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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Pregnant Or Not?

Martha asks about this situation...

I need help, my toy fox terrier is 8 yrs old she is producing milk is been for a couple of weeks
lately she is has been having diahrrea does the milk produce this, or is it sometimes not to oftern i give her ground meat with veggies or chicken and the results are the same.
please advice

There are several situations to discuss here. First, I would want to know if your dog is spayed. If she is spayed, then we have a completely different problem with her lactating. There could be a serious hormonal disorder here and she needs to be examined for it. If she isn't spayed, then we could be dealing with a false pregnancy. This condition happens when hormones get out of whack and the body thinks it's actually pregnant. The dog will show all signs of pregnancy, including lactation, abdominal enlargement, and maternal behaviors. This isn't normal, and may indicate an abnormal hormonal issue. The cure for this is having her spayed. At 8 years old she's beyond optimal breeding age anyway. No, this isn't too old to spay her, and I would recommend it.

Lactation or false pregnancy will not cause diarrhea. You should have your vet look for parasites, giardia, clostridium, or some other intestinal disorder. It sounds like you give her "people food", which isn't a good thing (see some of my previous posts) and can definitely cause diarrhea. Stop giving these foods immediately and don't give them any more. You could give your dog a much more serious problem than diarrhea by continuing to feed these things.

In any case, I would strongly recommend having your vet examine her and figure out what's going on. Thanks for asking the question!