Dog heat cycles

[Arrows_Endure]

I have a stupid question…

Dog in question is 45#, and about 14 months old. Dog went into heat on 3/7/11. Heat lasted the normal three weeks, and it was her first heat season.

How is it possible that the vet says she was in heat when I took her in to be spayed? They charged me an extra, fairly hefty sum. She was left intact through one heat cycle due to an inverted vulva that was causing a pretty serious, ongoing case of vaginitis.

By my records, dog should have gone into heat again the first part of september.

Inquiring (and frankly a bit baffled and annoyed) minds want to know.

[allikat819]

Heat cycles for dogs can vary A LOT, ranging from every 3 or 4 months to every 6, or even 9. It’s possible that your dog was in fact, just starting to go into heat. Then again, it’s entirely possible that the vet scammed you, but I would really hope that’s not the case.

[Simkie]

Agreed that they can be ALL over the place.

I wonder, though, if the vaginitis caused inflammation or a low grade infection in the uterus that the vet mistook for early heat? Either would lead to a more complicated surgery than a simple, run of the mill spay.

[Arrows_Endure]

I would have been fine with that explanation, honestly. What I got, was simply, “your dog was in heat”. Umm…no swelling, no discharge, none of my (neutered) male dogs annoying her (which they did through her first heat), nothing. When I questioned it, I got, “well, usually they show signs of heat about two to three months after outwards symptoms show as well as 2-3 months before the next heat cycle”. So…by that defination, if your dog isn’t a puppy, or already spayed, she is always in heat, so you always charge an extra fee. Ok, fine, tell me that the spay surgery is going to be that much higher for a mature dog, don’t tack on a fake “in heat” charge, because I am afraid I don’t believe that explanation…

[Bumper]

I think you’ve been hosed. If no dogs were showing interest in her she wasn’t close at all. My vet has told me if the dog is in proestrus or estrus it’s tougher to do and quite messy, therefore more expensive. But otherwise, it shouldn’t be an issue at all.

I’m waiting for my youngest to come into estrus right now. She’s 5 and had her first litter last September. She was bred the first week in July. She had her last heat cycle in January but had a mild uterine infection and was on antibiotics. She’s always been regular, every 6 months, but having a litter and then having an infection has thrown her off.

Male dogs will show an interest for some 6 weeks prior to proestrus (bloody discharge) and estrus. Sometimes, it’s a very looooooong 6 weeks, LOL!

[Marshfield]

There’s a huge variation. Our retired GSP bitch cycled at around a 4 month interval. Her daughter is a 6 month girl. My corgi is a pita as she’s gone as short as six months and as long as 10 months. I’ve been waiting since April for her to cycle in. I’m about to enter her in an agility trial in the hopes that she’ll come in.

Having spayed a whole lot of dogs, I can tell you that the internal changes of increased uterine size and increased blood supply can be present without any visible changes to the vulva or any discharge. I usually try to wait 6 to 8 weeks past the end of the heat cycle to spay.

[threedogpack]

I’ve had girls who show very little when in heat to absolute hussies that were messy. My girls must not have read the books as they don’t cycle on a regular basis all the time. Sometimes they short cycle every 4 months followed by a longer 7 or 8 month cycle.

I’d believe my vet.