Zoey is spayed, but acting as if she's in heat
Bulldogs World Forum Archives
These archives contain a copy of the contents of the old Bulldogs World Forum for reference purposes.Posting is disabled in the archives.
Click here to visit the active Bulldog Forum
Zoey is spayed, but acting as if she's in heat
Submitted by kreale23 on April 20, 2010 - 11:27pmZoey (will be 4 years old this week) was spayed a couple of years ago, but my husband and I noticed her acting strange for the past few days. She normally sleeps a lot, but she's sleeping more than usual and not as playful. She's been extremely snuggly, and our male dog can't seem to keep his face out of her backside. When we catch him in that area, we move him away and notice him licking more than usual as if he got a horrible taste of something, and we notice a smell that is familiar to when she was in heat. There is no bleeding or leakage of any kind... we are just noticing the smell and her behavior changes. I don't think she's sick - she responds when we do try to play with her, but she is just not her normal self.
What could be going on with her? Is this normal? We have never noticed it before.
Thanks!! 
Will do.
Thank you so much!
We had her spayed after her 1st heat. When I say "swollen," the only thing I'm comparing her to is just basically herself.. so she is just more swollen than she usually is. I'll definitely continue to watch her for the next couple of days and I'll make an appt with our vet if needed. Thank you so much for your help!!
Dificult to give you a clear answer.
"swollen" is a judgment call and I don't have any comparison. Did you spay her before her first heat, or afterward? Some bitches' vulva "mature" or enlarge with their first heat, and remain at that size even after they have been spayed. There is a slight chance of a vaginitis there, and inflammation of the exterior pathway of her urine (versus a bladder infection) but you would usually see some different behaviors from her such as more frequent urination or even some attempt by her to 'rub herself' on the carpet or ground to satisfy an itch. Perhaps give her another day or two and if this still doesn't feel right have the vet examine her and her urine for any infection...my best suggestion.
Just gave her a bath
and noticed that her private area is swollen... and there still doesn't seem to be any "leakage." Is this normal for her to go through some symptoms of being in heat even though she's spayed, or do you think this is an infection that she needs an antibiotic for? She's not acting "sick"... just basically sleeping and snuggling more than usual, and still acting exctited when we play with her. Any other thoughts? Thanks so much for everything!!
Can you give her a bath?
If he's licking the area (or maybe even before that) there could be a small fungal/yeast odor around her "privates" and that could be what is attracting him...and keeping the area moist will only encourage that. I suggest a good bath, using a medicated shampoo if you have one (Malaseb or Chlorhexidine) or just a good regular one, taking care not to get shampoo inside but do wash the area folds well (I've even used a Dial soap in that area after dog's heat cycle to be sure I got it clean) and rinse well...then rinse again.
This will do no harm but perhaps help with any odor attraction. As for her being sluggish, this could be from some health issue, or just the cooler weather and a feeling of wanting to keep low-n-warm, something that I enjoy too. HTH