first heat

[cleopatra]

my jasmine has started her first heat during the night cause there was blood on the bed this morning and the bit that she urinates through is swelled and bleeding, i didnt think it would come so soon as i wanted to get her spayed beofre this happened but didnt get the chance, also she has been humping her toys lately so i suppose this is why. anyway is there anything i need to do for her, and how long will this last and when will i bring her to get spayed,??

[Karlin]

You need to keep her indoors for the next three weeks or so, and even when out in the back garden, keep her under close watch as some males can easily scale even a 6 foot wall to get to a female in heat. Eeven momentary contact can impregnate her.

You really shouldn't have her out for a walk, as if a large male approaches you could have a hard time dighting him off. Also a male can tie to the female in split second and then you will not be physically able to separate them for up to 30 minutes or more.

You can get little panties that help keep them from spotting furniture etc.

You'll now need to wait a couple of months to have her spayed; most vets prefer to wait til well after she goes through heat and the hormones return to normal. Just as a gauge, females typically go into heat any time after 6 months which is why vets prefer to spay at 6 months to be on the safe side.

I woul;d call your vet for advice -- I am sure the vet techs at the front desk will talk you through what you need to do and how long you need to 1) keep her inside and 2) wait to have her spayed.

[cleopatra]

thanks a lot for your advice karlin, much appreciated, i never expected it to happen so soon, i will keep her indoors although tonight at her usual time she will be over asking me to take her out, will just have to tell her that bad aunty karlin said that shes not allowed to go out ....

[joanna]

We went through the same thing with Daisy Boo in February. Once you keep her inside you'll be fine and let her run around the garden as much as she wants - supervised of course. We caught it straight away too and kept her in and we saw no stray dogs around the house at any time during the heat. She is so young right now that the garden really is enough exercise for her for the duration. I felt really guilty too and at the start of the heat you feel it will go on forever. It'll fly though and everything will get back to normal. Good Luck

[cleopatra]

good advice is good to know i can still let her play in the back garden as she loves this, and i will keep a very close eye on her, also because thers a lot of dog stealing going on all over the country at the minute,we cant be careful enough

[Karlin]

Give your vet a call to get an exact time frame for keeping her in; I'm just making a guess based on some past posts. I think you will need to wait about 3 months to spay her now, usually they want to wait til between her expected next heat.

[cleopatra]

thanks a lot for all your replies,..is just as well that we dont hav to stay indoors when we go into heat

[Fi]

When Cloe went into heat teh first time i had a huge dog park himself outside my house for a week, he never moved, adn during this time i had to take her to the vet, i had bought "bitch spray" and had her pants on.... and it took 3 of us to get her to the car safely protecting her... the other dog went mad and was there awaiting our return....

Lady is now 8 months old and she has not had a heat yet, is this normal, or should i bring her to the vet?

[melanie]

When Cloe went into heat teh first time i had a huge dog park himself outside my house for a week, he never moved, adn during this time i had to take her to the vet, i had bought "bitch spray" and had her pants on.... and it took 3 of us to get her to the car safely protecting her... the other dog went mad and was there awaiting our return....

Thats scarey When Sadie was in her first heat, I had to go out of town and Sadie stayed with my parents. They have people two houses down that breed pit bulls that are never supervised. My parents had to be very careful just when taking her in the back yard because those pit bulls would sit and the chain link fence and just stare at Sadie. My parents went outside together and always had Sadie on her leash when they took her out to do her business.
You can never be too careful!