swollen vulva vet thinks hormone issues wants to spay asap
 

Hi,
My pix is 10 months old. To make a long story short breeder sold her to me sick and she almost died from coccidia, round worms, intestional bleeding/irritation, low iron levels, more than I can list.:thumbdown After round the clock care and answer to prayer she pulled through. Since she was 3 months old her vulva became very swollen. At one point it was so big she looked like a male from behind. It has never went down. but my vet wanted to wait to spay her until all her other issues were under control and she gained some weight, (she was 15oz at one point). She went into heat about 1 month ago(at 9 months). Saturday night she stopped eating, (she weighs 3.7 lbs) just laying around and wants to be held all the time. I took her to er last night was worried she would get dehydrated(after syringing chicken babyfood and pedialyte down her off and on). shes on puppy cal twice a day as well. they found sugar in her urine and told me she might have kidney disease. I'm freakin out, I take her back to my vet this morning, he does blood work all comes back normal thank goodness!. He says he's extremely concerned about the vulva being so swollen. thinks she has excess estrogen levels and wants to spay her first thing Wednesday morning. He says excess estrogen levels can make her not want to eat, lay around. She also has been humping in the last week and being agressive with my other yorkie girl. I'm still scared about the spay and her being tiny, then I torture myself thinking about liver shunt, kidney disease, Im a spaz. worried about her not eating. He said she did not have sugar in her urine and all her bloodwork was great. Sometimes I think my vet thinks I have Muchkin by Yorkie symptom as much as we have been to the vet!:D anyone know of such a thing as excess estrogen levels in a puppy since 3 months and swollen vulva? thanks so much any help would be great, I tried searching the forums for any info on this but not had much luck
lisa

This sounds very much like my Daisy Mae. I got her nursed back to health also. I know how you feel. She is a healthy 11 month old now (3lbs 2oz) I was very nervous about getting her spayed but I finally had it done about a month ago. (because I have recenty gotten a male in the house) I talked to several vets first. The vet that I found and was comfortable with also has small breed dogs of his own. she is so tiny. The surgery went REALLY GOOD and she was back to herself in just a few days.

thanks brendah!
My vet has been wonderful, he took pix home with him for a week and force feed her, let her sleep in the room with him and his wife:)so he could watch over her. I trust in what he says, I just hope the not eating laying around and wanting to be held all the time is being caused by the hormones. I cant take any more sickness(well I guess I can but dont want 2!:))I get as worried about her and my other yorkie girl as I did when my boys were little!

I would definitely get her spayed asap. I am concerned about the sugar in her urine. Puppies under a year old can get juvenile onset diabetes. Unspayed females are at the highest risk.

If she had been spayed before her first heat, you would have eliminated her risk of every getting mammary cancer. If you get it done now, before she has a second heat, the risk rises to 8%. If you wait until after her second heat, her cancer risk jumps to 25%.

I don't know of the issues that you are having with our little one but it sounds as though she has a wondeful mommy and vet. I hope your little gets wells soon and quickly. :)

thanks for all the great comments and help! Pix does not have sugar in her urine today, My vet thinks it tested postive at the er sunday night because I was loading her up on nutrical and karo syrup since she was not eating. He says it can overflow into the urine if given to much. She is scheduled for spaying Wednesday,I'm just nervous, cause she is so small and was so sick for long. We have had 6 months of being super well:p and Im nervous about making her sick again, effects of putting her to sleep etc. See I am a nutcase!:D thanks again for all the kind comments, I luv you yorkie folks!:thumbup:

swollen vulva vet thinks hormone issues
 

I have been as crazed as you and just found out the excess hormones are from my arms. I am on a cream estrogen compounded by the pharmacist and I put it on the inside of my arms where my puppy stays most of the time. I was horrified ....... please check out this site. My puppies vulva is huge and hangs dwon like a male dogs testicals.

Please feel free to email me

Susan.Burgess@republicgroup.com

I don't know about the vulva being swollen since 3 months of age, but they do swell quite a bit when in season. There is an increased risk of things going wrong in surgery (changes in skin and tissues: stiches may not hold; and danger of uncontrollable bleeding) if it's done while they're in season., If there is a hormonal concern, bloodwork may show something. Seems safer to me to do the bloodwork first and wait to do the spay till she's out of season.

Her behavior ...not eating, lethargic can be from being in season (in heat)

Many times the smaller the dog the bigger their genitalia appears.