuter job. I made a bad decision to take him to the vet who had been seeing him since his birth rather then my vet that I've used for years. After Zeus' neuter job, the following day I had to take Zeus back to the vet because Zeus couldn't urinate on his own and the vet had to resedate Zeus to correct the problem. He claimed the sutures were too tight, causing massive swelling and not allowing him to urinate. Zeus had a 1 inch incision that couldn't be closed up to allow draining. It was awful. Twice a day, I had to put antibiotic ointment in the hole. I had taken Zeus for a follow up to my vet as I told the other vet he won't be seeing my dog again. Zeus was still not urinating correctly. I took him to my vet and he had drained about 50cc of urine from Zeus. He said 1 of 2 things had happened. The other vet either pierced his urethra and sutured the urethra or completely went around the urethra and clamped the urethra shut with the suture. I had to re-pottytrain Zeus all over again and it took a good 2 weeks for him to completly recover. I remember sleeping next to Zeus on his bed on the floor during the night just to comfort and watch over him. I couldn't keep him in my bed while he was still leaking.
> 
> I thank God that I took Zeus back to the vet when I did. The vet said had I not brought him in when I did (even though they still wanted me to wait alittle while longer to see if he'd urinate on his own), his bladder would have ruptured and I could have lost Zeus.


oh gosh! poor baby!


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## xfayex

Me too - i hope he makes a speedy recovery!


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## chimom

Glad to hear Jose is feeling well enough to play. Hope he is soon lively and chipper as ever.


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## Rachael Polachek

NoahFL said:


> Glad to hear he's doing better. I almost lost Zeus due to a botch neuter job. I made a bad decision to take him to the vet who had been seeing him since his birth rather then my vet that I've used for years. After Zeus' neuter job, the following day I had to take Zeus back to the vet because Zeus couldn't urinate on his own and the vet had to resedate Zeus to correct the problem. He claimed the sutures were too tight, causing massive swelling and not allowing him to urinate. Zeus had a 1 inch incision that couldn't be closed up to allow draining. It was awful. Twice a day, I had to put antibiotic ointment in the hole. I had taken Zeus for a follow up to my vet as I told the other vet he won't be seeing my dog again. Zeus was still not urinating correctly. I took him to my vet and he had drained about 50cc of urine from Zeus. He said 1 of 2 things had happened. The other vet either pierced his urethra and sutured the urethra or completely went around the urethra and clamped the urethra shut with the suture. I had to re-pottytrain Zeus all over again and it took a good 2 weeks for him to completly recover. I remember sleeping next to Zeus on his bed on the floor during the night just to comfort and watch over him. I couldn't keep him in my bed while he was still leaking.
> 
> I thank God that I took Zeus back to the vet when I did. The vet said had I not brought him in when I did (even though they still wanted me to wait alittle while longer to see if he'd urinate on his own), his bladder would have ruptured and I could have lost Zeus.


My God, what a horrible situation! Thank goodness your other vet was able to turn things around. I understand that mistakes happen but apparently that first guy either wouldn't admit his error or he failed to recognize it. Either way, bad vet. :evil:


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## Frasier's Mommy

omgosh I looked at one of the pics. Poor baby. Besides pain, he must have been feeling scared and confused. I'm glad he's feeling better now.

I'm moving to your town and I'd be very interested who the vet was. Was it your regular doctor or the low cost clinic that actually did it?

If you're comfortable telling me, then please PM the info. I promise to be discreet with it.

The thing that bugs me, even if the job was done okay is that he didn't send you home with pain meds.

And by the way.. what a super pup to let you take those pics!! I could never get Frasier to be that cooperative.


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## janiebabes

awwwwwwwwww that poor little guy. I am a woman and after seeing those pics im holding myself feeling the pain :shock: hope all turns out well for your littel guy


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## joebeans

He is doing MUCH better now... the swelling is almost gone in his scrotum and the bruising is starting to fade. The vet really isn't a bad guy... I've known lots of people to use their clinic.... and they do care about the animals and making sure they are taken care of... They offer low cost shot clinics every other Saturday to make sure everyone is able to have their pets vaccinated, even if money is a concern, and they participate in a low cost spay/neuter program to help control unwanted pups that end up in shelters. So I believe that they are good people. They didn't send me home with any pain medication because he received a shot of pain meds before we left. They didn't charge me for having to take him back, or for the 2 prescriptions I was given for the antibiotics and the pain pills. I trust the vet did the right thing now that I see José getting better and he is actually starting to be a much sweeter dog already!


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## janiebabes

I am relieved to hear all is well. These furkids will be the death of us yet lol.


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## KJsChihuahuas

:shock: My groin hurt from just looking at that picture!!!!!!!!! I am so glad all is well with him now


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## Seren

I am soooo glad José is getting better! He must have been in a lot of pain going by the pics and what youve said. I dont blame you going to that vets as you sister had taken her dog there with no problem. And now hopefully José is over the worst.
When i get my little one neutered im going to take her to the same vet that the breeder uses, as there experienced with Chi`s.


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## ilovesadie

I'm so glad that Jose is feeling better!! Those pictures gave me goosebumps!! :shock:


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