Our girl's first heat...questions
 

Hello, our 8 mos. old yorkie is in heat and we don't know anything!!!
We have noticed that she has vomited twice, once yesterday and it was foamy like and then again today. Today's vomit was whole kernels of food, which we have noticed when she vomits that it seems her food comes out whole.....we hear her crunching her food but it doesn't seem chewed when it comes out...she is on Acana grassland
We have also noticed that her piss has changed colours and we are assuming that it is due to the menstration blood....
She isn't really eating and I have just made her some rice with and egg scrambled in it, she has eaten some but not very much.
We have noticed she is licking her Vjj (lol) and it is swollen.
We are wondering if this is upsetting her stomach.....I have jus made a make-shift diaper for her and hope this will help.
She seemed constipated the last few days but this morning she had quite a big dump! So maybe that is over???
We also notice that there is an odor about her and she is quite moody.
We are wondering how long will she be in heat, how long will she be menstrating and what is the best way to handle this situation. We are wonderin what we should be keeping an eye on and what would be considered "red flags".
What should we be feeding her if she isn't eating her own food?
Any and all information is greatly appreciated!
Also, we will be keeping her inside so she isn't attracting or around other male dogs! Thank you very much for assistance

Hi, sorry I can't advise with the heat issue, my girl is spay.

I was wondering since she is 8 mos and not spay, this is when vet removes any baby teeth which were retained. Have you check her teeth well to make sure there is no retained baby teeth. I was thinking that could be a problem with getting her food chewed well (painful). This was a problem Zhoie had, so we put her in for her spay asap.

Others will direct your heat questions.

I also have an 8-9mnth old girl and she literally just went through heat and it was NOTHING like that. She simply bleed for a couple weeks, almost not even noticable. We didn't even bother with a diaper because it was so clean. We put her on a special blanket on our bed, and it was fine...even that blanket stayed clean just a few spots.
Also, Tikka [ours] didn't vomit and ate fine... she was just a little more whiney than usual and wanted LOTS of attention.

I would say take her into the vet, because she could have an infection along with her heat cycle. Tikka came out of heat with a possible urinary infection this week, so she's going to the vet on Thursday to start a 10day pill regime to see if it's just an infection as she's leaking urine during rest so there's lots of options as to what it could be.


Also if you're wondering about the cost to take her in, I live in Northern Alberta and it's only going to cost me $100 to take her in for an exam and to get pills for UTI. Definitely worth it.

I was thinking the same about the teeth. As far as the heat I have boys and one elderly little lady who had one heat before she was spayed but it was so long ago I don't remember much about it except the moodiness. Man was that dog moody.

My Mom used to breed dobermans. I know she used to bath her females a lot when they went into heat to help keep them cleaner. Maybe she is licking so much because she feels not so fresh? Her vulva will also be swollen which could be a bit irritating, maybe that is why she is licking.?

With all the benefits of spaying this has got to be one of the best perks. Not going into heat every six months is awesome!\

(can't wait for my spay lol)

Is she a bigger yorkie Lexi my female when she use to go into heat she would throw up and it was all food or foamy. She only did this for a few days and then she would be fine again. The heat cycle can last three to four weeks. But of course it won't be full blown like it is now i am guessing your dog may be in her second week of heat. I would watch her close as every dog is different. And if you think something is not right call your vet. Its only a call and they can let you know if they think you should bring her in are not. Lexi weighs 9pds so I never had any issues with blood sugars dropping or anything like that. And each time she went into heat she did the same thing. Hope this helps

Thank you for your responses, Maya is about 7 lbs and she finally had some food tonight. She isn't bleeding alot but is very moody and sensitive.
Horsaround, why do you think she is in her 2nd week of heat. Do they not start to bleed when they start their heat?
As for the teeth, I will be contacting the vet to see about that issue, we were origionally going to have her spayed this Monday but to our surprise she was just a little ahead of us. Not to go off topic, we have been reading alot about spaying at such a younge age and some research articules state that it is better to wait til they are 2 1/2 years old. This is due to the other health issue that impacts female dogs when they are spayed at the 6+mos old. If I find the research I will post the link.
Anyway, the issue of spaying is challenging and very personal to each parent!

