My nine month old Bichon frise was neutered on Wednesday 27th Jan. He drank water the first 2 days after returning home, then stopped. Today is the 7th day and he refuses to drink any water. He is eating chicken & rice as he had diarrhea & vomitting. His stool has almost returned to normal but he refuses to drink water.

Wait, he hasn't drank for 7 days?

I would take him back to the vet just to get him looked at. Usually if they don't want to eat it's the first 24 hours (drinking too).

I second going back to the vet.
If you can't get in right away grab some pedialyte to give him to keep him hydrated.
Give a syringe full every half hour or so straight down his throat.

Thanks for replying. I took him back to the vet yesterday. They checked him out and said that he was OK and not dehydrated. They said that he was getting enough water in his food (boiled chicken & rice) that is why he is not drinking. They asked me to take him back on Saturday again which would complete 10 days after surgery. He had laser surgery done. I wonder if this is the normal thing with laser surgery. Everything else looks normal with him other than the water drinking.

Hopefully Sariss can answer that one for you, she's a Vet Tech, I personally haven't had a dog undergo laser surgery.

I think that's why I don't see my dogs drink often, they get canned/wet food for dinner. I'm glad he's not dehydrated, and thank you for taking him back to the vet... you would be surprised at the amount of people who don't.

Laser surgery shouldn't change much. If anything they usually tend to recover better and more comfortable afterwards.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I would'nt recommend laser to anyone. My poor little puppy is still wearing the e-cone and I am only supposed to remove it on Saturday after his last appointment with the vet. That would be 10 days in total. His stool is normal and he is himself now, very playful. His appitite has increased but does not want to drink water.

Have you given him the water yourself ,maybe he'd like the taste after a while and drink by himself next time ,and why did you neutered your dog I'm sure your house inst filled with other dogs ,my gradfather and his wife used to do it to his cats wich its stupid cats can find food by themselves ,I would have never done to any of my cats that I had ,one I haven't seen him lately but I don't go too much to my backyard ,the other three kitties who were born in my backyard one died I believe maybe because my mother kept buying vaseline because it had mange and I kept trowin away that medicine and she kept buying it behind my back my mother is lucky the doctor told me otherwise and that I don't have a gun for all the bad things she is done to me ,the other two one I gave him to the place where they keep them I gave him before something bad happened because the other one had a problem with his eyes I think because of some of those gila iguanas was at my backyard .good luck with your dog or cat who knows what he is now :o sorry about the joke

I'm a little confused by your post n15.
Are you saying that dogs shouldn't be neutered unless you have a house full of dogs?
That's a very irresponsible way of thinking. All dogs should be spayed or neutered unless you plan on breeding them (and even then breeding should ONLY be done by those who know what they are doing)
Accidents happen every day... people think that their little puppy or cat will never get out and get pregnant but every day new little puppies and kittens are dropped off at shelters because their owners were either too ignorant or just too irresponsible to get there pets desexed.

You mother used vaseline on your cats mange? :eek:
Yeesh, mange is treated with ivomectin, not vaseline.

I'm hoping this whole post was in jest... it's not funny to joke about owning a gun and using it on your mother.

My jaw is on my desk right now...
Are people seriously this ignorant? I am sorry N15, ignorant means lack of knowledge, and my dear, you are certainly lacking...
Everything you have written in your post is incorrect. You obviously don't care for animals, why would you continue to have them?
Yikes I really do feel sorry for the animals in your "care".
Neutering/spaying is the responsible thing to do, and it prevents many animals from dying and suffering each year. We all have a responsibility to prevent unwanted animals from being euthanized everyday

It helps to reduce companion animal overpopulation. Most countries have a surplus of companion animals and are forced to euthanize or disregard their great suffering. The surplus is in the millions worldwide. Cats are 45 times as prolific (prolific means the ability to produce offspring), and dogs 15 times as prolific, as humans.They do not need our help to expand their numbers; they need our help to reduce their numbers until there are good homes for them all.

I am not even going to touch the subject of cats being able to find their own food... *shaking my head*

Sorry Elmok, I got side tracked,
I am not sure if someone has already mentioned this, but have you tried putting some beef or chicken stock in water, and making ice cubes, and giving that to your dog? Did your vet give you that flavored stuff to put in their water?

Wow n15... You need to not share your thoughts... animals need to be fixed. Not only does it decrease the number of animals put on this earth, but also prevents some types of cancers.

Your response was completely uncalled for and kind of worry-some that you own an animal. I feel bad for the animals you do own.

My puppy is doing a lot better today. He started drinking water after eating his dry kibbles. I think it was the rice and chicken cooked in water that did'nt incourage him to drink. In Ontario it is more of society pressure that drive people to neuter/spay their pets, one of the main reasons being euthanization of unwanted animals that have no homes, which is very sad. I know it is inhumaine to put the harmless animal through any sort of pain, but none of the doggie day cares want to accept unfixed dogs and with my travelling schedule, I have to leave him in day care at times. I love my puppy dearly and I would never do anything stupid to hurt him.

Healing does take a few days longer with laser, mainly because everything is cauterized. I recommend it for certain procedures like lump removals with lots of blood supply, and anything that may be near nerves. Spays and neuters, its up to the owner, really..