[CTurtleGirl]

My now one year old basset Scarlet started her first estrus at the beginning of august. She has been going through a false pregnancy now that doesn't seem like its going to end. After we got back from a trip in october (25) she started producing milk and she got mastitis in one breast. We took her to the vet since she had a 104 fever and got prescribed antibiotics and an anti inflamatory and pain reducer. She has finished that course but seems to still be producing alot of milk. It was recommended that the area with mastitis should be expressed and I have been doing that but the other mammories seem to be getting really full. I think the mastitis has cleared up but I don't know what to do about all this milk production. I was told that it would just stop with time when her hormones stabilize but I am not sure how long that will take. Has anyone had experience with this? If so how long did it take before they got back to normal? She is not fixed because she is participating in field trials but I do not intend to breed her. I know that hormone therapy is a last resort, when should I start thinking about that? Should I be expressing milk on a regulart basis, would that aleviate some of the symptoms? Thanks for any advice!

CTG

 

[Twinkie's Mum]

You know, I know absolutely nothing about this, but it would seem to me that expressing her milk would stimulate her to produce more. Is there anything they can give her to help dry up her milk? Isn't this something they do with women who are not going to breast feed? (Something else I know nothing about.) Ok, I just realized I know nothing about anything ... hopefully someone can give some worthwhile advice.

Janet 'n Twink

 

[CTurtleGirl]

I think the advice the vet gave of expressing the milk from the infected mammory area was to aleviate the pressure but I am not sure. I just noticed that she is getting worse tonight so I am making an appointment with the vet again tommarow to hopefully look at different options. They can give a diuretic that dehydrates the dog therefore drying up the milk but I'm not quite sure how safe that is.

CTG

 

[Twinkie's Mum]

Yes, a diuretic sounds like it might come with a whole set of its own troubles, doesn't it? I would be interested to know what the vet tells you. Please keep us informed and good luck to you and Ms. Scarlett.

 

[Basset Momma]

Well, in a human you could wrap them snug and there are medications to help dry up the milk... just not sure how to wrap a basset?? Give her a hug for me. Mastitis is no fun!

 

[CTurtleGirl]

The vet said pretty much the same as the last one. Let nature take its course on the whole false pregnancy thing. I guess when you start getting into hormone therapy things just get worse. She is back on antibiotics and a pain reliever/ anti inflamatory for the mastitis. He said that expressing is not necessary unless too much pressure is there. He said its kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kinda thing since expressing stimulates but it does relieve buildup. Hopefully this whole thing will be over with soon.

CTG

 

[Soundtrack]

I agree, express if you need to for the mastitis, otherwise avoid it since it will just make her produce more. My girls regularly have false pregnancies, though we've been fortunate not to have mastitis develop. We just let them take their course.

 

[CTurtleGirl]

So are false pregnancies common in the basset hound breed? I've talked to some basset breeders at events that have often mentioned frequent false pregnancies.

 

[Basset Momma]

Not sure if it would work with a dog- but warm packs or soaks help mastitis pain immensely. Poor love!

 

[puttemanp]

Our Bianca went through a false pregnancy just after her first heat, that also seemed to last forever.
She produced a lot of milk. After a month we decided to go to the vet as she too developed mastitis.

The vet prescribed a hormone treatment of just 6 days that stopped the milk production and cleared up the mastitis.

Patrick

 

[Soundtrack]

I get the impression that they are common in bassets. I do know for sure they seem to run the family here, most of my girls do it to one degree or another.

I'm not a big believer in giving hormones, I don't like messing with their systems like that. But that's just me.

 

[puttemanp]

I'm against hormone treatmenst as well, but if the dog begins to suffer, well, then there's only one thing you can do...

The issue was cleared up in a week or so, swelling of the breasts started to lessen after 2 days, milk production stopped after 3 or 4 days.

Patrick

 

[CTurtleGirl]

Well here's an update. Its been a week since new antibiotics and were started. It's getting alot better. She still has two areas that still seem to have mastitis but nothing like before. I'm pretty sure milk production has ceased. She's looking alot less "full" than last week. I'm going to call the vet and see if I can get her on two more days of the anti inflammatory because that seemed to help the most rather than the antibiotics. It looks like we're in the home stretch until she goes into heat again and then we'll see what happens. At least I know what more to expect this time as this is my first experience with this type of problem. I appreciate all the feedback!

CTG