Phantom Pregnancy

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this.

I have always had bitches but my last two bitches both had phantom pregnancies. I had to have Millie spayed as her phantom pregnancy did not stop even with hormone medication from the vet and my bitch, Tess has had her second phantom.

Now the only difference I can tell is I never had my previous bitches with a male dog in the house. Both Millie and Tess have lived with Harvey. Am I putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5 or has anyone else experienced this? Maybe I have been unlucky.

I'm not sure what to do about Tess, whether to have her spayed or not. I don't really need to as Harvey has been castrated and don't want to have her done unless I have to.

Tess had a lump in her mammory glands a while ago which gave me a scare but the vet said she had an infection probably due to mastitis because of a phantom pregnancy. She gave her hormone medication which almost instantly brought her into season, which she bled for a whole month! Now she is showing signs again of another phantom pregnancy - being a loopy moo, following me everywhere, whining at me and now showing milk.

Has anyone had a bitch with phantom pregnancies and not spayed her or vice versa.

I'm just looking for some advice.

Thanks

I have one driving me nuts atm whining and collecting rubber toys Gonna have to take them away as leaving them is only making her worse .I've no intention of having her spayed so far but if I don't intend on breeding her,she will be spayed as I have lost a dog due to closed pyo and wouldn't want to go through all that again .I always say to peeps if they have no intentions of mating their bitch,have her spayed.Saves loads of grief in the long run,xxxxxxxx

Please dont worry too much. We have 5 bitches - Thalice is the only one who is spayed (aged 9 1/2) because of possible mammary tumours the rest are entire, and we have 2 dogs, one entire the other was castrated aged 9 for health reasons.

All the bitches have had phantoms - but hey this is natural. In the pack the alpha bitch has the puppies and the others lactate to assist in feeding. As owners we just have to be vigilant and make ourselves aware of the symptoms of a Pyo - Buy yourself a digital thermometer with a clear readout !!

We manage the phantom with Pulsatilla (or Sepia depending on the temperament of the dog) and large doses of Evening Primrose Oil (which also helps the coat.)

Seasons are a natural part of having a bitch - enjoy them and just be aware.

Thalice's Mum

Jess my newf has phantoms, 2 seasons, followed by 2 phantoms;. she is due in season again sept.

The worse for me is she gets quite funny with the other dogs. Quite guardy over food. Its getting worse every season. I would have her spayed but as she has other health issues going on its not possible at the moment.

Does anyone elses have the mood swings??

This makes me feel very lucky, many years ago I had a friend whose little mongrel had phantoms all the time & they even continued to a lesser degree when she was spayed. That bitch lived alone.
None of my bitches has ever had a phntom pregnancy even though most of them have lived with an entire male companion.

this is realy interesting cos i had keira ess aspayed at 2 cos she had a couple of phantoms and produced milk but since being spaeyed shes still seems to have them ie carrying toys etc but i do have a bt that hasnt been spayed yet and before another bt bitch who died at 2 with pyro. i thought having themn spayed would stop this

Thanks very much for all your replies.

I'm still undecided what to do. I will see how this phantom goes, I'm reluctant to take her to the vet again to get more hormone treatment, I am thinking I might leave it to hopefully end its natural course. I will keep an eye on her and see how she goes.

Sarah