What is normal bleeding pattern for unspayed dog

[LilF]

Blossom seemed to be reducing her bleeding during her heat cycle and did not produce much blood the past two days. I think she started her heat cycle a week to 10 days ago...Today she seems to be bleeding more after I thought she was done. Is that normal? Also as an aside. She seems to be flirting with me UGH, she is pointing her butt toward my face and wagging her tail wildly... Is THAT normal..... She is embarassing me and I walk away.... This is all too weird for me. Monday I talk to the Repro doctor so I will find out more.

 

[Dr. Sara]

The amount of discharge can fluctuate through the cycle. Some dogs do have more blood later in the cycle, others do not. There is a wide range of normal, and as long as the fluid is straw to blood coloured, not foul, and your girl feels good, there is no cause for concern.

Many girls will present their hindquarters to their people or other dogs. Sometimes they will flag, holding the tail up and to the side; this is especially common during the most fertile part of the cycle.. Some flag more when their back toward the tail is stroked. It is all perfectly normal.
Dr. Sara

 

[LilF]

Thank you Dr. Sara for your usual complete explanation. It helps to know what is happening. You are right, last night before bed I usually pet her and I was stroking her back and she did exactly that flagging her tail, with some accompanying odor, not infectious foul but smelled like it came from her anus. I did wipe it and there were a few crumbs there. I do want to get her the surgery when the doctor says it is right timing. I do fear the pyometra. I am trying to read more about the risk of that in female dogs. Maybe I should not walk her on the street for a while just to be on the safe side. I am guessing things would be really interesting if I had more than one dog like I had in the past. I appreciate you are so knowledgeable and reassuring during this novel experience for me.

 

[GinnyW]

Did I miss something? Once she has an OSS, there will be no organs to become infected, as far as Pyo. In the meantime, her own body should protect her - there is NO reason to suspect an infection developing all on its own. You can safely walk her on the street, but will notice that everywhere she pees will remain attractive to males for a long time

 

[LilF]

I went for my consultation today with the Reproductive vet. Very nice clinic and he has been doing this for decades. He was very flexible and said I could bring Blossom in for a consult the same day she would have a surgery. I also asked if I could sit with her until time for the presurgical stuff and he said whatever causes less stress for the dog and me... I love the older vets. I also found out they have a 24 /7 Emergency room. They even have a CAT scanner. I bring this up because it would be over my dead body that I take Blossom to the hospital where JJ died. Once a hospital or vet practice is bought out, they hire on the cheap, inexperience vets etc... So this place is acceptable to me. I went on their site and actually saw EXPERIENCE not like the less than one year experience JJ was subjected to. So I told the nice vet that Blossom is in heat and he said that if being spayed to wait 2 months as Ginny said, but if I want OSS I could do it anytime. I would do it before her next heat but don't know her timing. He said probably before June. I thought they do this laproscopically but I guess not. I thought on the FB OSS group Ginny recommended that I joined, someone posted about laparoscopy for this OSS procedure. I asked about male dogs if she gets OSS and he just said to put a diaper on her if she goes out so male dogs cannot access.. My trainer said citronella or something about an ice cube that releases the dog from her... I will have to ask him again. I did forget to ask him about whether she will continue this frequent urination with the OSS when she goes into heat. I take her out every 2 hours. Also how do I tell when she is in heat after the OSS surgery? I forgot to ask him that. He noted I had very knowledgeable questions which was a testament to all I learned here! I asked him about pain meds and he mentioned rimadyl which I said ---UMMM, no... I guess I prefer metacam until she gets home and then I think I read to give her arnica??? Will cross that bridge later I guess .At this point the window for mammary cancer prevention is gone anyway since this is probably at least her second heat---don't know if she is 2 or 4 years old. Besides spaying before the first heat seems ridiculous to prevent cancer and thus deny the rest of the body the chemical messengers needed for everything else the body does.

 

[GinnyW]

Typically an OSS is not done laparoscopically, as it is more delicate a procedure when the ovaries are spared. I see folks on that list get confused on this; some are new to the concepts. I believe I answered you previously that she will not urinate as much once she has no organs to swell up. I think that waiting at least a month after any sign of heat would be sufficient as well.

You can most likely manage ALL her pain and discomfort homeopathically; Arnica 10M the day before, and again after the surgery, and maybe one more IF it seems necessary. If you have them, Staphysagria or Hypericum in 30c may speed healing of the incision, but she may not need them.

What you see may vary by the bitch, but any signs of estrus after the OSS will be behavioral, most likely: interest in boys, nesting, maybe a bit more marking - but not incontinence. Timing is also very variable; even for "normal" heats, bitches can come in anywhere from six to 12 months apart.
Now, just STOP thinking about cancer! The numbers and odds you see are for poorly fed, overvaccinated, aged and otherwise impaired animals - not yours You're giving her her best life!

 

[LilF]

First: Happy anniversary to ME..... 2 years ago today I joined this list! Time flies.
So Ginny, I guess the hospital just always gives something for pain which makes sense. I don't think I can prevent them from doing that. When my Gabby had her thyroid tumor removed they gave her rimadyl while she was in the hospital for a night. When she came home my holistic vet said don't give her any more and to give her I think traumeel, maybe even Arnica... I think with Gabby, the most painful part was how they shaved her raw and so unnecessary(it is a teaching hospital and someone wasn't supervising--same hospital JJ died 3 years later). So the holistic vet was right, she did not need the prescription meds after her surgery and the homeopathics worked fine. I was glad I had his advice. Told me to "take the Rx but don't give it to her."

When Blossom goes in, I am sure they will give her the standard dose of whatever, I think it is Standard Operating Procedure with any surgery, rimadyl, metacam (my preference over rimadyl where a side effect is "death.")

I can pick up all those homeopathics between now and then. But how do I prepare them. In a dropper bottle---(1 oz or 2 oz) how many pellets to dissolve and do I use a whole dropperful or am I being too precise about this.

I did read on that OSS FB page about dogs who seemed in pain by hunching their backs when they went into future heat subsequent to the surgery or excessive licking months after the surgery. The doctor said yesterday to me that some people come back and have the ovaries removed because they do not like the manifestations of the heat subsequent to the surgery, like the male dog problem. Just sayin what he told me. I would hate to put my dog through another surgery later because I did not want to "put up" with something. If she had a complication, that would be a different story. I figure it all is like how my Gabby shed twice a year, Feb and August and I just sucked it up (literally with the vacuum for a month, and figuratively because nothing I could do about it.) The shedding was REALLY bad, who knew on a short haired dog!!