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Phantom Pregnancy

yellowgirl

By yellowgirl,
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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Hi everyone :)

I have a little Chinese Crested x girl, Stella, in care. She arrived in early June, 5 months old, with a fractured hip. Due to the fracture already being left for too long, she had to have the whole ball joint removed. We had to wait for the specialist to be available for surgery, and she had the surgery on June 24th (and was also diagnosed with Perthe's Disease - corrosion of the ball joint - at that time). She had come into season a couple of weeks after arriving in care so she couldn't be desexed during the hip surgery.

About a week after the surgery, she was still very much in season and her nipples looked a bit swollen. In mid July our vet confirmed that she was having a phantom pregnancy. The vet said it would resolve itself but as it's been going on for two months now I thought I'd get a bit of feedback from others who have been through this for some idea of time lengths that others have experienced. At this point in time it looks nowhere near looking like it's thinking about resolving itself, however she is still happy in herself, eating well, she's very healthy and is recovering well from her operation. Not sure how this works into the situation - but she is 'in love' with our long-term boy, Jordie, and they have developed an incredible bond. Jordie went through radical cancer surgery on 11th July and Stella hardly left his side. They've been inseparable from the minute Stella arrived. Is it possible that this bond that they have has contributed to her phantom pregnancy? Is it likely to go on longer if that's the case?

I don't seem to be able to post pictures so I'll copy the links to the facebook page so you can see what I mean.

Jo xx

Stella after surgery (surgery June 24th). Also contains links to explain the surgery she had done and information about Perthe's Disease:

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001984./621568361292450/?type=3&theater

Mid July - you can see Stella's enlarged boobies here..

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001979./632202930228993/?type=3&theater

Mid July - another booby photo. Her vulva is still quite swollen in this one too. It's reduced a bit since then but isn't back to normal.

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001979./634260386689914/?type=3&theater

Early August:

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001970./642851319164154/?type=3&theater

Mid August:

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001969./649249335191019/?type=3&theater

Late August:

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001965./653063461476273/?type=3&theater

Current:

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/pb.125509400898351.-2207520000.1410001965./658803190902300/?type=3&theater

Edited to correct dates.

Edited by yellowgirl
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*kirty*

*kirty*

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Jolie had an impressive phantom pregnancy after her first season. She has huge boobs, a little pot belly and was soooo sooky! Remember dogs are pregnant for 9 weeks so I think its quite common for phantoms to last that long. Jolie settled down eventually and has not had another phantom.

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Jolie had an impressive phantom pregnancy after her first season. She has huge boobs, a little pot belly and was soooo sooky! Remember dogs are pregnant for 9 weeks so I think its quite common for phantoms to last that long. Jolie settled down eventually and has not had another phantom.

Forgot to say she is sooooooo cute!!!

Thanks Kirty :) I was under the impression that it wouldn't go for much longer than an actual pregnancy but there's no sign of it abating by the looks of things.

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VizslaMomma

VizslaMomma

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Thanks Kirty :) I was under the impression that it wouldn't go for much longer than an actual pregnancy but there's no sign of it abating by the looks of things.

They can go on for longer than 3 weeks.

I guess you should consider seeing the Vet again if you are worrying.

Maybe all the stresses this wee Darling has suffered have kicked her whole system into disorder.

What an adorable pair these two are.

:love:

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dancinbcs

dancinbcs

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Pregnancy is 9 weeks and then they lactate for another 6-8 weeks so a phantom usually lasts until at least 4-6 weeks after they would have whelped. All perfectly normal. Don't try to get any milk out of her as that stimulates more. The usual treatment is feed less and exercise more which is probably not possible in this case. Rubbing vinegar on the udders can help dry up the milk but it will resolve eventually.

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Thanks Kirty :) I was under the impression that it wouldn't go for much longer than an actual pregnancy but there's no sign of it abating by the looks of things.

They can go on for longer than 3 weeks.

I guess you should consider seeing the Vet again if you are worrying.

Maybe all the stresses this wee Darling has suffered have kicked her whole system into disorder.

What an adorable pair these two are.

:love:

Thanks VizslaMomma :) I'm not worrying particularly, she had another vetcheck a couple of weeks ago and the vet was very happy with her overall health and progress. I was reading that most phantoms resolve themselves within weeks, rather than months - and naturally it's on a Saturday night that I start wondering about it more ;)

Pregnancy is 9 weeks and then they lactate for another 6-8 weeks so a phantom usually lasts until at least 4-6 weeks after they would have whelped. All perfectly normal. Don't try to get any milk out of her as that stimulates more. The usual treatment is feed less and exercise more which is probably not possible in this case. Rubbing vinegar on the udders can help dry up the milk but it will resolve eventually.

