We had Juniper spayed about a month ago at 8 months old. Everything went well and her scar is almost healed…thankfully she doesn't seem to have lost any of her zeal! The vet said her sex organs looked as developed as a 3 y/o dog and it was they were the most mature looking sex organs he'd ever seen in 20 years of spaying and neutering. Believe it or not she went into a false labor after the spaying; about a week after the surgery her teats swelled up and when we took her to the vet he apparently squeezed out some milk! She was acting fairly normal but it was just as odd as it sounds! The vet said its rare but it can happen after a spaying because the hormone changes are similar to that of post-delivery. I did some research online and apparently false labors are common among wild wolves where the non-pregnant females will go into a false labor to provide milk and nurturing for offspring in the pack that are not their own.
Two heats in a year
-
Hi there!
My Basenji Nzinga had heat in april and again now, in november. She is almost 4 years old and it is the first time she has two heat cycles in a year. What do you advise me? She is not castrated and not mated and I don't intendent to. Thank you and greetings from Brazil. Andrea Menezes
-
We had our 2 sisters castrated, Lela after her first heat and Binti after her second (she came to us when she was 1,5).
Castrating greatly reduces the risks to various kinds of cancer.
And during their period of heat, they were both reserved, a bit sullen, not playful or fun at all - it lasted several months. -
There is no reason to leave her in-tact…. not only to you risk cancer, but also bitches can develop Pyometra, especially if they start to have odd seasons
-
My first Basenji had 2 heats a year, and then she'd always have a false pregnancy after each heat. And she was bitchy for the month she was in heat… and bitchy for the 2 months she was "pregnant". So that meant, with 2 heats a year, she was bitchy for 6 months out of the year. Talk about a good reason to spay a dog!
And Pat is right, there is no good reason to keep a bitch whole if she doesn't need to be. Never mind just the convenience of it,,,,, Pyometra IS a threat. I had 2 bitches get Pyometra. I lost one, the other was saved with an emergency spay.
-Joanne
