Sandra777 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 (edited) OK - had a phone call this evening about a bitch I bred. She will be 3 in about 6 weeks, been spayed 16-18 months. Never had a litter, prior to spaying seasons were 100% normal. Owner noticed the bitch had slightly enlarged breasts about 3 weeks ago, prominant nipples. Not really large but definitely fuller. The bitch has been a bit sooky and clingy recently but nothing really strikingly out of place. Came home today and the bitch has collected herself a litter of the kids' toys and made a nest in her crate. Was snarky when the other dog in the house (older neutered male) tried to have a look and was very growly towards her owner when she tried to remove bitch from her nest - extremely uncharacteristic behaviour After ten minutes of the owner calming her down, bitch gave up her toys. Bed washed, crate moved, all toys confiscated. Tried to re-create nest with some dog toys, dealt with the same way. Vet's advice - she has some ovarian matter left behind, we'll have to open her up. Some important background: 5 weeks ago this bitch met a litter of pups, played with them for quite some time. Spent the next three days with a 9 week old puppy (different pups) around her a lot. She has no changed eating or drinking habits, is her usual self. So the questions are: Anyone experienced this before? Is there any actual harm in doing nothing? Even if this is genuinely hormonal and not just "all in her mind", will it do the bitch any harm to have some ovarian tissue "left behind"? I wonder about stump pyometra being a possible outcome in the future?? Is there any blood test that could prove or disprove the presence of stray ovarian tissue? Even if it can be "seen" in a blood test it's not going to be easy to find is it? Am I wrong in thinking it could be literally anywhere? - as in randomly attached to a kidney or lodged in her right ear :laugh: Thinking of random cells which were never actually part of the ovary rather than a piece of the ovary which somehow got snipped off and left behind during the spay op. A second opinion is being sought but neither vets are repro specialists - what recommendations are there for a specialist who would do a phone consult about a possible course of action and discuss the pros and cons of different actions with her owner? Edited October 15, 2013 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Never heard of this before so can't advise however I do think you need to consult a vet who specialises in this area. My vet is a repro specialist however I am sure someone will recommend one in your state who can help. What a strange thing this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwoman Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 OK - had a phone call this evening about a bitch I bred. She will be 3 in about 6 weeks, been spayed 16-18 months. Never had a litter, prior to spaying seasons were 100% normal. Owner noticed the bitch had slightly enlarged breasts about 3 weeks ago, prominant nipples. Not really large but definitely fuller. The bitch has been a bit sooky and clingy recently but nothing really strikingly out of place. Came home today and the bitch has collected herself a litter of the kids' toys and made a nest in her crate. Was snarky when the other dog in the house (older neutered male) tried to have a look and was very growly towards her owner when she tried to remove bitch from her nest - extremely uncharacteristic behaviour After ten minutes of the owner calming her down, bitch gave up her toys. Bed washed, crate moved, all toys confiscated. Tried to re-create nest with some dog toys, dealt with the same way. Vet's advice - she has some ovarian matter left behind, we'll have to open her up. Some important background: 5 weeks ago this bitch met a litter of pups, played with them for quite some time. Spent the next three days with a 9 week old puppy (different pups) around her a lot. She has no changed eating or drinking habits, is her usual self. So the questions are: Anyone experienced this before? Is there any actual harm in doing nothing? Even if this is genuinely hormonal and not just "all in her mind", will it do the bitch any harm to have some ovarian tissue "left behind"? I wonder about stump pyometra being a possible outcome in the future?? Is there any blood test that could prove or disprove the presence of stray ovarian tissue? Even if it can be "seen" in a blood test it's not going to be easy to find is it? Am I wrong in thinking it could be literally anywhere? - as in randomly attached to a kidney or lodged in her right ear :laugh: Thinking of random cells which were never actually part of the ovary rather than a piece of the ovary which somehow got snipped off and left behind during the spay op. A second opinion is being sought but neither vets are repro specialists - what recommendations are there for a specialist who would do a phone consult about a possible course of action and discuss the pros and cons of different actions with her owner? I have heard of ovarian tissue left behind, apparently a very small bit can cause things like making a speyed bitch attractive to dogs every six months, in that case the owners decided to live with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Some may remember a while back my son's girl had three dead pups. She was about 7/8 years at this time if I remember rightly. She had been speyed as a young bitch. Males had never been attracted to her in all those years. Vet advised that there may have been some tissue left behind. Son decided against operating and just kept an eye on her and there's been no sign of a season since then. One of nature's mysteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowanbree Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I have had it with one of my bitches. We had to run progesterone tests and look for hormone spikes from memory but it had to be done at just the right time. Took me simply ages to work out what was wrong with her as she had a long history of UTIs etc and I thought this was just more of the same. I chose to live with it but yes did increase the risk of stump pyo and was a real pain to live with as I had entire dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Quick up date.. Owner took bitch to a repro specialist. Bloodtests showed virtually zero progesterone & specialist said it would be pretty much impossible for it to go from "enough to make her think she has pups" to virtually zero in the time frame, so it could well be 'all in her head'. There may be a small amount of ovarian tissue left and if she has a phantom litter again an immediate bloodtest may make it's presence more obvious but still not likely to be able to solve the problem. Best course of action - do nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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