I have a 11 month old malamute bitch who is currently in her second season but has been for 6 weeks with no sign of it stopping. Has anyone come across this situation before, or heard of anything like this? Vets can't seem to find out what is wrong and are advising me to have her spayed but i don't want to do this when that may not solve the problem. I live in cheshire so can anyone even advise of a Vet that may be able to help with this problem as the veterinary advice we are recieving is more like guessing by the vet that actually trying to find out what is wrong. Can anyone Help???? i would appreciate any advise...

I have had a bitch with a really long heat cycle, 7 weeks.  It was her first one.  The vet did reccommend a spay, but I decided that if it happened again, then I would, but not this first heat.  I put her on dog vitamins, which helped because she was getting rather lethargic. 

Her second season has just finished, and it was the three weeks.   Also, a year later than her first one.

If she is showing signs of illness, like not wanting to play or anything, take her to the vets to get blood levels done, as iron may be low.

But, even though my vet couldnt figure out why her heat was so long, she didnt seem to be too bothered by it.  You need to watch for signs of illness though, like Pyo, because that could be a complication as well (from what i have been told from my vets).  Hopefully this is a fluke thing, that your bitch is going through, and next heat will be better for you. 

Regards

Kory

This happened with my Akita, she was still bleeding 5 -6 week s down the line.  Vets advised to have her spayed as soon as the bleeding stopped, in the meantime she was on antibiotics to stop any infection in the womb.  I had her spayed and think it was the best thing I did, insurance paid for it and the kennel club still allow me to show her as it was classed as an emergency.

"vets are advising me to have her spayed but i don't want to do this when that may not solve the problem."

It WILL undoubtedly solve the problem, as a spayed bitch will have no uterus and ovaries, and therefore can't possibly have a season. Whether it is what you WANT to do is another matter. You could seek a second opinion if you feel your vets are guessing.

I am no expert but could be a hormone inbalance,all dogs are different but she,like someone has already mentioned have a low haemaglobin level,my friends mal has just had her 4 season this year and this is probabally something todo with hormones and stress.Get a second opinion byt consider spaying as this would solve the problem.Good luck.

Atka, I hope my experience from last year will help.  One of my girls was still bleeding on week 5, and I took her to the most experienced vet at my surgery.  After looking up inside her, he assured me that there was no bleeding from her cervix, and no sign at all of infection.  He saw that I was concerned, and offered antibiotics, although he felt that there was really no need.  I didn't have her spayed, although would have taken his advice if he suggested it, as I do have a lot of respect for his judgement.  She whelped 2 weeks ago - no problems at all.  And is a super Mum!

Thanks all for you suggestions, i will bare this in mind when visiting the vets tonight. I know that having her spayed will obviously solve the problem but my queation is... is it nesesary or is it an underlying problem which can be solved without having her spayed? As i do show my mal and want what is best for her. But if the problem can be solved without having her spayed i will obviously go for that option.

Thanks : )

Good luck with your vet,I hope you find the answer you are looking for.Good luck also with the showing.Jude

Im having this with one of my bulldog bitches,she has been in season for 6 weeks now.
We had progesterone levels checked and it turned out she hadnt ovulated,we took her to the vet who
gave her a hormone injection in the hope it would kick start her into ovulating,after having the injection we took another progesterone level
and she had gone up but still hadnt ovulated,we then  took another progesterone level 2 days after she had gone up and sadly she had gone down again.
After talking to my vet she is going to have a 5 day course of injections in the hope it brings her out of season.
IF she hasnt come out of season over this coming weekend we have to go back and consider getting her spayed.
Im not trying to scare you as Im going through the scare myself but ovarian cancer and cysts have been mentioned.
Is your girl drinking or eating more,is she okay in herself?

My advice would be to do a progesterone level which idexx can do for you and see how you stand there before doing anything drastic.
Good luck and if I can help feel free to pm me anytime.

This can often be a sign of cystic ovaries.

All,
 
We have returned from the vet and all is well we hope! The bleeding is starting do dye off and all Atka's bloods are fine. We are going to monitor this over the next week and if bleeding hasn't fully stopped will re-address the situation then. Thanks for the advise about checking the Progesterone levels i will definatly speak to the vet about this. I hope all goes well with your Bitch's problem too, so fingers crossed she will stop bleeding. thanks to everyone for the advise and also suggestions.

Karleigh & Atka (woo woo)  : 0 )

Aaahh, that's it, I've done it! I registered specifically because I wanted to answer your post!
My bitch has long seasons anyway- typically 30 days- but has had one season which lasted 53 days! She stood for my castrated boy at around 15 days, so I kept her separated from my uncastrated boy until about 30 days, as she kept bleeding all through. At 30 days, I 'tried' her with my boys again, no interest at all, even though she was still bleeding and had been to vets to be checked over. So I let them be together when I was with them for another week or so, still bleeding, no interest from her or the boys ( my CASTRATED boy is a good indicator of when she is ready for mating, as he will still do the job, and she pursues him mercilessly!!).
Apart from the bleeding, it seemed that the danger time had passed, until I turned around on day 46 to find her and my entire boy tied!! She carried on bleeding till day 53, when it just suddenly stopped. I had her scanned, although I thought there was no way she could be in whelp, but there they were on the scan, though smaller than they should have been. The scan man wanted to do another scan a week later, which confirmed that she was reabsorbing the pups.
I let her have a normal season after that (back to 30 days), then mated her at the following season, during a week of antibiotics just in case. She had a normal pregnancy and a bouncing litter of 5.
Her next season after her litter was 42 days!
I will have a litter from her next year, then have her spayed, but just wanted to offer a little encouragement, so hopefully your girl won't need to be spayed and can go on to have a normal litter like my Mabel!
Good Luck, Liz

Have you contacted your breeder? He may know if any of his previous pups have had the same problems or experienced this with one of his own?

Thanks so much for the advise everone, hopefully she will make a full recovery and all will be fine! : )
I have contacted my breeder yes he is very knowledgeable and supportive of the situation but he is at the other end of the country so can only help so much. No other pups from any liiters he has had have ever had this problem and he has 4 Mal bitch's and never had a problem. Her season seems to be dying off alot so hopefully this will be thew end of it, i ahev had alot of advise and done alot of research so we have decided not to get her spayed after this season and see what her next season is like and then if the same problem occurs agin then we will definatly be getting her spayed. It just mite be one of those things or maybe she is just a very mature lady!! at 11 months!!! : )
I'm not going to rush into any decisions until i fully know where we stand with it all, as this is only her second season and the 1st was fine lasting nearly 3wks.
Thanks everyone and good luck with all your Pack's! : ) x