I am know wondering when she actually started her heat.....what are the signs...and how do you know when she is finished?

Sweet Tikka, I was wondering how much Tikka weights and I have noticed Maya is not bleeding very much. I was also wondering if the urinary issue was just a happenstance or are females prone to urinary issue due to their heat?
And how much bleed is normal? Oh questions, questions, it seems the more information the more questions LOL Thank you all you wonderful Yorkie Lovers!!!!!

I have a girl who is 4, and I got her spayed recently. I'll try to give you advice from my perspective.

Dogs go into heat starting one week in (no blood), one week bleeding, and one week going out (again no blood). It is the 3rd week that usually is the easiest time to get preggos. At 8 months, she is on the early side of going into heat. My Uni didn't get her first until 13 months! Yes, the vjj will be swollen, and yes she will be licking a lot. Diapers just aggravate them more, and yes she was oh so moody and clingy. I don't think waiting until 2 1/2 years to spay is a good idea. Each and every heat they get they have a chance of pyometra. Pyometra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also if you spay early there is next to zero chance of her getting cervical and other types of cancers. The reason why I didn't get Uni spayed earlier was I didn't find a vet I was comfortable with until recently, and now that we did it, it was the best decision I ever made. Spaying around 8 months is good for small dogs imo, they get a chance to get a bit bigger, and wait out if any baby teeth don't fall out. Get the teeth pulled at the same time as the spay. Oh and get a softee cone for after the spay, so much better than those horrid plastic things.

The food you are feeding is a good high quality food, I'd try to keep her eating that. When she vomits, is it yellow foamy bile? That may mean she is hungry but holding out (from my experience with Uni). And most dogs crunch just a bit then swallow the rest whole. I would try to get her to eat her regular food, and after she's eaten then give some treats thruout the day, but healthy ones, like fruits and veggies, egg white, chicken bits, etc. Please no ham, hot dog, bologna, etc, too fatty and salty. Yorkies already have high fat in their blood, susceptable to pancreatitis (Uni has this).

Female dogs are more likely to have uti's and if you suspect she may have one, bring her to the vet and have a urinalysis done. Extreme case it could lead to crystals or even bladder stones.

:thumbup::thumbup: Bleeding -normal; moodyness and "clingyness" -normal; vomiting - not so much, but she's probably just stressed out a bit and that's what's leading to the loss of appetite and upset tummy. I'd get rid of the diaper, that will just stress her out worse, licking to clean herself is normal and natural so just let her do that instead.

As far as the waiting till 2 yrs. to spay, I've never heard that and honestly I can't imagine the reasoning there.

I was just speaking from experience with Lexi. She sounds just like your dog when she went into heat. My daughter worked for. Vet for three years so I learned a lot from him. She is spayed now
and was 3 and a half when I had her spayed. I have a female pup now who is 14 months and I think we have just had a light period nothing like her moms. So that is why I say they all are different. I would really spay her when you can it would be easier on her I think. ( just my opion). Lily is not spayed because I am still considering breeding her. If I was not I would have at her done before her first heat (at six months). I did tons of reading about females heat and breeding and had a friend who had bred yorkies.
That is where I learned a ton. Lexi first week she would clean herself a little more and sleep a lot. But the second week the vulva swelled and I would see some blood. Third week it would start getting less. Hope this helps

Heylids... Tikka was around the high 6lb-low 7lb mark during her heat cycle. My vet told me it's very common for urinary problems especially during the first heat 1. because the dog doesn't clean herself/doesn't realize what's going on the first time and 2. because I didn't wash her enough... which makes me feel horrible since I bathed her each week as opposed to every 2. But it happens, this is my first female dog, and so I was bound to make a mistake. But you should get her looked at either way :D A check up is cheap, and a urinary analysis runs 60-80 on top of that so really still not bad.


also Tikka didn't start bleening right away either, like cap_noonie says... Tikka didn't bleed her first week, then she bleed for a good week, then it slowly faded away and her vulva went smaller/back to normal color.

