I know that a female can be in heat for about 3weeks...unfortunately, I don't know what stage my dog is in because I just noticed her swelling a few days ago. But, I'm wondering if I missed her being swollen prior to that? Ugh, I'm scared...I wanted her to have this heat (her first, she's 9mos old) and then I plan on spaying her after this. I currently have a male dog that is her brother, and am hoping I'm not too late in catching her!
I haven't noticed ANY bleeding yet, but she cleans herself a LOT. She is massively swollen and my only consolation is I haven't noticed the male dogs pining over her yet...I hope I'm not too late.
Can anyone shed some light?
2007-08-01 16:19:54 · 7 answers · asked by Korlis 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
To answer the question below...I was actually told that it's best to spay a female after her first heat. I was wondering why I needed to wait myself, but I was just doing what I thought would be best for her.
I'm a huge animal-lover and am currently helping spread the word in my community about over-population, altering pets, and being a voice for the current occupants of the shelters. I know the heartache and extent of irresponsible breeding...I was just afraid I was too late in catching her.
As far as being irresponsible, I'm going by advice that I'd gotten from vets, friends, family...Just asking questions should make me the responsible party, I would think.
2007-08-01 16:37:45 · update #1
UPDATE: She started bleeding two days ago! I was watching the boys around her and they were so uninterested...until she started bleeding...then I knew! So, they're separated and it's off to the spay clinic to take care of future scares. Thanks everyone!
2007-08-03 22:31:28 · update #2
It is possible it is too late. It's hard to tell because some dogs keep themselves very clean. My girl is very difficult to tell when she comes into heat because she keeps herself clean. She is a show dog so she is intact. If she is swollen she is definately in heat so I would keep the male away however if she has not started to flag the male and he hasn't expressed any real interest in him you should be ok. She will be flagging him, by this I mean she will stick her butt in his face and flick her tail to the side signaling she is ready. If you see any signs of this you definately want to separate them. If you get the pants for her it may help to prevent a possible breeding but they need to be taken off every time they go out. We have to use the pants because we have white carpeting and no matter how clean she keeps herself sometimes she misses a bit and it can stain the carpeting. You just put a normal maxi pad in the pants and it takes care of the blood. I take our girl out on a leash when she is in heat so I can watch her very closely to make sure there are no boys coming anywhere near her. Our boy is fixed so there is no problem there. Have her fixed as soon as she is done with her heat cycle. Good luck.
2007-08-01 16:51:27 · answer #1 · answered by smitte21 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It actually isn't good to let a female go through its first heat.
My cat had one heat in her whole lifetime and was then spayed afterwards, but she ended up getting uterine cancer and dying at the age of 11, all because that one heat when she was younger made her susceptible.
I'm glad you're spaying her, but just be on the lookout now for any early warning signs of a tumor or cancerous growth on her throughout her lifetime. Just givin' ya a heads up.
Keep the male separated from the female if at all possible. Even though the two dogs are related, they'll have no qualms mating with each other.
Here's a site to help identify what stage in heat your dog is in:
http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-57.htm
2007-08-01 23:54:02 · answer #2 · answered by The Samurai Lullaby 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If she had been bred, she's be going out of heat quickly. Some dogs are so clean you may not notice the drainage. But, since you have, keep her & her brother far apart until she's back to normal. I'm curious, why did you want her to have a heat cycle before spaying her? I have 5 females & all but 1 was spayed before their heat cycle. The 1 I bred then spayed her.
2007-08-01 23:26:29 · answer #3 · answered by Deb 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get her spayed immediately. It can still be done, even if she's in heat. That will take care of your problem. By the way, it's best to have females spayed before their first heat. This greatly reduces the risk of her developing breast cancer.
I hope you're having your male dog neutered, too. It will prevent testicular cancer and greatly reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
2007-08-01 23:39:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like she is just coming into heat. They usually ovulate and can be bred at day 10-14 on average. You really need to keep her totally separated from the male--accidents happen in a split second!
2007-08-01 23:23:43 · answer #5 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
she sounds like she is going into heat. Keep the brother away from her for about two weeks.
2007-08-01 23:31:06 · answer #6 · answered by The Heartbreak Kid 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get her spayed asap. & him neutered. by going into her first heat her risk of cancer is 80% higher.
having un-neutered dogs or cats today is just irresponsible
2007-08-01 23:33:26 · answer #7 · answered by sadiejane 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