Hi,
I haven't had my surgery yet, but a friend of mine had her's a few weeks ago. From her experience, I'd say you really can't do much bending or lifting for at least 2 weeks. Hope that helps some.

Ask your surgeon what your lifting restrictions are. Mine was no more than 20 pounds for 3 weeks, so lifting your 18 pounder would have been fine. In fact, I live alone and came home to 2 dogs, 3 cats and 2 horses that I fed, watered and cared for by myself. Not to mention doing laundry, grocery shopping and plowing the driveway. It was actually a good thing to be up and active and I had no problems. I'm also a vet tech and was back at work on the 7th day postop bending, squatting, and lifting small dogs and cats all day long.

On the other hand I read about so many people that are miserably painful, nauseous and exhausted for weeks and weeks after surgery, so you probably won't know what you can or can't do until you're there.

i would be more worried that they would jump on you. I had my surgery on 12/07/16 and the first few days you feel tired, small spurts of energy, sore, bruised, and like a freight train rolled over you. I have a 4 year old and im a single mom and i needed people to take care of her for about a week & then when ever they could for the next 2 weeks. i took a month off from work as i work with 3-5 year olds with special needs. lots of bending, stooping, and twisting & lifting. doc had a no lift more then 20 pounds. dont feel the need to speed up the healing process. each person heals differently and has medical issues before the surgery too.they have the lifting restrictions there for a reason. I have had many cats and dogs that i have saved too and i can understand not wanting to be away from them for very long. they are your family but, i strongly urge you to air on the side of caution and do exactly what your surgeon tells you. if your animals are usually hyper and like to jump and love you to death then i would say a good 2 -3 weeks with out and then have some one be with you to run interference so you dont get so much lovins that your body cant handle at that moment. would hate to see you go through the process only to hear that you were unintentionally hurt. sometimes people like us who give so much to care for others(animals, kids, older adults) need to take care of our selves first so that we are better able to take care of them in the long run. I come from a back ground of CNA, home health, Animal saver & caretaker, teacher aid and now mother. I wish you only the best on your new life journey.

I am 5 days post op. You can do things on your own but you will probably feel tired and very sore. The incisions on your belly need to heal so you have to be careful. No bending, twisting, things like that. I have no problem doing things for myself but sleeping is hard because I am not used to sleeping on my back. SO I am very tired from not sleeping much. Surgery takes a lot out of you and you need to give yourself time to heal inside and out. I would board the pups for a week and then see how you feel. Best of luck to you!

Hi, I had surgery a month ago, my surgeon was Dr Almanza and his requirements are do not lift more than 10 pounds for 4 weeks and than no more than 25 pounds for 3 weeks also your not suppose to do any bending,twisting or push and pull motion. No activity that puts strain on the abdomen. Check your surgeons requirements. Bottom line is you don't want to do anything that puts you at risk of a leak. Its not worth it. I was walking right after surgery and haven't stopped. Last week I walked 26 miles. I've been following all my doctors instructions. I felt pretty good after first week and good do laundry, dishes but modified. Still having trouble with transitioning from full liquids to soft foods. Its strange that some days are better than others. Everyones experience is different. Good luck

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm going to ask for a week of care and then re-evaluate at the end of week 1 to see if I'm ready for invasion of the puppies. The good thing about having friends take care of them is that if I'm feeling well I can always get them earlier.

I appreciate your 2 cents -- I think I was worrying unnecessarily.

I was fine to take care of my pets and household duties after surgery. How far do you walk your dogs? That may be the biggest challenge.