quangle Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I have a 6 month old springer spaniel pup and the vet has told me she has an inverted vulva. He didn't say anything more at the time, but having done some googling I have come up with the information that letting her have a season may fix the problem, thus alleviating a potential lifetime of UTI's? I am very nervous about letting her have a season though. There a is an un-neutered male dog only 3 doors down from us who occasionally comes wandering through our yard. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to keep our poor pup basically indoors and constantly monitored for maybe a whole month? Adding to the problem, I have small children who while generally responsible could not be wholly relied upon to not let the dog out by mistake, or just leave a door unlatched etc. I foresee the whole thing being a nightmare, but on the other hand if it would fix the problem it is probably worth while. Can anyone give me any information on this condition, what is the likelihood of a season fixing the problem, how difficult is it to get a pup through her first heat. She is 6 months old and hasn't had any urinary problems yet, does this make any difference or is it to early to tell if problems will develop later on. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffikki Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Hey quangle Electra also had an extremely small vulva which ended up causing problems for her I had her spayed before her first season and honestly really regret not giving her the chance to develop fully. She ended up having a vulvoplasty done at 20months and though now she has no problems, it was a very invasive procedure. If you don't feel comfortable/prepared with your pup having a season, maybe you could put her into kennels for the duration or even see if her breeder could look after her for you? Hopefully someone will be able to give you more details about having a pup in season, unfortunately I've never experienced it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Hi quangle. My lab had the same problem: inverted/recessed vulva. The likelihood of it "coming good" after one season is high; however not 100%. The season causes swelling of the vulva- encouraging it to enlarge and "pop out" if it is inverted. I would also recommend boarding her in kennels or back with her breeder for the duration of the season, as it sounds like you are not confident to manage her yourself. It was decided to go ahead and desex my lab at 6 months. She has not had any infections/ problems since she was 3 months old. Her vulva is normal, it came good with time. Ideally in your case, if she were my dog I would allow her to have one season and see where to go from there, especially as it hasn't caused her any problems at present. Vulvoplasty is quite an invloved and painful surgery (imo) so best avoided where possible. For some dogs it is necesaary and very effective- but I would only choose to have it done as a last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 why not build her, her own pen on concrete, out of metal with a roof, that way she will always have a safe and secure area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskedaway Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Quangle, my pup is almost finished her first season. It's been really easy to deal with, though we've been lucky in that she hasn't actually flagged or anything like that. Her breeder said that's normal, and the first season is often just for practice so things don't really go as they would with an adult. We have an entire bulldog next door who is an experienced stud dog on breeder's terms and he hasn't even noticed she's in season. If you're not confident, I'd board her or send her for a holiday to her breeder. But I doubt it would hurt letting her have a season (though I don't know much about inverted vulvas) and hopefully the problem will correct itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindainfa Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Any pics of what an inverted one looks like? What is normal and whats not?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffikki Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Any pics of what an inverted one looks like? What is normal and whats not?? There is a pic of Electra before her surgery, she was about 15 months when it was taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) photos of normal and recessed another pic of a recessed vulva This is a photo of my lab at around 5 months. You can see she now has a half in/ half out vulva with a skin fold towards her tail. Previously when she was younger (8-12 weeks) it was more like the previous pic: completely recessed. Over time it "popped out" as it enlarged. Now it is normal enough not to cause any problems (sorry dont have a current pic) Edited September 2, 2011 by aussielover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quangle Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the replies. I am attaching a couple of photos (I hope) that show what she looks like. One of the weirder things I have done recently When she was at the vet, he kind of grabbed her skin under her tail and lifted it up, so that the vulva kind of tilted towards the back (it is currently low down more underneath her than on her bottom) and said that was how it should be, which kind of left me wondering if the problem was more a case of it being tilted the wrong way, rather than it being an innie. Clearly another trip to the vet is in order, but does anyone have an opinion based on this... Edited September 2, 2011 by quangle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quangle Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) and here is another picture, too big for the other post. See I'm looking at that photo of Electra and if you took a pic like that from the rear of my dog, you can't see her vulva at all, it is under her pointing down at the ground, not pointing towards the back like that. Honestly, I never though I never realised dog ownership would entail having a discussion like this Edited September 2, 2011 by quangle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 It looks similar to my dog's. There is a fold around the back toward the tail. I'm not sure if letting her have a season would benefit this problem- but it can't hurt and even has a positive effect on growth and maturity of the musculoskeletal system. My dog (in the pic above) doesn't have any ongoing UTI issues which would be the main concern. Additionally as she got older, the fold became less pronounced as is barely there now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffikki Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) See I'm looking at that photo of Electra and if you took a pic like that from the rear of my dog, you can't see her vulva at all, it is under her pointing down at the ground, not pointing towards the back like that. Honestly, I never though I never realised dog ownership would entail having a discussion like this As I'd never owned a female dog before discussing Electra's vulva didn't come easy I think that the skin fold is where the problems occur, at least that was Electra's problem. Here is another pic taken 8 months before her surgery I've taken these ones just now, so you can see the difference ETA as aussielover says, it's hard to say if a season will help. Hopefully others have had similar experiences. Maybe pm Cazstaff, she had a pup with a similar problem and was going to let her have a season to try and avoid surgery....here's her thread Edited September 2, 2011 by raffikki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I was going to mentio n Cazstaff too because I'm sure she kept the pup so it had a season and then desexed and rehomed it this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) Yes, having a season or two can help in some cases and if you feel you can keep her safe (even if you board her - can her breeder take her for a couple of weeks perhaps?) then it may lessen the need for surgery. I have seen inverted vulvas change quite a bit after a couple of seasons to the point where surgery was not necessary. Of course every case is different though. Edited September 3, 2011 by espinay2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now