Puppy vaginitis and spaying

[Judith and Addie]

I have looked at the past posts for information about when to spay my little doodle girl. Addie is 4 months old now. Last week, I took  her to the vet, a bit worried because she had a yellow discharge from her vulva and of course, being a new puppy parent, I was worried it was an infection. Vet told me it is puppy vaginitis, not to worry, and clean the area daily with warm water.

As I was reading, I came across an article that said puppy vaginitis is hormone related and clears up with the first heat. Of course, the site I saw was discussing breeding bitches.

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on whether holding off spaying is better when the pup is prone to vaginitis? Hers is very slow in clearing.

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I have a 7 month old pup. She has had vaginitis since I got her. It doesn't seem to bother her that much.

The traditional vet wanted to give her a lot of antibiotics, yet it never cleared up, and I didn't like giving her drugs.

I went to a holistic vet that suggested spaying after she goes through her first heat cycle. My girl has a vulva that is tucked up a bit, more of an innie than an outie so to speak. The idea is that when she goes into heat it will swell up and push it out permanently. This should allow everything to flow a bit better, and she will be less likely to get UTI's etc. as she gets older.

At least this is the route I am taking. I don't know if your situation is similar.

[Judith and Addie]

Thank you. It is nice to hear another opinion.

Addie's vulva is a normal outie I believe. Her vet said that there is no reason to use antibiotics unless she gets a UTI, and the warm water wash was the only thing necessary for the vaginitis. I like that course of action better than antibiotics. Another thing that I read is that vaginitis can be caused by an immature immune system and that hormone play a role. So that is why I was wondering abut delaying her spay. 

I have read about the innie's and the recommendation of letting the dog go through a heat cycle to correct it. I hope this works with your little girl. 

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I am curious about what the immature immune system/ hormone role really means. Do you know where I could read more about it? Maybe not since you are posting the question. I am going to a free talk by a holistic vet and a trainer next week and I will ask if I have the opportunity.

Sometimes feel Georgia has more going on than just vaginitis and a lot of it is gunk/discharge related. Ear gunk issues in one ear only that has been there since I picked her up despite weekly cleanings, lots of eye discharge I clean out every morning but both vets seemed to think it wasn't a big deal. Lots of itching. I would like to think they are all tied to one thing that I could label and deal with.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I know nothing...but, my first thought is yeast. Curious to see what others think.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The ear and vaginitis could be yeast but the eye discharge , I don't think so. I do think puppies have relatively immature immune systems but I don't know that it's connected to hormones. Calla has one eye that gets a lot more gunk than the other. I have always thought it was related to a probable partially blocked, or narrower, tear duct. Similarly Georgia Brown may have a narrower external ear canal one side. But Georgia may also have allergies causing the itching.

[Jordan & Daisy]

Nancy how did you kn

[Kathy]

We spayed Tia at six months and have since found out that if she had gone through on heat she might not have an incontinence problem now at 7 years old.  Thankfully the pills are helping Tia be normal.  I don't know what is right.  When Tia was six months old we thought we were doing the best thing to spay her now I don't know.  Good luck.

[Judith and Addie]

I just found a different site about vaginitis and spaying.  It recommends waiting until after the first heat to spay when a puppy has vaginitis or inverted vulva.

http://www.askavetquestion.com/answer_np.php?id=1212-inverted-vulva...

 I also found the reference to hormones and immune system but I think it needs to be taken with a large grain of salt since the site is trying to see a nutritional program. http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/vaginitis_puppy_acne_demodect...

[F, Calla & Luca]

This lady's site sems like one big advertising gimmick and I would ignore anything she says : (

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree. 

[Judith and Addie]

Yup. I agree, thus the suggestion for a large grain of salt.

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I agree completely reading the source.

I like the fact that your vet didn't recommend antibiotics, like my first vet did. I am curious about the long term diagnosis and what he/she said. Do they think it has any relation to spaying or hormones, or are you going to have to clean that area daily with warm water indefinitely?