Worried About My Dog

DBB

SigersonCup wrote: »

I'm bringing her to the vet in the morning to see what the story is.

I don't think she has pyometra now because she is coming around a bit now and I noticed milk coming out from her teat's this morning.

I'm just wondering should I get her neutered/spayed seeing as she is 9 years old.

I'm worried about whether or not she would be able to survive the operation giving that she is 9?

Your vet will be able to advise you on this one, if she's otherwise healthy there's no reason why she shouldn't be done at this age. It will stop her having to go through these false pregnancies which are clearly quite unpleasant for her, and for you to see too!
Has she produced milk during a false pregnancy before? it's not abnormal, I'm just curious

SigersonCup

DBB wrote: »

Your vet will be able to advise you on this one, if she's otherwise healthy there's no reason why she shouldn't be done at this age. It will stop her having to go through these false pregnancies which are clearly quite unpleasant for her, and for you to see too!
Has she produced milk during a false pregnancy before? it's not abnormal, I'm just curious

Not that I can remember. As far as I know this is the first time she's produced milk..

Another thing I'm worried about is what to say to the vet when I go in tomorrow, should I say that I'm worried she could have pyometra or something else?

toadfly

SigersonCup wrote: »

Not that I can remember. As far as I know this is the first time she's produced milk..

Another thing I'm worried about is what to say to the vet when I go in tomorrow, should I say that I'm worried she could have pyometra or something else?

Maybe just explain her symtoms and mention you had been reading up on pyometra. Let us know how you get on tomorrow.

ppink

SigersonCup wrote: »

Not that I can remember. As far as I know this is the first time she's produced milk..

Another thing I'm worried about is what to say to the vet when I go in tomorrow, should I say that I'm worried she could have pyometra or something else?

Just say everything you said in your first post and you vet will examine her and see what he/she thinks may be wrong.
Maybe make a short list of all the little things....swollen stomach, carrying her toys, down in herself, milk etc so you dont forget. Sometimes when you get there you may forget something with all the worry of getting in there.:)
Also ask about spaying ie does the vet advise it.

Edit: yes of course you can ask him about the pyometra. hopefully he will rule that out.

anniehoo

SigersonCup wrote: »

I'm bringing her to the vet in the morning to see what the story is.

Good stuff. Vets can be expensive but if she hasnt been in awhile then its money best spent.

wrote:

I don't think she has pyometra now because she is coming around a bit now and I noticed milk coming out from her teat's this morning.

Sigerson, i know we probably have you concerned here about alternate possibilties to your dogs symptoms,but the simple fact is, we aren't vets and cant "diagnose"... only advise unfortunately.

wrote:

I'm just wondering should I get her neutered/spayed seeing as she is 9 years old.

If it was me...i would, without a shadow of a doubt. It will cost ~€150 (depending on your vet). Its worth it!These phantom pregnancies are just something she could do without. She's not "old" as such but you dont want her to get to 12,14...16 etc and then "cry wolf" i.e always thinking its a pseudopregnancy when its something much worse. She's too old to have a litter...and for the same reason too old too old to think she's had one.

Show your Mam whats been written here. If your finances for your dog rely soley on what your parents can afford then please dont worry yourself unnecessarily ok. You're doing your best and you come across as a very compassionate owner however old you are.

Vets are very approachable and understanding also.They're used to not always getting paid straightaway If you are relying on you parents to pay, vets will happily (seriously) set up a payment plan for you ok (€10/mth).;)

carwash_2006

I would just like to add to this, I'm sure your vet will say this, but just in case they don't, she should not be spayed until 3 months after this has passed unless it were to turn out to be a pyometra, which of course is an emergency situation.

Spaying while they are in the middle of, or shortly after a phantom pregnancy and their hormone levels are in major flux can trigger other hormonal problems. Assuming the vet gives her the all clear health wise, give it 3 months and then make an appointment to get her spayed.

andreac

Please look in to getting her spayed, it really is best for her.

I was talking to someone at the weekend who had their 8 year old staffie spayed and when the vet opened her up she was riddled with cancer in her womb so if he had of left her unspayed she would have got very sick and died of the cancer. Lucky for her, the op was very straight forward and by spaying her has made sure that all that cancer was taken out so she should live a much longer life now.

So it really is beneficial for the dog to be spayed as every season she has increases her risk of contracting cancer

SigersonCup

My mam said she would ring this morning to book an appointment for around 10. And she was going to wake me to go down but she didnt. I rang her then and she said that she was talking to the secretary of the vet and she looked up old records of the dog, the dog hasn't been there for a long time and she said that the dog would be too heavy to go under anaesthetic. I forget some of the other things she said but she said that to bring her down next week if she's still the same

andreac

Sorry but this doesnt make sense??

How is the dog too heavy to go under anaesthetic?? Is she over weight or something? How do they know the dog is too heavy without actually seeing the vet and being weighed??

She doesnt need to go under anaesthetic to have her checked over first.

Sorry but you really really need to get your dog checked out by a vet, i cant stress this enough.