Thanks dancinbcs :) From what I've read (yes, I know everything is true on the internet ;) ) phantoms don't generally go as long as an actual pregnancy, although some dogs do go the whole hog with nesting, producing milk, etc. She's getting lots of exercise playing with Jordie, after a bit of a tricky start she's using the leg really well now. As opposed to a cruciate surgery for instance, it's important that with this particular surgery that they start using the leg as soon as possible to build up muscle loss and strengthen the joints.

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Isn't Stella just that cutest little dog ever. And what is so special, is that Yellowgirl has approved me to have one of her phantom pups. Very excited :laugh: :laugh: :heart::heart:

:laugh: Are you putting down a cash or phantom deposit? :D

Whoops, forgot to reply to your post DDD :) Yes, it's the first time I've done an adoption without a home check ..lol! I think you have enough references though ;)

Good point TSD! I guess it will depend on how cute the imaginary babies are!! (to be honest, I already have a fundraising idea for this ;) )

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JulesP

JulesP

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Thanks dancinbcs :) From what I've read (yes, I know everything is true on the internet ;) ) phantoms don't generally go as long as an actual pregnancy, although some dogs do go the whole hog with nesting, producing milk, etc. She's getting lots of exercise playing with Jordie, after a bit of a tricky start she's using the leg really well now. As opposed to a cruciate surgery for instance, it's important that with this particular surgery that they start using the leg as soon as possible to build up muscle loss and strengthen the joints.

Amber has phantoms and she does have them as per a normal pregnancy, in the normal time frame. She was particularly hungry after her last season, even barking at me for food!!!

It sounded like your dog had swollen boobies quite quickly after her season? Amber doesn't get the swollen boobies for a couple of months after her season and does a manic digging session before getting her milk in.

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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I just had to look ALL over your FB photos again.

Talk about heart melting!!!

What a lucky little pair of fluffies to be safe with you now.

Thank you for caring.

:love:

Glad you like the photos VM - I love sharing them :) Fluffies eh? LOL!

Deposit is in the mail ............ :laugh: :laugh:

Will believe it when I see it DDD ...lol ;)

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Thanks dancinbcs :) From what I've read (yes, I know everything is true on the internet ;) ) phantoms don't generally go as long as an actual pregnancy, although some dogs do go the whole hog with nesting, producing milk, etc. She's getting lots of exercise playing with Jordie, after a bit of a tricky start she's using the leg really well now. As opposed to a cruciate surgery for instance, it's important that with this particular surgery that they start using the leg as soon as possible to build up muscle loss and strengthen the joints.

Amber has phantoms and she does have them as per a normal pregnancy, in the normal time frame. She was particularly hungry after her last season, even barking at me for food!!!

It sounded like your dog had swollen boobies quite quickly after her season? Amber doesn't get the swollen boobies for a couple of months after her season and does a manic digging session before getting her milk in.

Thanks JulesP :) So your Amber goes for about 2 months? That's how long Stella has been going for now. Her boobies started swelling DURING her season, most of the cases I've read about indicate that the phantom pregnancy usually starts after they've finished. After Amber starts producing milk, how much longer does she go on for after that? Does it stop quickly or do the boobs take a bit of time to reduce? Does she have particular indicators that show she's coming to the end of it?

It's hard to tell if Stella is different to normal, she was only 5 months old when she came and had already been through a lot, and she came into season within a couple of weeks of arriving. Some of her behaviours seem like they could be hormonal, but then again I didn't really know what she was like before that so it's hard to tell.

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JulesP

JulesP

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Amber finishes her season. Not much happens for a couple of months. Then she goes nuts digging and gets very sooky. Then her boobs swell. I can't remember how long her boobs stay swollen for, a couple of weeks I think. So the whole process takes a couple of months, just like a real pregnancy.

Her first season was the most dramatic. She really looked like she had just had pups.

She just had a really, really long season so no idea what is going to happen this time. I did notice that she is digging nesting holes though.

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yellowgirl

yellowgirl

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Thanks again Jules :)

Has anyone had a dog whose phantom pregnancy has gone for longer than 2 months? I'm not worried, the vet says she's happy and healthy, just interested in other DOLers experiences.

Oh, and we have another possible imaginary father in the running hehehe

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue/photos/a.125533404229284.23859.125509400898351/664989693616983/?type=1&theater

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Stitch

Stitch

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Repro specialist told me that a great many bitches have phantom pregnancies...what varies is the degree of the symptoms & the length of time they last.

So it is definitely not unusual. As long as you have faith in your vet you just have to wait it out.

If you are concerned then it would be worthwhile to take her to a repro.specialist.

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