False pregnancy i think?

nearly_there

Hi,

I think my boxer has gone through a false pregnancy.

its almost three months since her first heat and today she hasnt gotten out of her bed almost at all. its in a section of our house which is quite secluded and away from the general hubub where she usually hangs around constantly. she has a toy kitten (ironic i know) that she has snuggled up under her chin and when she does move brings the kitten with her. she was doing this yesterday as well.

But the strange thing is that wwe havent noticed anything different about her at all up until this. she was filling out a bit but in a general way of gaining more bulk not all in her stomach or anything. and her 'lady parts' are all normal too.


any advice? Shes generally a placid dog but loves company and its very sad seing her seclude herself like this. is there anything i can do ?

spiderdog

id keep a close eye on her, usually with false preg they tend to get milk as well!!!
one of my girls used to have terrible false preg
if you`re worried at all be no harm to get a check over at the vet....just to rule out other things such as a womb infection which can be very dangerous!!!

nearly_there

Thanks for the reply!

Im actually away at the moment so its annoying i cant be there to make sure shes ok. My mum has just told me that shes hasnt been eating or drinking much at the last week either.And her tongue is very red? Thats not normal with a false preg. is it?

Also could lonlieness bring this on? its just sonce we got her there has been loads of us around the house but now we have all gone back to college its just my mum and her most of the time.

I think my mum was rinigng the breeder last night for advice but would you reccommend a trip to the vet at this point? She still brings the kitten everywhere and is sort of rutting in her bed a lot. And panics when she loses the toy.

All advice greatly appreciated!!

kildara

Thanks for posting this - I was just about to post looking for advice on the same!

Our pup is going through this also, she's 10 months old and had her first heat finish about 8 weeks ago. Over the past few days she has been acting strange, very quiet, off her food moreso than usual and her breasts (i dont know what you call them!) are swollen (no milk yet though).
I also gave her a teddy last night and she didnt eat it! She destroys everything so was strange for her to share her bed with a teddy!

I was in the vets this morning for something different and asked if they had any advice on the phantom pregnancy. The nurse said that some times they have to be given some sort of medication for it (cant remember what it was called). She is due to go in to get spayed in October so to be safe she suggested bringing her in for a quick check-up as if they are having a phantom pregnancy they cannot be spayed.

The nurse did say that she might attempt to build a nest for her pups - which explains why your girl is rutting in her bed.

andreac

Try not to encourage the nesting behaviour, i would advise to take away that toy from her as she is only going to continue the beahaviour if she has it all the time.

If you are not happy with her then take her to the vets for a check up as they are rpone to getting infections with a phantom i think. They can go off their food too but if they arent drinking water they are at risk of getting dehydrated so better to get her checked out.

andreac

kildara wrote: »

Thanks for posting this - I was just about to post looking for advice on the same!


I also gave her a teddy last night and she didnt eat it! She destroys everything so was strange for her to share her bed with a teddy!


QUOTE]

Its best not to encourage the behaviour so i wouldnt be giving her any teddies etc which she thinks is her pup, as it will only prolong her behaving like this.

nearly_there

Hi!

Its always nice finding someone going through the same thing. Im glad that going off their food is seemingly normal enough. Still worried about the water though.

Ive been reading online and apparently a lot of breeders in the US give their bitches evening primrose oil to help. And , I didnt know this and found it v interesting, the reason for phantom pregnancies is in the pack in the wild the alpha bitch has the puppies and the others lactate to assist in feeding.

So i think il have to encourage a trip to the vet to make sure everythings ok.

And looks like its goodbye to the kitten!

Thanks for the advice!