SigersonCup

I said to my mam that we have to bring the dog down to get checked out.

She said that the woman she was talking to on the phone said that she would be too heavy to take the operation.

She said aswell that the dog would be too old to have it done aswell.

My mam said that she doesn't see the point in getting the operation because she thinks that the dog could die a couple of week's after the op because she wouldn't be able to recover.

I keep telling her that we have to bring her down to see can we, I told her that after every heat the chance of her getting cancer or pyometra increases and she still won't bring her.

toadfly

Aw you poor thing it's not easy when you can't make decisions like this.

Was it the vet/receptionist your mam was talking to? Seems very strange to me that they would say that without seeing/weighing her.

SigersonCup

TillyGirl wrote: »

Aw you poor thing it's not easy when you can't make decisions like this.

Was it the vet/receptionist your mam was talking to? Seems very strange to me that they would say that without seeing/weighing her.

The receptionist, but she does know about dog's herself. I've been down there a number of times with our other dog's and she's been able to say what is wrong with them and that.

She looked up records I think of when we were down there last, we haven't been down there with this particular dog for a while and at that time she was over-weight I would think. But she has lost weight since then.

About the age, there's no reason that that would stop her from getting neutered is there? she is 9.

andreac

I really dont get where your mam is coming from?

Do you mind me asking how old you are op? If you ar eover 18, could you not bring the dog sown yourself?

toadfly

They can't say the dog isn't fit for surgery without assessing her. 9 isn't old for terrier type dogs. We had our 17 year old dog at the vets in January with an enlarged prostate vet recommend surgery despite his age but unfortunately Cody passed away before we could get him done.

I would get a second opinion if it was me but I understand it's not down to you.

SigersonCup

andreac wrote: »

I really dont get where your mam is coming from?

Do you mind me asking how old you are op? If you ar eover 18, could you not bring the dog sown yourself?

I'm 16

andreac

Could you show your mam this thread maybe?

SigersonCup

andreac wrote: »

Could you show your mam this thread maybe?

I've told her everything you've all said yet she still doesn't think that it's worth going down getting her checked for some reason.

I've told her that after each heat she goes through that the chances of her getting a serious disease increase and she still won't bring the dog down.

She seems to think that the dog is coming to the end of her life and that there's no need to get her spayed at this point and I keep telling her that she has at least 4 good years left in her and she doesn't believe me.

andreac

Well unless you are able to bring the dog sown yourself theres not much you can do and i feel sorry for you and even more sorry for your dog if thats what shes up against.

Sorry to say, but your mam is being very selfish and unfair on the poor dog.:(

SigersonCup

andreac wrote: »

Well unless you are able to bring the dog sown yourself theres not much you can do and i feel sorry for you and even more sorry for your dog if thats what shes up against.

Sorry to say, but your mam is being very selfish and unfair on the poor dog.:(

I'm going to have to try and bring her down myself, I just don't know why my mam won't bring her down to weigh her even and just to get checked out like.

I agree with you completely about her, What I've started doing now aswell seeing that I'm still on holidays from school, I started today bringing the dog out on long walks every day to try and get her to lose more weight.

SigersonCup

My mam's logic behind this is that she think's if the vet thought that they would be able to make money by getting us to bring down the dog and possibly spay then they would.

ppink

I see you are in Cork. Have you only one vet near you?
The reason I ask is maybe someone could recommend a good vet to you who will work with you on this. *most* vets will only do what is best for the dog, but your Mam has a point in that there are some out there who are money driven.

If you can bring the dog yourself do and be straight up with them about money and ask what they recommend and can they give you a payment plan.
If she is overweight it is good to exercise her but also watch she is not getting too much food.
I know my parents had a tendency to give enought food to our dogs to feed a small pony;)

Is there anyone else (aunt/uncle etc) who would go with you?

Nuttzz

most vets i know are more interested in the animals welfare than in money, of course they want to get paid but the wont do unnecessary operations on the dog.

Your mother probably just rang about getting the dog spayed and nothing else, hence the vet clinics reaction.

Next time set the alarm and get out of the bed and do it yourself or at least listen to her half of the call. Cant believe this thread went on over the weekend and you couldnt be bothered getting out of bed on Monday morning....

Zapperzy

At 16 your allowed to sign consent forms to veterinary treatment so if you can get her down to the vets yourself then by all means do.

What size or breed is she? For a small terrier sized dog 9 is not old at all, only yesterday I met a 22 year old terrier who's still plodding along and still goes on walks and runs down the field! Even for a lab sized dog 9 if she's in good health is not too old to be put under anaesthetic once you go to a good small animal vet who uses gas anaesthetic (isoflurane or indeed sevoflurane which is better but not that common yet). How they can say she is too overweight for it without even seeing her is confusing and to be honest it does sound a little like your mum is telling you she rang the vet to keep you happy. Any vet I know would definitely not put off seeing a entire bitch with possible pyometra-like symptoms until next week.

