Hi,
Just a confused post.... about a month ago we were walking our entire male staffie (we're of the "if you love them leash them" brigade) and looked down to see Ozzy's feet soaked in blood and covered in clots of blood.  One ultrasound later, it was confirmed that Oz had an enlarged prostate and was given an injection of Tardak to try to stem the bleeding (we're not talking small amounts of blood here - poor fella was sedated and wearing a nappy for a weekend).  This worked, so the decision was taken to get him castrated.  This has worked and Oz had his stitches out on Friday afternoon just passed.

The problem is that since the op, Oz struggles to get up the stairs, misses kerbs, slips in the street, and he even missed the setee last night.  Does any one know what might have happened to him?  Is it just that the operation site is sore and still affects his walking?  (I can sympathise with his stitches and walking having just had a baby!)

Has anyone else had anything like this with their dog.  If it goes on much longer than a couple more days he's going straight back to the vets, but to keep me sane over the weekend, I would appreciate to hear of any one elses experiences with their dog/s.
Thanks
Serah

Sounds like a motor function problem rather than anything to do with losing his "bits"  Could he have damaged his spine in any way?  Is this just since the surgery, if so, could he have injured himself at the Vets without your knowledge?
Dawn.

This is what worries me.  Although he is so happy in many other ways, and still greets people with the same enthusiasm, and rarely misses in a straight line, if you know what I mean... and he still leaps up to greet people.  I guess I'm just worried... he is 6 years old and I am wondering if dogs have strokes during anaesthetics. 

My vet is very caring and loves my dog - he knows how non-aggressive he is - allowed him to remove an inch piece of glass from his foot without so much as turning a hair!  He knew how important it was to us to have Oz right as he had to put my cat (and Oz's best friend) to sleep 2 days before.  I feel confident that the he would have told me if something had gone wrong that he knew about.

O o.. thats made me well up talking about the cat... : (

I wonder if he is anaemic following the serious blood loss that would sap his energy levels, in humans it takes about 3 months of iron tablets to correct a serious loss of blood unless a transfusion is given.  It could be the soreness of the wound site but of the dogs I have known castrated the discomfort did not last very long, maybe need to discuss things with your vet.

Had a look at his gums.... still seemed quite pink - this is the only sign I know of to look for after blood loss - and I did give him a few feeds of liver when he was well again to build up the iron, but if you are saying it takes a long time in us to build up then  I will ask the vet on this.
 

Yes in humans, in dogs with their meat based diets it might be a bit different and the colour of the gums are a good sign but I think I would still ask the vet if he doesn't seem to pick up soon, hope he does :)

Just wondering if the sciatic nerve has been damaged at some stage?

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Ahhh.  Now this is a strange one... some years ago he got "frozen tail" where his tail hung limply and he was in agony.  The vet explained it to me as an equivalent of us slipping a disc or something similar.  (Asked me if he had been swimming as he only ever saw it on dogs who had been swimming - that would be a heap big no on the swimming front - poor little fella only tried it once and virtually sunk.... managed to snorkle his way back to dry land and has stuck to paddling ever since!)  Could this have damaged the sciatic nerve?  What are you thinking it could be currently?
Cheers,
Serah

Frozen tail is the same as "Water tail" which is why your vet asked about swimming, labradors are dab hands at doing it!  Its really only a bruise and heals by itself in a few days, I would doubt it was connected to this.
Dawn.