Can anyone tell me what the symptoms of a phantom are please? my rottie bitch is very mopey and her nipples are swollen, she can't be bothered to do anything and isn't eating properly.

Hi Jayne

You have just described it - they may also go into phantom labour, carry a toy or object around with them and take it to their bed (best removed) and may even guard said item to go to a bed and guard that.

Hope she recovers soon - taking her somewhere different and livening her life up a bit may also help

Christine

Dear Christine

Thank you for your prompt reply! This is my first time experiencing a phantom, poor thing has started producing milk now I've noticed... We're taking her to the vet tomorrow to have her checked over. She's being speyed in January, so it shouldn't happen again. How long will it take to get over?

Jayne

Don't bet on her being speyed in Jan if she hasn't finished her phantom - speying while a bitch i still producng milk can 'freeze' the hormones in the status they are in - and this means permanent milk production - which is not good - you need to wait until the milk has completely dried up.

Jayne

I had one of my bitches spayed once her milk had dried after a litter as she started having phantoms after her 2nd litter, I leave approx 18mths between litters so knew this was going to be a lifetime thing for her. She took about 6 weeks to get back to her old puppy self and has been a lot happier since and more confident with visitors etc.

Thanks for your advice everyone, took her to the vet this morning and she's got some drops to add to her food which will dry up her milk. She's had some and there's a big change already! She's almost back to her usual mischievous self! I'm so pleased.
Jayne

Is it Galastop?
My rotti bitch has just had a phantom pregnancy after her 2nd season and we were prescribed Galastop. She has had it for 5 days and we're seeing the vet again today.

Hi

Yes it is Galastop. Bella is much better today, still carrying around her 'baby' but she's not moping around so much now. What happened about your rottie then?

Jayne

My bitch is currently producing milk, 9 weeks after her last season. This has happened on her last two seasons since she had a litter last year. Apart from the lactation, she is her normal happy self, if a little more playful with her daughter than usual. I think someone mentioned pulsatilla (homeopathic) to help but as it doesn't really bother her or us I have just ignored it. (I produced milk for years after I finished breast feeding :) :) )

Lottie is going to have another 5 days on Galastop as she still has a little milk but she is much better in herself today. Will see the vet again next week.
At least she has managed to get herself up and out of her bed today she has been really down and moody.

Nicolla
I haven't noticed any more milk with Bella, she is almost back to normal now - although she slept on our bed last night with her 'baby' - a squeaky toy! Didn't have the heart to throw her off....
Jayne

Hi

Glad she's better.
I'm wondering whether the fact we had a litter from one of the labs didn't help Lottie. The pup we kept is now 9 wks old but Lottie seems to think it's her baby!!!

Nicolla

I would say it's a dead cert that that's why she's broody! Does the mother mind her taking over? It's quite amusing to watch Bella, hurrying back to her 'puppies' and carrying this squeaky toy around and dropping it in our laps to make a fuss of.

Jayne

Brooke the mum of the pups couldn't care less, she was not a great mum anyway. The first night she had the pups they were in the whelping bed and Brooke was as far away as she could get! Then the next day she was great but after the first week she just left the puppy room and only really came in if she was ordered to get in there! Then when they got to 6 weeks she trotted back in and was great. She just wanted to play with them. That was her first and her last litter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think rotties are really intelligent dogs, so Lottie coul see that the pups weren't getting any mother's love and decided to do the job herself? Bless.

I would just like to say thank you to all ove you, I know you don't know me but you have just helped me in a massive way.

I have a 2 year old Rottie cross Alli called Bella and the past 3 maybe 4 days she just hasn't been herself. I work as a dog groomer in my local town and i hear all sorts of things from the dogs owners but never experancied anything like this myself.

Any way i started to panic yesterday when Bella just wouldn't play nor raise her head to the W word (i new from that she just wasn't herself!) So i rang my boss to see what she thought could be the problem and even she said it could be this but she didn't know a lot on it and she said that i should do a net surch on it and came across you lot and you set my mind at ease.

I was changing my bed sheets this morning and Bella came bounding up the stairs, i thought she was running after the cat, but i hear her winging, so i went to see where she was and i found her under the bed in the spare room with her spikey toy (she has been carrying this toy 3/4 days also) and she just looked glum! At least now i know why she is carrying this toy and just not her self and i would like to say thank you