Also the latest you should wait is 1yr. I too feel 6 months is too early, mind you I just got Tikka on Easter but we were going to wait until after her first heat cycle, because her hormones should all be in place and she should be mature enough in all other aspects that I would feel comfortable spaying. This is just from experience I noticed our male dogs that were neutered at 5months were much crazier and had behavioural problems vs. the male dogs we neutered at 1yr. But all dogs are diff. and yes, each owner has the preference they're comfortable with.

I look at it like this: if your son or daughter was going to have their tubes tied would you let them do it before they hit puberty? I mean puberty is the most important part in any stage of life in any creature... so to me, it makes sense.

Just a point, growth plates for certain in large breed dogs don't close until at least 18mths and sometimes longer than that. Growth plates for small breed dogs may not close until one year or longer. So from a skeletal structural point of view, later is definitately better.

haha I definitely meant "you should at least wait until 1yr." not the longest you should wait.
gah, i type faster than i can think... or vise versa? lol

I never bothered with diapering my girls during their heat cycles. The natural way of cleaning is the best for them to keep clean. If you hinder that process in any way they never learn to do it the right way.

The only time I use any type of cover up is when we were preventing a pregnancy.

The throw up could be stomach bile. (is it yellowish and frothy) It so here is a site that may help if this is the case.

Why is My Dog Vomiting Yellow Liquid?: Causes for this Chronic Form of Canine Stomach Upset | Suite101.com

Thank you all!!!!
 

Hello everyone, thank you very much for responding to my SOS.
We have taken Maya to the vet early this morning and have just heard that she may have an intestinal infection. She has had an xray to eliminate the possibility of an intestinal blockage and he thought she might possible have pancreatitis,,,,,however at this point he feels it is mostly an infection of the intestines. She was feed and hasn't vomit....LOL, that always happens when they are at the vet...He is keeping her overnight and we are waiting for the blood results.
Thank you all so very much for your responses, it meant alot to us!

I will post again tomorrow when we have all the results in.

Thanks for the update hoping all the blood work comes back okay and it's just something you can take care of with antibiotics. Saying a pray for her

Horsnaround, that is so sweet! We so appreciate your prayers and everyones input.
What a lovely community of yorkie lovers....

Follow up on Maya - "first heat"
 

Good morning my fellow yorkie lovers
We just spoke to the vet and he indicated that Maya's blood work came back and it seems her protein levels are slightly low and her enzemes are slightly high in her liver. I spoke to him about liver shunt and he reassured me it was not that. He feels it started with an infection of her intestines and he has her on anti-biotics and something else. She ate yesterday at the vets and she hasn't vomited and her bowel movement was fine.
He asked that we leave her today and pick her up this evening, at which time he will explain and provide us with prescriptions.
I will once again follow up with an additional post once we have her home.

God Bless this community for their love, prayers and genuine concerns.
Thank you for all your help and input.

f/u on maya's recovery
 

Well we are back from the vet, who indicated that Maya has an intestinal infection. Her blood work as off but nothing to worry about. She's home and back to being herself....mostly...lol....she is moody with heat..lol

We were given Apo Sulfatrim 100-20mg, 2 tablets twice a day and zentonil plus, 1/2 a tablet for 20 days. She hasn't vomited and her last bowel movement was at the vets and he thought it was a good one....She's been eating and seems back on the mend.
We will bring her back in about a month and have her blood work checked again.

I want to thank everyone who responded to my cry for help, each one of you were very helpful, all the concerns, thoughts and prayers truly touched our heart.

We feel honoured to be part of this community and once we get this vet bill paid off....we will be putting some money aside so that we too can donate to this community. I will also try to add a photo of our girl.

It's scary when your little one's are sick and it is comforting to know there is a group of amazing people willing to help!

With love, Maya, Lidia and Gabe

Glad she is feeling better! Have you thought about opening up a Care Credit card? It's specifically for medical expenses, but not all docs and vets take it. Ask to see if yours does. When you use it, if you pay off your balance before the promotional period there is no interest. You really want to pay it off before then, bc after that the interest rate is ridiculous, like 29%! But it really helped me when Uni got sick, then I used it again for her spay.