Can a bitch be fertile before she bleeds? If so we might be in trouble...

[whojamaflip]

Hi We have an 11 yr old working collie bitch who for some reason today decided to walk the mile home from where DH was working. Nothing wrong in that except she turned up with an entire Spaniel in tow No idea where the dog came from but he took off like a bat out of hell when he spotted me.

She is due into season at the end of this month and hasn't shown any signs up to now (no behaviour change or bleeding yet) but I'm a little concerned as she was "unaccounted for" for about an hour.

Couple of questions -

Is she too old to catch in pup? and could she be having a silent season?

I'm gonna have to take her to the vets for the morning after jab aren't I

You are, sorry. Would you consider spaying instead? Pyo is pretty much inevitable in an older bitch so you'd be killing two birds with one stone.

She's not too old to conceive - dogs don't have a menopause but working Collies aren't a breed normally associated with silent seasons. What have her seasons been like before?

The mismate jab does have a number of side effects, some of which are horrid. Google them so you're aware of them.

Thanks for the replies - have her booked in on Friday to have a chat with the vet re the best course of action.

*toboldlygo8 Didn't think of spaying at her age - just a bit worried that she might have probs with the anesthetic (or am I worrying about nothing?)

daisy her seasons have been regular as clockwork - tends to be a bit off colour for a couple of days leading up to it - just generally bad tempered and really cuddly! Then 3 weeks to the day its all over. Thats why I was surprised with her coming home with a male - she's usually not happy if a male dog is about and she will let him know in no uncertain terms (only have girls on the farm) Shes not due in season for another 3 weeks fgs.

What did the vet say?

Saw the Vet on Friday and he has given her the morning after jab - advised against spaying her as she seems to have a heart murmmer (sp?) and he wants to avoid a general anesthetic. Have to take her back for further tests to see if she needs to go on medication so I suppose every cloud has a silver lining - if she hadn't disappeared we wouldn't have know there was any other prob.