My 8 1/2 yo spayed dog started menstruation & mated yesterday

[mod mom]

Uggh. I just lost our sweet lab just before Christmas and last Tuesday had my 8 1/2 yo border collie/pointer pound pup at the vet because her genital area was swollen & bleeding. We adopted her from the pound and she was spayed through them. It was noted that they only found 1 ovary but suggested it was a congenital abnormality.

It took a few hours before I could get in for an apptmt and so I did a little googling. My fear of course was it was a tumor or other serious ailment and I couldn't bear to lose my sweet girl. I mentioned to the Vet that I was told she had one ovary and we both feared she might have a serious condition but he decided to start her on antibiotics & an anti inflamatory. He called the following day to check on her & she seemed less swollen but not herself, but not bad enough to stop chasing squirrels, which is a barometer for me.

Yesterday we took her to this dog park near by and since Aja's death she has not wanted to have anything to do with other dogs but loves to go to chase squirrels. We have wanting to adopt another dog but wasn't sure if she would accept any other dog. Yesterday, she ran up to this male dog, which was very unusual. I commented that perhaps she was suggesting she might want another companion soon. She lifted up her tail and stuck her butt in his face and low & behold he mounted her. We separated the dogs and I lead her away on the leash. After we got a distance I let her off again (she stays close to me and listens when I call. Not yesterday, she bee-lined straight across the park to this male dog and disregarded my calls. He came to her & mounted her again. If took a minute for us to run over to her and put her back on the leash.

She has never had a period(I assumed her spaying was successful) and never shown any interest in male dogs and she is 8 1/2 YO! I plan on calling the vet 1st thing tomorrow. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Last thing I want is for her to get pregnant at her age (although as a runner she is in great shape it's just there are too many dogs that need adopting!).

[elleng]

1. Nothing like nature, eh mom?!

Best of luck!

[undeterred]

2. Well, I think the answer is there in your question.

If they only found one ovary that doesn't mean there wasn't another one, it just means they didn't find it. The female reproductive organs are very small and hard to find in a surgery before the first heat, I'm told. That's one of the reasons they used to always wait until after the female had gone into heat the first time. When the animal is full grown and has gone through one cycle the dog is larger, the ovaries are bigger and easier to find, and the surgery is a bit easier.

Unfortunately you risk the female getting pregnant the first time around, and people tend to keep putting off getting the spaying done or forgetting about it - so shelters have really been pushing people to get it done as young as possible.

By her behavior and the bleeding it sounds like she did indeed have an ovary and go into heat. Your vet can verify it. I did know one dog owner that this happened to and she had to have another surgery to complete the spaying.

[mod mom]

3. He said they should have done a hysterectomy at the time of her

initial spaying. I call tomorrow. I don't want to risk her health, although most people really ask if she is under 1 you. You should see her run. Unfortunately she catches squirrels on a regular basis.

[undeterred]

4. I hope so.

The person I knew whose dog had an ovary left behind also had a partial uterus or some uterine tissue left behind- some kind of surgical error which should never have happened. I think it was a small breed young dog and this made it a difficult surgery.

Hopefully everything will be ok with your pup.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. If you don't want to chance having a litter of puppies, have the vet

go in to do another spay now, before it is too late. I have never heard of this, and I always thought that they took all the reproductive organs, not just ovaries when they did a spay, but up-thread it looks like this is possible. But I do know that they can do a spay after a mating before anything really develops.

[mod mom]

6. I plan to tomorrow. Thanks...

There are too many pups that need adopting w/o risking my 8 1/2 yo

[mod mom]

7. Spoke with Vet who is worried that the remaining ovary might have a tumor

which released a splurge of estrogen causing a heat. He said that animal shelters sometimes use students or foreign vets to do spaying and they might have missed an ovary. The fact she never had any heats before worries him. I'm hoping that she might just be a weird case , gone into heat & having a hysterectomy to prevent any future issues.

Whisper is scheduled for surgery first thing Thursday morning. Please send good wishes her way. We just lost her 11 yo companion, a lab mix, just before Christmas. She is such a sweet pup!

