[cmayo]

I took in a stray, in-estrus Pyr 12 days ago and it looks like she's still bleeding. I'd seen a drop of blood on my porch after she'd visited a week or so before I took her in, so we might be coming up on about three weeks of this. I've read that large breeds may bleed more than smaller dogs, but I don't know if they'll bleed for a longer period of time.

Another possible factor, it looked like she'd been hit by a car and was limping badly on her rear legs when she showed up on the road 3-4 months ago, so it may be possible that some sort of internal damage is in play, but I'm kind of a Chicken Little about life's little adversities so I may just be worrying for nothing.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lillith]

The average is 1.5 to 2 weeks, so if you're concerned you should definitely call a vet. They will tell you if she needs to be brought in, or if they want you to wait a bit.

 

[cmayo]

The average is 1.5 to 2 weeks, so if you're concerned you should definitely call a vet. They will tell you if she needs to be brought in, or if they want you to wait a bit.

Thanks, Lillith, I'll do just that when the office reopens on Tuesday. Happy 4th!

 

[parus]

As a stray you'll want to have her scanned for a microchip and given any necessary vaccinations anyway, so might as well schedule a vet visit.

 

[cmayo]

As a stray you'll want to have her scanned for a microchip and given any necessary vaccinations anyway, so might as well schedule a vet visit.

Hey Parus, I hadn't thought of scanning her for a chip and that's a really good idea but even if she's chipped, I'm keeping her unless someone can convince the county sheriff (or a judge) to take her away from me. She's been wandering the area ever since her original owners sold out 4-5 months ago, and she deserves better than whoever bought that place and turned her out to fend for herself.

I do intend to vet her and was hoping to wait until she'd settled in a bit more, but that was before I got worried about this prolonged estrus cycle.

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

If she's been an 'in estrus', outdoor stray, I'd suggest getting her vetted sooner (much, much sooner) than later. An unwanted litter of puppies might otherwise be in your future.... Especially if she has physical injuries as a result due to being HBC, you want to get a firm handle on her medical & potential medical issues (including being pregnant) immediately. That is, if you want to keep her (which it seems you do?)

 

[cmayo]

If she's been an 'in estrus', outdoor stray, I'd suggest getting her vetted sooner (much, much sooner) than later. An unwanted litter of puppies might otherwise be in your future.... Especially if she has physical injuries as a result due to being HBC, you want to get a firm handle on her medical & potential medical issues (including being pregnant) immediately. That is, if you want to keep her (which it seems you do?)

Excellent points. I'd intended to ask the vet about terminating a possible pregnancy and plan to see to it that this is her last heat, but I hadn't thought far enough ahead to consider how whelping litter of big half-Pyr puppies could result in complications from any internal damages she may have from her (presumed) accident.

Thanks much!

 

[ClanWorgen]

A vet visit is always good to be on the safe side.

For some reason it seems like owners of female dogs are under the impression that heat cycles only last 2 weeks and they only bleed for a few days of that, but every dog is different and heat cycles CAN last up to 6 weeks and they can bleed for a good amount of time during that. I've had a lot of owners bring their dogs in for boarding thinking because their female dogs heat started 3 weeks earlier that they are fine, but then we find more blood.

 

[cmayo]

Ok, I did as Lillith (and everyone else!) suggested and called the vet this morning, they said to bring her in. About the vaginal bleeding/discharge, the vet was mildly curious about an infection in her plumbing (didn't catch the term he used), but he said to just schedule her for a spay in ten days, which would take care of the infection (if it exists) and the pregnancy (again, if it exists), so that's booked for the 14th. I'm also hoping the spay helps with her increasingly aggressive behavior toward my two existing dogs.

She's heartworm positive (of course) so we started her on Tri-Heart and a 60-day course of doxycycline. The doc will want to do an immiticide treatment after the doxy, but my senior dog was heartwork positive and too old for immiticide, so we just gave him 60 days of doxy and kept him on Tri-Heart, and in two years, he tested heartworm free. I may take the same approach with the Pyr... depends on budget and how she's doing otherwise.

The doc didn't seem concerned about internal damage from (I assume) being hit by a car, and the rib I thought had been broken and badly healed was, in his words, just a floating rib... apparently pretty common.

Thanks a million for the tips, folks. You really helped me out!

 

[Casey56]

I would take her to a vet anyway, just because she was a stray and you want her checked out. As far as the bleeding, my little 12 lb. doxie mix just stopped bleeding after 3 weeks, so that in itself wouldn't concern me. But get her checked out. You will feel so much better.

ETA: Didn't see your above post when I answered, so glad it worked out.