Update: The Yorkshire wakes the owner up at 3 am - false pregnancy

TOA PAYOH VETS toapayohvets.com Date:   15 April, 2013     Focus: Small animals - dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs & rabbits False pregnancy, retained deciduous canine and right flank lump  Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS Date:   15 April, 2013   toapayohvets.com  Be Kind To Pets Veterinary Education Project 2010-0129 Sunday, April 7, 2013 1354. Sunday's interesting cases. The yorkshire wakes up the owner at 3 am every morning Two ladies in their 40s brought their 2-year-old Yorkshire Terrier to me as the dog would not eat again. "There is milk from her breast," I showed the thick creamy white nipple discharge. "She has false pregnancy and the hormones affect her appetite." "Are you sure it is not pus?" the lady asked. "No, it is milk." "But she is not pregnant!" the ladies protested. "That is why the condition is called false pregnancy. You will observe that she will pick up and carry or protect a toy or piece of cloth for the past few days." "Yes, yes," she said. "At 3 am for the past few days, she wanted me to wake up so that she could go out of the room to pick up the yellow toy crocodile. At one time, she would growl if I touch it. She would carry the croc upside down. Much earlier, she wolfed down the canned food she used to hate!" "These are abnormal behaviour signs of false pregnancy," I replied. The owner had brought along the toy croc and I took an image of it. The Yorkshire was not interested in it now and growled at me. I advised spay later but the owner wanted a puppy from her. "It is hard to find a sire," she said. "I can introduce you to a breeder," I said. "You know that some dogs do die from giving birth or pregnancy, like people?" She knew the risks and that Yorkshire requires Caesarean sections usually. UPDATE:  Sunday April 14, 2013 The owner was more worried about the flank lump which appeared to grow bigger and bigger. So, today was scheduled for surgery. The Yorkshire was operated today by Dr Daniel to remove the right flank abscessed lump, four retained canine teeth were extracted. I was present at the surgery as a mentor.  "Make a much longer skin incision more caudally," I said to Dr Daniel who told me that the "subcutaneous lump" was not located under the skin. It was deeper inside the muscles. "A subcutaneous lump is a lump under the skin," I explained. "In this dog, it is not exactly under the skin. It had some parts under the muscles. That is why a longer skin incision is necessary. The vet needs to remove the whole lump or abscess, otherwise the owner can feel any remnant and will not be happy." This lump was over 2 cm x 2 cm x 1 cm and was yellow in colour. "It is an abscess probably due to a subcutaneous injection," I said. Dr Daniel made a bigger incision and stitched up with horizontal mattresses using 3/0 nylon. The lump would shown to the owner later and as she did not want histopathology, this advice would be recorded..   As for the false pregnancy, the solution to prevent further occurrences would be to spay the dog. As for the yellow crocodile, the Yorkshire has lost some interest in it.    Update will be on this webpage: http://www.sinpets.com/stories/20130415false_pregnancy _flank_lump_retained_teeth.htm More info at: Dogs or Cats To make an appointment: e-mail judy@toapayohvets.com tel: +65 9668-6469, 6254-3326 Toa Payoh Vets Clinical Research

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