Anybody ever heard or known about a bitch leaking milk 4 or 5 days after being spayed. She had 1st season in Nov/Dec and was spayed last firday. Howled all sunday night and all day today, has taken her dog ted to her bed and is cleaning and mothering it and has milk. I have never heard of this before, its one of the pups that I bred last year, I just got a panicked phone call from the owner. Have told her to ring vet and ask for advice.
Any advice from here would be great.

Sounds like bitch is having a phantom?

Don't forget phantom pregnancy is normal in bitches who haven't been mated.  Removing the womb and ovaries at this time may have altered her hormones making her body think it's close to or has given birth?

Will be interested to hear what the vet says.

I did say it sounded like a phantom pregnancy, she has settled since the owner has given her the teddy toys. Id like to know what the vet says aswell.
Thanks Dill

I'm suprised the vet agreed to spay quite so soon after her season. Most like midway between seasons(unless it's an emergency).
The owner really shouldnt give her toys to nurse, as this will make her worse.

Was she showing any signs of phantom pregnancy before the spay? Three months from the end of the season, provided there are no signs of phantom pregnancy, is the best time to spay ... but saying that after the event isn't really helpful!

The owner should take away the teddy and not allow her to nest and brood, because that will just prolong the problem.

I rehomed an older dog several years ago who had previously had a c-section when having a litter.  The new owners had her spayed when the time was right, inbetween seasons and she also started to produce milk several days after. 

The only thing we could think of was that because she had another operation she thought she must have had another litter.  Dont know if this was the case but she got over it within a couple of days and nothing has ever happened since.

Ruth

Hello,
Just had call from girls owner. The vet has given her a weeks supply of medication and said it was a phantom pregnancy. She slept all night with her "babies" and never made a sound. That was basically all I was told!! I will definitly tell her to take the toys away from her though.

I agree with Lexy that the bitch was spayed far too soon after her season.  Had she been taken in at the right time, the vet should have noticed, and refused to spay.  JMHO

It sounds like it isn't relevant in this case, but thought I would mention it as a thought. My old girl (who we lost last year) started to act strangely, put on weight and then her boobs started to grow. I was concerned, she had been spayed before she came to us, and so off we went to the vets. The vet diagnosed that she was having a mild phantom pregnancy and that they had obviously accidentally left behind some ovarian matter when performing her spay that was causing the hormone changes. I asked if that was something that often happened and he replied not regularly, but it is known to happen.

I don't know if the timing of her spay was anything to do with her problems, she had been dumped having been over bred and having very recently had a litter when she was found. The vets thought from examination she had finished doing her bit with the litter and was then dumped. She was spayed soon after she went into rescue as she needed other surgery so they did it all at once. It seems possibility that she was spayed a bit too soon for ideal timing. I don't know whether this had anything to do with the op not being 100% successful, I never thought to ask that.