Jackie, I was only talking about post neuter pain in otherwise healthy dogs. Bone cancer is an extremely painful condition which must be managed using any pain medication which will keep the dog comfortable.

Yes I understand that, that's not what my post was regarding to.

Although let's not assume dogs don't need pain relief, if they are in pain they need medicating, I would never leave a dog to get on with it.

They didn't do blood work...I really hope that isn't the case!

This morning she jumped our gate to chase after a squirrel...I hope this is a sign that she isn't hurting. I think her main problem now is that she is so anxious from not being able to exercise for a week

Do you take pain medication for every little twinge? I sure hope not as that is very bad for your health and can lead to dependency and other issues. Same goes for dogs, if there is no obvious pain, why would you give the dog pain medication?

Spaying and neutering doesn't often need medication, as many people here have pointed out, so why give it just because? I mean you can, but you can't say all people should (not saying you said this).

Cutting into the quick of a nail, accidentally stepping on a foot, slight leg tweaks, insect bites or stings, crashing into something and bruising, minor wounds from fights or scraps, or hell even major wounds that don't seem to slow the dog down. No pain medication.

Just my take. No medication without obvious signs of them needing it. I'd also never medicate "just because" or right away for anything. Give it a day or so, no improvement or it worsens, pain medication... if not, then nope!

If she can do all this, she's not in any real pain. But you shouldn't let her jump in her condition, it can break stitches. Also, beware of gates not high enough.. she could escape and come to harm.

That's not a good thing for her to do, it's the jumping that can affect the wound. I know this because the day after my previous dog's spey op, she jumped into the car before I could stop her. I thought that was good, she couldn't be hurting too much, and when I arrived at my destination to take her on a short walk, the back of the car was covered in blood I immediately rushed her back to the vets, where he did what he had to do immediately and I could hear her screaming from the waiting room He explained to me, that they use 2 sets of stitches, one inside that you cannot see, and then one on the outside where you have the wound that you can see. Because of her jumping, she had managed to open up the internal stitches, causing a big pocket of blood between those and the external stitches, so please, please, please, be very careful about keeping her quiet and stop her from jumping onto anything for a few days at least. Apart from that, jumping can cause the external stitches to open up and you will cause yourself and her big problems with that too.

My dog had to wear a wrap around bandage for days after she had opened up those stitches, let alone the pain she must have gone through when he rectified the damage without sedation on her, and you wouldn't want to go through that I'm sure. Just keep her as quiet as you can no matter how lively she is, it just won't be good for her to overdo it and stretch those stitches. Good luck.

I'm afraid your perception of what is involved in spaying and nurturing is lacking if you think they don't need pain relief.I would be very concerned to hear any vet say a dog does not need pain relief after a major operation.

If my dogs are in pain and my vet has prescribed pain relief, my dogs get it....

Don't assume because a dog is not showing signs go pain they are not in any.

I learnt a long time ago that animals are very good at masking any pain they are in.

Well despite your concerns, many vets do not prescribe it, and the pets get along perfectly fine without it and are back to their normal selves without it. Many people, even on this thread have said their pets were not given pain medication and were absolutely fine.

I did not say dogs that are not showing pain aren't in any, rather I implied that if the pain is so slight you cannot see it, then it doesn't need medicating. Making guesswork as to how much pain an animal is in and giving a random amount of pain medications is nonsensical to me.

I'm with Jackie, I'm not understanding the aversion to giving dogs pain relief when necessary Dogs are stoic creatures; even when they're hurting they tend to put on a brave face.
My GSD has chronic painful joint conditions but sometimes to see her bounding around you wouldn't guess it. Watching her more closely though and I can the signs. As it is she has been on daily Metacam for some time and is now at the stage where she needs the occasional Tramadol as well.
My mother has bad arthritis and I know how much pain that causes her, the difference is she can voice her discomfort.

mjfromga and Helena, very good points...I assure you that jumping the gate is not something we condone! My boyfriend built a gate to our front porch when we first got her and she was tiny, she just recently showed us that she is big enough to hop it if something catches her attention, so we are always out there with her. Today she was just a little ninja and hopped it before we even knew what happened! But very good advice and we are doing our best to keep her resting, carrying her up/down the stairs, etc. Poor thing just wants to play and run. Helena, I'm so sorry that happened to your pup! That sounds terrible.