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the bitches that are not sterilized they may suffer a psychological pregnancy at some point in their life, it's something usual so don't be scared if you see your pet behaving in a strange way.
In this article by PeritoAnimal we are going to talk about the symptoms and treatment with home remedies that you can give your dog. In addition, it will be essential to consult a veterinarian as he alone will be able to determine an adequate diagnosis.
Below, we will offer you all the data about the psychological pregnancy in bitches and some home remedies to treat this problem properly.
What is a Psychological Pregnancy
Psychological pregnancy in a bitch is a hormonal imbalance which can occur in some cases. Due to the complications and illnesses you may have, veterinarians always recommend that you sterilize your pets.
A psychological pregnancy can appear when we try to couple a female dog several times without success although it can also occur from natural causes. Animals that live in the wild can develop this behavior especially when they live in a pack, so if one parent dies, another figure in the pack can replace her and take care of her offspring.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
In our article about the pregnancy of the bitch we talked about the psychological pregnancy since the symptoms that the animal has are very similar to those of a really pregnant bitch. Pay attention to your behavior and your physical appearance:
- absence of menstruation
- Vaginal flow changes
- Swollen belly
- developed breasts
- breasts with milk
- lick the breasts
- lick the vagina
- hiccups
- don't want to walk
- Steal stuffed animals
- hides itself
- Scrub on the floor and walls
In the face of any of these symptoms, it is essential consult the veterinarian, only he can determine that it is really a psychological pregnancy. In addition, it will provide you with specific guidelines for your specific dog's case.
Remember that some of these symptoms (especially breast growth) can lead to problems like an infection or more serious ones like mastitis. Psychological pregnancy in female dogs can also cause serious behavioral changes.
home remedies
Overall, psychological pregnancy usually disappears at three weeks and during this time the bitch will seem a little discouraged, so she will need a lot more affection. In a mild case, the veterinarian will recommend that you follow the following recommendations:
- To start with, it will be essential that the bitch stop licking her breasts because this stimulates milk production. Too much milk can cause an infection or other problems. For this, you can rub the your bitch's breasts with alcohol, this will prevent her from licking them anymore, in addition to preventing a possible infection.
- You should increase the number of walks and exercise with the dog to distract her and for her hormone levels to stabilize. It is likely that you will try to come back after urinating, so continue with the tour a little longer.
If following these advices, your dog's psychological pregnancy does not seem to end, you should take her to the veterinarian to be administered medication in the most serious cases. It is important to never give medication to your dog without a prior recommendation.
Consequences and Prevention
Sometimes a psychological pregnancy can cause serious health problems, earlier we mentioned nipple infection as well as mastitis. Yet there are other problems that can also affect a dog with a psychological pregnancy such as depression, malaise and behavioral changes. This makes the dog suffer with the fake pregnancy and makes her go through a stressful situation.
Overall, it is estimated that 5 out of 10 bitches will suffer from a psychological pregnancy at some point in their lives. Sometimes they may suffer from several throughout their adult stage.
The best thing you can do to prevent this episode from happening again is sterilize your bitch. A sensible option that will end these episodes of discomfort for her. In addition to stopping the resurgence of psychological pregnancies it will also prevent you from getting pregnant as well as severe behavioral changes.
Discover in our article on the benefits of canine neutering some of the reasons why you should neuter your dog as well as false myths about neutering and neutering.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.