Anyways fair play to you for caring and don't feel like it's your fault. And I know it's hard too and you can't ignore things but try not to read too much into symptoms on the internet or at least just take it with a pinch of salt as you will end up diagnosing your pet with imminent death even if it's just a simple sniffle they have! That said though you obviously can't just ignore symptoms I'm just talking from experience from googling both human and animal ailments and ending up self diagnosing imminent death!

Edited to add: Just remembered I once witnessed a 16 year old terrier (with heart problems) go through a spay operation because of pyometra and she recovered brilliantly, so with a good vet anything is possible!

Laisurg

SigersonCup wrote: »

My mam's logic behind this is that she think's if the vet thought that they would be able to make money by getting us to bring down the dog and possibly spay then they would.

I would say the safest bet would be to demand that she allow the dog to be brought to the vet.

SigersonCup

I said it to her there again now about bringing the dog down.

Again she said that she doesn't see the point in getting it done because she said that the dog could die in 6 months after the operation.

She think's that 9 is old for a dog yet I told her that I was on a forum and people were telling me how they knew people who had dog's who were 17 and 22. I said that she maybe thought that 9 was old because she probably didn't bring her dog's to the vet to get spayed before and they all died young.

I told her then to make an appointment tomorrow and all she has to do is bring me down and I'll go in myself. She said she would and want's to know what I should say is wrong. Should I just say it's a check up or what?

LucyBliss

That's hard all right, OP.

I'm wondering would your mother be afraid that there is something wrong with the dog but is more afraid to admit it so she's not listening to you? It happens - lord knows, there's one in my own family like that - and when they dig their heels in, it can be very hard to get past that wall.

And from my own experience, most vets are only too willing to help a dog have good quality of life, regardless of age. My own vet treated my grandmother's 13 old collie for a bad heart condition a few years ago. There was no question that she was too old.
Unless the dog is in a very bad way and it will only add to their suffering, the vet will advocate some form of procedure or treatment.

I hope things get better for the dog or your mum comes around, whatever happens first.

ETA: OP, anyone can make an appointment for the dog. You've done the reading here and you know what you want looked at so perhaps you should talk to the receptionist, instead of it going through your mum. I'm not trying to suggest you go behind her back, it's just that when a message is being passed through another person, the wrong thing can be emphasised.

SigersonCup

SigersonCup wrote: »

I said it to her there again now about bringing the dog down.

Again she said that she doesn't see the point in getting it done because she said that the dog could die in 6 months after the operation.

She think's that 9 is old for a dog yet I told her that I was on a forum and people were telling me how they knew people who had dog's who were 17 and 22. I said that she maybe thought that 9 was old because she probably didn't bring her dog's to the vet to get spayed before and they all died young.

I told her then to make an appointment tomorrow and all she has to do is bring me down and I'll go in myself. She said she would and want's to know what I should say is wrong. Should I just say it's a check up or what?

My mam also said "who get's a dog neutered at 9"

SigersonCup

LucyBliss wrote: »

That's hard all right, OP.

I'm wondering would your mother be afraid that there is something wrong with the dog but is more afraid to admit it so she's not listening to you? It happens - lord knows, there's one in my own family like that - and when they dig their heels in, it can be very hard to get past that wall.

And from my own experience, most vets are only too willing to help a dog have good quality of life, regardless of age. My own vet treated my grandmother's 13 old collie for a bad heart condition a few years ago. There was no question that she was too old.
Unless the dog is in a very bad way and it will only add to their suffering, the vet will advocate some form of procedure or treatment.

I hope things get better for the dog or your mum comes around, whatever happens first.

ETA: OP, anyone can make an appointment for the dog. You've done the reading here and you know what you want looked at so perhaps you should talk to the receptionist, instead of it going through your mum. I'm not trying to suggest you go behind her back, it's just that when a message is being passed through another person, the wrong thing can be emphasised.

See to be honest, the dog is after coming around a lot in the last couple of day's. Her tail has gone back up again now, and she isn't caring for her stuffed toy's as she did last week. So I think that she is after coming out of this pseudo-pregnancy.

But I would still want to go down to the vet and get her checked to see would she be able to get spayed, just to stop the risk of her getting a serious infection in the future.

I will probably ring the vet myself in the morning to make sure they get what I would like them to check out, should I tell the vet that I want to go down to have the dog checked out to see if she is able to be spayed?

ppink

SigersonCup wrote: »

I will probably ring the vet myself in the morning to make sure they get what I would like them to check out, should I tell the vet that I want to go down to have the dog checked out to see if she is able to be spayed?

yes. they wont ask you too much over the phone to make the appointment. All they need to know over the phone is if it is an emergency or not.
Just tell them all about what she has been doing and ask about spaying.

They will examine her and tell you what is going on anyway.

SigersonCup

ppink wrote: »

yes. they wont ask you too much over the phone to make the appointment. All they need to know over the phone is if it is an emergency or not.
Just tell them all about what she has been doing and ask about spaying.

They will examine her and tell you what is going on anyway.

So should I just say that she was acting odd last week but is improving now and I want to get her checked to see if she would be able to get spayed because I was reading online that un-spayed dog's are more proned to serious infections.