KKDD Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Had a disturbing call from a bloke who adopted a rescue dog off me about a year back. The dog, a large crossbreed, was desexed before she was adopted but the vet couldnt locate a second ovary - so assumed it was absent. Apparently the dog displayed signs of being in season a little while ago - bloody disharge, behavioural changes, and she drove the other resident dog, a desexed male, wild. Anyway, the bloke says shes putting on weight now, and is lactating! Has anyone ever heard of this before? The dog has had her uterus removed, so presumably cant actually be pregnant....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordelia Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 If she doesn't have a uterus.. then no, she can't carry a pregnancy. I would assume that she still has on ovary and the bitch needs immediate veterinary attention to find and remove it. It is at risk of becoming cancerous if left in there. Yes a phantom pregnancy can go so far as causing lactation in any mammal (including humans). She will be at risk of developing mastitis if she doesn't see a vet asap (depending on just how much she is lactating). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavalier Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Yes this dog definitely still has an ovary and it will need to be removed. Take her back to the vet who speyed her and ask for the procedure to be done properly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I had a bitch - entire though- that had phantom pregnancies that went from 9 to 15 weeks, she built a nest went through the whole birthing routine and had enough milk to feed an army! This bitch must have an ovary in there somewhere and it will cause all sorts of problems until it is removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Never say 'never'. Does anyone remember my son's bitch? Speyed at an early age, at 8 years old had 3 pups. This girl showed no signs of seasons in those years, had run with entire dogs, nothing! Then suddenly son phones me re the bitches behaviour - 'having pups' said I. 'Impossible' says son. Takes the girl to the Vet and she produces 3 pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKDD Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Never say 'never'. Does anyone remember my son's bitch? Speyed at an early age, at 8 years old had 3 pups. This girl showed no signs of seasons in those years, had run with entire dogs, nothing! Then suddenly son phones me re the bitches behaviour - 'having pups' said I. 'Impossible' says son. Takes the girl to the Vet and she produces 3 pups. So this would be ectopic surely. Obviously a retained ovary can produce all the normal hormones present in an entire dog, (thus enabling it to produce the secretions consistent with being in season or pregnant) but a speying involves removal of the uterus, so pregancy would have to be ectopic yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Girl had been speyed by another Vet in another State so now guide there. Three pups were fully formed but all born dead. Son's current Vet had no idea what happened. This was about 12 months ago and son has kept a close eye on the girl and no sign of any season nor dogs bothering her since. Mystery!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Never say 'never'. Does anyone remember my son's bitch? Speyed at an early age, at 8 years old had 3 pups. This girl showed no signs of seasons in those years, had run with entire dogs, nothing! Then suddenly son phones me re the bitches behaviour - 'having pups' said I. 'Impossible' says son. Takes the girl to the Vet and she produces 3 pups. So this would be ectopic surely. Obviously a retained ovary can produce all the normal hormones present in an entire dog, (thus enabling it to produce the secretions consistent with being in season or pregnant) but a speying involves removal of the uterus, so pregancy would have to be ectopic yes? Speying also involves removing two ovaries, so i would be thinking something had not been done correctly at all in that case! Did the bitch give birth vaginally or a ceasar? If vaginally I would be thinking that a horn of the uterus must have been left behind - very strange though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Natural birth - son phoned me worried that the girl appeared distressed, panting, restless, thrown up her tea, lying down and cleaning the vaginal area - my first thought was having pups. When son assured me she was speyed I suggested Vet trip. Vet confirmed she was in process of birthing pups much to the son's horror! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Natural birth - son phoned me worried that the girl appeared distressed, panting, restless, thrown up her tea, lying down and cleaning the vaginal area - my first thought was having pups. When son assured me she was speyed I suggested Vet trip. Vet confirmed she was in process of birthing pups much to the son's horror! I am not suprised he was horrified! That is the stuff of nightmares! Not knowing what was going on, you would probably think they were poisened or something! Has he had an exploratory laparotomy done at all? I hope he never has to go through that again - poor guy I bet he aged a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 The Vet suggested an investigation but son didn't want to put the old girl through anything more, reckoned she was as traumatised as he was, although I think she's sick of this burly 6ft guy tipping her over and doing the 'tissue' test nearly every week since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 She probably runs when she see's a tissue by now! Fair enough, I am very reluctant to do surgery, especially major surgery on an older dog unless absolutely necessary. Hope she never has to go through anything like that again. Your son sounds like a bit of a softy like my 6"4 husband! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Never say never :D In the last 12 months, I've speyed a cat with half a uterus and an abdominal testicle, speyed a dog with half a normal uterus and a blind ended pus filled sac on the other side, and found a misshapen uterus with a tiny ovary in an on heat, desexed dog. If this dog was 'normal', it would not be cycling. You could confirm it was in oestrus with a vaginal swab but the only way to fix it is to do an exploratory surgery to find the ovarian tissue (which can potentially be a 'needle in the haystack' experience). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKDD Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Yes the 'needle in a haystack' problem is what happened when the dog (the original one in this thread) was speyed, as whatever ovary was present, wasnt of normal size or location, and may be just vestigual tissue. So it couldnt be found. Its a very good vet who performed the surgery. Hopefully whatever ovarian tissue remains and is causing the phantom pregnancy, can be located while the dog is in season - as presumably it will be inflamed. But if its small enough theres no guarantee it could be found with a second abdominal search either. Phantom pregnancy's (as opposed to ones which produce puppies :D ) can happen in fully speyed dogs too cant they? Iv had another rescue who did the whole nesting and suckling (of a toy) thing, well after she was speyed. In this case there was no lactation, however and I dont believe the dog displayed any symptoms of being in season before hand - (although the owner might have missed it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Never say never In the last 12 months, I've speyed a cat with half a uterus and an abdominal testicle, speyed a dog with half a normal uterus and a blind ended pus filled sac on the other side, and found a misshapen uterus with a tiny ovary in an on heat, desexed dog. If this dog was 'normal', it would not be cycling. You could confirm it was in oestrus with a vaginal swab but the only way to fix it is to do an exploratory surgery to find the ovarian tissue (which can potentially be a 'needle in the haystack' experience). Rappie that is seriously wierd! I guess that weird things can happen in all species, goes to show! Imagine being the owner of an on heat desexed dog - you would be thinking you were going mad! Thank god I have never had it happen - just my luck now something will happen with the next one I have speyed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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