My girl was spayed on Tuesday, thankfully she is starting to feel better after the proceedure ( looking forward to my own bed soon!) This may seem like a daft question BUT when I had my boy neutered(for a health reason) we were told that it would take months to see any change in behaviour as the testosterone(sp?) would still be present, is this the same with the hormones in the bitches?

Poor girl had a phantom and mastitis and was behaving like a right grumpy madam, already she seem more like her old self.
My younger girl is due in season soon, will my older girl be affected in any way by this?

Finally, I am giving her arnica to promote healing, they have a dressing over the stitches, I would have thought that leaving it open to the air to dry out was preferable? Stitches due out Friday so I am not touching the dressing.

i think the dressing can be left off if you can guarentee that the dog is not going to worry the wound or get it dirty, but you would need to take advice from your vet on that to be sure.
I think the hormone levels start to drop very soon after, but i would imagine it takes a while for them to fully go back to normal particularly if spayed whilst going through a phantom pregnancy asit takes longer for the hormone levels to return to normal. for this reason we don't like to spay a bitch until we are sure thatshe is no longer having a phantom.
I have found that a bitch in season in the house hold can upset the balance between all the dogs in the pack, whether they are neutered or not. This change can be quite subtle and down to a change in dynamics rather than actually hormone changes i would think. (in neutered dogs anyway, entire dogs and bitches are likely to be hormonally affected. )

I haven't had any stitches to take out after a spay for the last 20 years!

Invisible mending, no stitches in sight, all internal and break down naturally.  I thought all spays were done like that nowadays.

It obviously needs exactly the right tension, not too tight, and not too loose.  If done correctly there are no internal stitches pulling, so no discomfort for a bitch to keep checking and licking.  Mine have never had dressings on, and never messed with it either.

I think your girls reaction, hormones etc will very much depend on what time in her cycle she was spayed.  I always go for 12 weeks after a season for this reason.

My vet had a grandad who was a tailor - and when not at vet college, used to practise invisible mending on gents suits!!  :-)

>Invisible mending, no stitches in sight, all internal and break down naturally.  I thought all spays were done like that nowadays.

No - external stitches that are removed at 10 days is still the norm.

My girly was spayed last Thursday and she has internal and external stitches (to be removed Tuesday)

I too was planning on 12 weeks after the season BUT we were then hit by a phantom,mastitis and several bouts of water infection, so we had to wait until all the milk etc had gone . She has other health problems and after consultation with a vet who has knowledge of her from the RVC I was advised to go ahead.

She is occasionally spinning round as if concerned about something at her rear  but I take  it that is the knitting together. My friends girl had staples.

This morning she is much brighter, SHE got a good nights sleep, I found myself pushed off the camp bed by her and on to the floor.
Thanks for the opinions.

> and she has internal and external stitches (to be removed Tuesday)

I guess that, because I haven't seen any stitches for so many years, I assumed that all vets operated that way!

You live and learn.  :-)

When my oldest bitch was speyed I was amazed that there were no visible stitches, it healed really well too.  On the other hand the area where the mammary was removed had visible stiches and they had to be removed.  This also healed really well.