Vaginitis/Swollen Vulva on young female Dobie

[ThePerfectStorm]

Hello you all,

This is my first post in this forum and I hope I could get some advice as I am reading a lot of different things in forums and getting contradicting information from my veterinarian.
I just want to make sure I do enough research before sending my baby into any procedure.

I have a 12 month old female Dobie who has had a swollen vulva for the past 3 months or so.

When I first noticed the symptoms, I thought she was getting ready to go into heat as she was about 9 months old at the time. However, symptoms got worse and yet she did not enter heat.
Finally, when she started licking herself incessantly and even started having bumps on her actual vulva with nasty puss inside them, I knew it was time to go see a vet.
The vet did a urinalysis and treated for vaginitis with antibiotics.

Sadly, that did not really bring relief. Although the bumps disappeared, her vulva remained swollen. And when I say swollen I mean that it is huge. About the size of a lime. And it sticks out the back when she is walking and is hard to ignore.

I saw the vet again who ran another urinalysis and said, although her urine looked good he suggested treating with a different antibiotic just incase.

Shortly after I went on vacation and when I picked her up from boarding, I noticed she had gone into heat. She was bleeding for a day or two and then it stopped so I assumed any swelling at this point would be due to her being in heat.

Well, it has been about 3 weeks now since I have seen blood and I am noticing her vulva getting bigger again. She does not lick and does not have bumps. I don't think she is in pain, but she constantly backs her hiney up against me and my boyfriend. I don't know if this is a "Dobie thing" - but her butt is always leaning against us.

I called the vet for advice and he agreed to no longer treat with antibiotics. He says that symptoms ---might--- get better if I spay her. But at the same time he warned me that many Dobermann females suffer from incontinence once they get spayed. And in the end, this could also still not solve the problem at hand.

Alternatively, he said he could refer me to a surgeon to take a look at her and see what he suggest.

Both of these options sound scary to me, and I also don't want to continue medicating my dog.
Especially not without a clear diagnosis. She is still so young and I don't understand why this is happening.

I checked with her breeder and was told none of her dogs/puppies have ever had issues with swelling/vaginitis.

Does anyone here have any similar experience with these symptoms/incontinence after spaying/etc? I would appreciate any input and sharing of similar stories!

THANK YOU!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

If a dog is not in heat and the vulva is swelling and to the extent you described
it may be an allergic reaction to shampoo, food, plants, grass, laundry soap, etc. something in the environment that she is exposed to frequently.
The other possibility is infection, bacterial or fungal. Did they do a culture and sensitivity to make sure the correct antibiotics were given? Do you have an intact male dog in the house?
Have you tried Benadryl in the event it is an allergic reaction? If she is licking it, that causes further trauma and swelling. You may have to get an Elizabethan collar to put on her so she can’t lick it.
Is there any odor?

 

[ThePerfectStorm]

Thank you for the response. There is no other dog in my household. I do have a male cat, he is mostly outside.
I do think the vet did a culture and I know he did a urinalysis each time I went. She did wear an Elizabethan collar for a while when she was first given meds. But she is not licking now. No odor. No discharge.
I feed her royal canine and I do not try to bathe her too often to avoid skin reactions.
How do I use Benadryl on a dog safely? And how do I know if she is allergic to food/ a plant?

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Dosage for Benadryl is 1mg per pound of body weight. Having said that if you have never given your dog Benadryl before I would not go any higher than a 50mg dose. More accurate dosing is achieved by using the liquid Benadryl, which you can mix in their food.
It has side effects as with all medications however, some dogs can react differently to it. It may cause drowsiness which isn’t a bad thing but with my male he gets hyper on any type of medication meant to sedate him. Each dog is different. Benadryl is just the brand name, it’s active ingredient is diphenhydramine and it blocks the production of histamines the body produces when the dog is exposed to an allergen.
Finding out what she may be allergic to is a long process of elimination. Just make note of plants and grass she comes in contact with and remove them one by one to determine if that is causing it. It can take weeks without exposure to notice a difference. Check the ingredients in the shampoo you use and make sure it is all natural and has no chemicals. You might want to wash her bedding in a detergent that is clear of perfumes and dyes.

 

[JanS]

Welcome from Minnesota!

Does anyone here have any similar experience with these symptoms/incontinence after spaying/etc?

I'm sorry to hear of your problems. Our girl experienced just the opposite with an inverted vulva and I don't think your problem is nearly as common.
As for the incontinence; yes, it can be quite common after a spay so it's not a decision to take lightly.

