Pseudopregnancy..

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GeoFil
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Pseudopregnancy..

Post by GeoFil »

After the 2nd period which happened in February,apparently Kristi found herself in pseudopregnancy.We didn't notice it and many signs of weird behaviour,including her bitting my wife(mentioned in a another topic) were never linked to such condition until yesterday that we went to the vet to discuss the intense paw licking and itcing which we believed to be food allergy and there he saw her nipples were swollen and dripping something like milk.He said that even the intense paw licking is due to this condition among other things.Any owner had similar experience?
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Sirchow
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Re: Pseudopregnancy..

Post by Sirchow »

Dogs are different to almost every other animal in that after every come on heat (or in Season) they always have a false pregnancy. It just varies in degree. Most females will not be that noticeable. They gather a few soft toys, get a little grumpy at the point they would have produced puppies (64 days after mating if it takes place), maybe get a little clingy and if you are brushing them you may notice their teats are a little more pronounced. But some have a full on phantom pregnancy and this can be very distressing for your b*tch and for you and if you have mated them it will seem as though you are expecting puppies. They become slower and put on weight and start produce milk and can even feed puppies at this point if there are other puppies around needing fed. The trouble with this is it is very distressing for the b*tch and she will generally go on to have more phantom pregnancies sometimes becoming more pronounced each time. If you don't intend breeding wait until midway between seasons to allow all hormones to return to zero level and have her speyed. You should not get her speyed in this condition as it will mess up her hormones for some time.

Be very gentle with her and try not to blame her too much for her moods and such though biting is never acceptable and I hope no one was hurt. Plenty of brisk walks and fresh air and dont encourage cuddling with soft toys or her milk production by touching her underside. The vet can give an injection if necessary to dry up the milk.

Bramble....my red chow had very severe phantom pregnancies and I had to spey her as she was also quite agressive with it toward my other b*tches but also towards me when she should have produced puppies. After speying she went back to her normal sweet self and has not had any more problems. Even when my other girls are on heat she shows no interest at all where once there would have been bloodshed without careful management. The last false pregnancy she was dripping with milk and was very distressed searching for puppies and making beds. It was quite sad really. I had planned to breed her but with her leg injury history and the developing ED too speying was the best thing for her :)
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Siriol, Bramble, Izzie and Isla.
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GeoFil
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Re: Pseudopregnancy..

Post by GeoFil »

Speying is what the vet suggested also if breeding is not an option and to be honest we haven't find the right people yet to love and care and most of all keep the puppy and not throw it away something which happens often here in Greece unfortunately,even the law forbids it.So to spey her is the most likely choice.Thank you for your answer.
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Rory's Dad
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Re: Pseudopregnancy..

Post by Rory's Dad »

Just want to say that was a great explanation SirChow. It's not something we see a lot as this bunch tends to be pretty responsible and spaying is the norm. For those that do maintain intact females, its an interesting topic. And i think it occurs more often than you would think.
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Re: Pseudopregnancy..

Post by Cindy J »

Although not a Chow, my female rottweiler has false pregnancies with every heat. Unfortunately every heat cycle brings on worse symptoms. We decided after this last cycle that she should be spayed. Watching her nesting, pushing squeaky toys up to her teats to nurse, snarking at the other dogs for getting too close to her babies.... Not to mention going off food and almost giving herself a UTI because she refused to go out to potty and leave her "babies".

We had to hide anything that was small enough for her to pick up and take to her bed. When we picked up all the toys she would find a sock or wash cloth. She becomes miserable and cries for her "babies" when we hide them all. I am just sorry that we waited this long. She is 3.5 yrs old.
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