Q. My dog is supposed to undergo abdominal surgery, but I am worried about putting him through it. When my husband had abdominal surgery, he was so tender at the incision site that it took a month and a half before he was able to walk without pain. I know my dog needs the operation, but he’s very active. How am I supposed to keep him from overextending himself in the aftermath of the procedure so he doesn’t end up getting hurt? It feels like a Catch 22.
Annabelle Wexler
Atkinson, New Hampshire
Dear Ms. Wexler,
Take heart. Your dog is going to recover much faster than your husband. Consider that when a person stands up to walk, he stands on two legs only and has to use his abdominal muscles to keep from tipping over. If the abdominal muscles have been cut into in order to get to an organ that needs a surgical procedure, contracting those muscles to move around can really hurt.
A dog, on the other hand, walks on all four limbs instead of two. That means his legs do all the balancing and spare his abdomen any exertion. All the abdominal muscles have to do for a dog is hold in his organs rather than tighten and relax every single time he takes a step.
What it means is that your dog will be able to walk the day of the surgery. And he should be completely back to himself inside of a week to 10 days. Go ahead and schedule the operation without feeling caught between a rock and a hard place.