 

[ThePerfectStorm]

Thank you for your answers. I feel helpless in knowing that her symptoms are not normal. At the same time I don't know how to move forward her with medications or putting her through a procedure "blindly" - without a true diagnosis that is.
If she really was allergic to something, wouldn't she have other symptoms than just her vulva swelling?

 

[Firestar Dobe]

from Wisconsin! I am so sorry this is happening to your beautiful girl! I agree that issues like this can be very scary, not knowing what is really wrong. I agree with @Tropicalbri's that if it's an allergy it may take quite a while to figure out the culprit. I also agree with washing her bedding. Benadryl works wonders for allergies most of the time. As far as bathing her goes, when I was showing dogs in Conformation they sometimes were bathed twice a month. There is a shampoo called DogOSuds that is all natural and comes in different types for different issues. It is made by Dinovite and may actually help if it is an allergy. Our son's male Dobe is loaded with allergies and they have to bathe him every 3wks. I don't blame you for not rushing into a surgery with her, I wouldn't either unless I had no choice. You also may want to consider going to a different Vet for a second opinion. Take a deep breath, stay positive and you will get through this! Please keep us informed and post more pics of your girl!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

You also may want to consider going to a different Vet for a second opinion. Take a deep breath, stay positive and you will get through this!

^^^^Absolutely agree. I was going to mention this as well. A second opinion is always recommended. The Vet I work for will send a client to a specialist for a second opinion as he understands no vet knows it all. We see a lot of new clients coming to us for second opinions and welcome the challenge to either concur with the prior vet or we may have to dig deeper to find causes to the many cases we see, then send them back to their vet with what we find or if the client wants us to treat, them, we will.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

By any chance did she go on spring break this year?

Seriously though, that sounds like an annoying problem for her and your family. Sorry to hear this, and I am glad she at least does not have the sores anymore and that it does not seem to be painful.

I wish I had ideas that could help.

 

[ThePerfectStorm]

Thank you for your kind words and tips.
I guess it cannot hurt to get a second opinion. I will go to the vet that cropped her ears who has known her since she was born and is a Doberman lover himself.
In the meantime, here are a few pictures- WARNING very explicit - just to show how bad the swelling is

 

[My2Girls]

Poor baby. I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

She’s not on here very often but I’m going to tag @Archer she’s very knowledgeable with these sort of things.

 

[Viemarangelrock]

Bless her heart. That must be so uncomfortable

I would definitely get a 2nd opinion. To me, it looks like a vaginal prolapse. I’ve got a little knowledge on prolapses...it’s when the walls of the vagina swell and proceed to protrude out of the vulva. Does she get a lot of discharge?

 

[Archer]

Hi there. Sorry for the late entry. Been having some issues of my own, but here to help.

Wondering if she had a silent heat, late start or if her hormones are out of whack. Her swelling is not horribly significant, but equates that of a normal heat cycle. Is this her first cycle? If so, they can be a little weird and off. I have a young bitch who swells way yearly compared to when she starts bleeding and this is normal for her. It wouldn’t hurt to ask her breeder if this is normal for her bitches, or if she has repo issues in the line.

Please don’t buy that spaying will help. There are some reproductive issues it does fix, but your girl is too young.

I would ask for a second opinion from either a Reproductive Veterinarian or a Veterinary Internist. I would not accept idk as an answer and agreeably would not want random meds thrown at my dogs sans diagnosis.

We are here for ya and please let us know what you find out.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Thank you @Archer !! I was hoping for you to reply!

 

[Archer]

Glad to help any way i can

 

[My2Girls]

Hi there. Sorry for the late entry. Been having some issues of my own, but here to help.

Wondering if she had a silent heat, late start or if her hormones are out of whack. Her swelling is not horribly significant, but equates that of a normal heat cycle. Is this her first cycle? If so, they can be a little weird and off. I have a young bitch who swells way yearly compared to when she starts bleeding and this is normal for her. It wouldn’t hurt to ask her breeder if this is normal for her bitches, or if she has repo issues in the line.

Please don’t buy that spaying will help. There are some reproductive issues it does fix, but your girl is too young.

I would ask for a second opinion from either a Reproductive Veterinarian or a Veterinary Internist. I would not accept idk as an answer and agreeably would not want random meds thrown at my dogs sans diagnosis.

We are here for ya and please let us know what you find out.

Thank you for your reply.
I hope everything is OK and not too serious.