In my 'Book of the Bitch' it says phantom pregnancies tend get worse as a bitch gets older but I have heard some people say their bitches had the opposite experience. So I thought I would ask Champdog members (who must have a wealth of experience between you) what you think ... Is there a pattern to such things, does it vary a lot between bitches (or breeds?). I am weighing up pros and cons of spaying my 20 month springer and a big factor is that she has now had two phantoms which have made her not her normal self. I am concerned about them possibly getting worse but wondered what your experiences are? :)

Hi

My bitch who is now 5 years old has had phantoms for years.
Her 1st season was normal but then on the second she had a phantom. This then occured on every season. I asked for advice from other breeders and many said that a litter can correct them. How wrong could they be..................the season after her litter was awful and she now has an awful time. I have worked it out as 4 weeks in season, 8 weeks phantom pregnancy, where she takes to her bed and is really grumpy etc etc. The next 4 weeks she starts to get better then we have 8 weeks of her normal behaviour before she comes back into season. So as you can see hers have got worse and worse. I would never let a dog go through it again and she is now to be spayed.

Sorry to hear that wellington - that sounds awful for your bitch and for you. Hopefully she will be able to enjoy life a lot more after being spayed. I've been doing the same as you - adding up the number of weeks in the year when my bitch can actually enjoy feeling normal. Hmm ...That does back up what the book says. Thankyou for your reply.:)

Grommet, if your bitch suffers from phantoms I would advise you to give Raspberry Leaf tablets, which are known to help prevent phantoms in dogs:  http://www.dorwest.com/shopping_cart/UK/page5.htm#  This has to be given from the start of the season.

If your bitch is already suffering from a phantom, then I would recommend you give Pulsatilla 15c every 2 hrs for 12 hrs, then 4 x daily until symptoms reduce.

Also Urtica 3c helps to suppress milk production and can be given at the same time.

I would try going through a season with all the above before you decide whether or not to spay.

Hello onetwothree. :)
Thankyou for your advice - I will give it a try. I had been thinking I would let her have at least one more season anyway because she seems to be a very slow developer and I didn't like the thought of spaying her before she has fully matured. (She will be two this summer). In fact, I don't really like the thought of it at all - but she has now had two phantoms. With the first one she had mastitis (thankfully only mild and I whizzed her to the vets so it was sorted quickly) and this time she started acting nervous and barky around other dogs - very out of character for her. :(
I will be honest and admit that I had noticed people recommending various remedies on the forum but was unable to overcome my extremely sceptical nature about all things alternative (Too much conventional science in a former life ) - but if it works it will be wonderful, so why not? Maybe the time has come. :)
The Raspberry Leaf sounds most promising - have you used it with many of your own bitches and had good results? (And anyone else?) If it works once does it then tend to work with subsequent seasons?

Hi, yes, my youngest bitch had a phantom after her 1st season (I didn't give any of these treatments to her then) - it wasn't a bad one and there weren't really any behavioural problems like hoarding toys - it was mainly that she had saggy boobs for AGES after her season, about 3 months really!  When we took her to the vet for her booster jab at Xmas, he squeezed them and some liquid came out (not sure what!) and he said it looked like she'd had a bit of a phantom.

So, for her 2nd season, I gave the Raspberry Leaf tablets from day 1 and - no saggy boobs.  Could have just been coincidence, I suppose!  But I'll be using it in future.  I had the Pulsatilla and Ursica on standby in case a phantom did develop, but it didn't, so no need for them this time.

You have to give 1 tablet per 10 kgs of body weight, twice a day.  So, mine is 23 kgs - I rounded that down to 20kg, and gave 2 tablets in the morning and 2 in the evening. 

You have to give them from day 1 and are supposed to give them then for 12 wks afterwards, which is quite a long time.

You can also give Evening Primrose Oil by the way - one a day.

Thanks for that. Sounds well worth a try. I will let you know how she gets on (although there will be an obvious delay!). :)