[undeterred]

8. I'll be thinking of her.

I hope it all goes well. :hug:

[undeterred]

9. I'll be thinking of her.

I hope it all goes well. :hug:

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Good vibes coming your way, Whisper. I hope all goes well.

I just hate when the vet "is worried"! This will be fine, I feel it.

[FloriTexan]

11. Is anyone in your home taking female hormones....

Seriously...My male, neutered dog developed lactating breasts after I went on female hormones after my hysterectomy. It was the spray on kind and I was extremely careful with it. The product was Evamist and me, my obgyn and my vet verified and reported the results to the FDA and there are now significant warnings out there.

This product is sprayed on your lower arm, you wait 15 minutes for it to dry before touching anything and after that it was supposed to be safe. I would spray it on before I went to work for the day giving it ample time to be safe. My dog cuddled with me under my arm so I was always holding him with that arm. It took several months before his breasts receded to normal size.

He died a few months later from severe stomach ulcers and if I find out that the hormones caused them, I will be sueing the crap outta someone.

This isn't the only hormone therapy that will do this so consider them all. There are even cases babies as young as 6 months going through premature puberty.

[undeterred]

12. Interesting thought.

I had a post menopausal friend who was also post breast cancer - she was taking ginko biloba and some organic compounds from a health store for a couple of months and started having vaginal bleeding/ periods again. She was terrified it was more cancer until her doctor questioned her and identified that the ginko biloba has estrogens in it which "tricked" her body into having periods. I guess it doesn't take much.

[mod mom]

13. Thanks for your warning but no one is taking hormones in our house

Sorry your dog was effected. Whisper is scheduled for tomorrow morning & is now out on a long walk so I can take her food away. (She had boneless chicken breast for dinner. :)

[mod mom]

14. Whisper is home. They found a tennis ball size tumor on a ovary.

Botched spay 8+ years ago. Her vet thinks he got it all and didn't find any other suspicious areas. Morphined up now and resting. No squirrel chasing for at least 2 weeks. This will be hard for Whisp lives to chase squirrels. Thanks for all the well wishes! :hi:

also no pregnancy.

[undeterred]

15. So the bleeding and mating was an alert to something being wrong.

glad its all taken care of. Ollie will chase an extra squirrel for her. :hi:

[Curmudgeoness]

16. OMG, that is a huge tumor when you consider the size of the dog.

Best wishes that they did get it all and there was no spread. :hug:

This whole thread has taught me some things that I did not know about spaying too early, and I will try to keep this in mind when adopting. I learn so much here! :hi:

[mod mom]

17. I spoke w my vet & he will write a letter to the shelter saying he will preform the spay

When we adopt a pup later this summer (another lab) I know their aim is to prevent pregnancies with so many dogs to adopt but I want someone I know & trust operating on my future family member. I like having 2 dogs at a time so they have companionship when we are not home.

Good luck cleaning the fur. It's high shed time for whisper so I'm doing the same

Again, sorry for your loss

[murielm99]

18. We have an animal shelter in my area

that is excellent. I have never adopted from it, but I went there twice when we were looking for a dog.

The guy who does the veterinary services there has a great reputation. He runs his own practice, and does all the veterinary work at this clinic without charge to the shelter. He writes it off on his taxes.

I never thought about it before, but maybe it is a good idea to find out who does the vet care for a clinic before you adopt.

I would not hesitate to go to this shelter, based on the overall care of the animals. It just happened that we knew people who had an unexpected litter of puppies. We took one of the puppies six years ago. They were careful people. They even came back to visit the pup when she was about five months old.

You know how it is with cats and dogs. I think we find each other when the time is right. It is not like buying a new dress or going shopping for groceries.

[Curmudgeoness]

19. That is a good idea, if you have the ability to do it this way.

Some animals have already had the operations before they are adopted. But I think that most rescues would be willing to allow this. They only want to make sure that the animals are spayed/neutered, and I don't blame them. They see too much.