What Causes Dog Swollen Teats After Heat? SEE HERE

Swollen teats which are also known as mastitis is a condition that affects nursing and pregnant female dogs. Although, it can also occur in male dogs as well. Swollen teats after heat are caused by milk accumulation or bacterial infection.

It happens when bacteria freely gain access through the teat opening, thereby, causing problematic symptoms of mastitis, inflammation, and infection.

Dog Swollen Teats After Heat – Causes!

As earlier said, it is eminent in both male and female dogs, and when it happens; the breast is discoloured, resembling a bruise, while on some occasions, it could lead to sores or ulcers.

You would then notice an unusual enlargement of the breast, leading to pus or blood pus oozing timely. Dogs feel pained when touched around such a region during this period. This is because the area is always hot to touch, as a result of inflammation or the infection caused by the bacterial.

The mammary glands cause a lot of pain due to fact that it is sensitive, hence, you would not want to make use of belly rubs for your dog during mastitis. Puppies do not gain weight whenever they keep feeding on a breast with mastitis.

On the other hand, your dog might stop feeding her puppies with milk if she notices that the milk they suck is filled with pus or blood; not even when the situation exacerbates. Mastitis only worsens if puppies consistently feed on it; the matter is synonymous with always playing on a human’s wound or bruises.

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Signs Of Mastitis In Dogs

• Vomiting
• Lethargy
• Painful breasts
• Anorexia
• Nursing puppies aren’t gaining weight
• Blood or pus in the milk
• Disagrees with nursing
• Untouchable mammary glands due to their hotness
• Swollen breasts
• Ulcerated breasts
• Red teats
• Discoloured breasts
• Inflamed teats
• Oozing teats
• Blood-filled milk

Causes Of Swollen Teats Or Mastitis In Dogs

Most times, the only cause of swollen teats or mastitis is the presence of bacteria in the mammary gland of your dog, while excess milk in the breast causes it as well. Asides from this, several things result from this, continue reading to find out.

• Untidy Environments

Mammary gland infection is not only caused by the presence of bacteria in the breast. Housing your dog in a dirty environment would also lead to swollen teats or mastitis.

• Trauma

Your dog is set to experience swollen teats or mastitis whenever she has a trauma of the teat. It may come through close contact with an injured dog suffering from trauma or a nursing puppy. Bacterial infection is the next thing when a virus accesses the teat canal.

• Excess Milk Accumulation

The presence of excess milk in the breasts of your dogs could lead to swollen teats or mastitis, even without the presence of bacteria in the mammary gland.

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How To Diagnose Mastitis In Dogs

For most nursing and pregnant dogs, veterinarians would first physically examine the dog, before a concrete diagnosis is carried out. Proper scrutiny is made by running a lab test on the blood or pus extracted or dropped from the teats, to determine if a bacterial penetrated.

On the other hand, to be sure and keep off from mammal cancer and the likes, male dogs and unpregnant ones are made to go through a test.

Treatment And Prevention Of Mastitis In Dogs

Veterinarians prescribe both anti-inflammatory and oral antibiotics medications for your dog, at first. Not only if your dog needs intense medical care like surgery or a solution to the worst disease in the glands, but swollen teats or mastitis is also something you can treat at home with hospitalizing your pet.

While you can do well by extracting excess milk away from your dog’s breast or teats, in case, its mastitis is caused by the accumulation of milk. And for inflammation and pain, a compressed cabbage leaf is advised to be used.

To get this done, all you need do is to apply a bandage around the breast with the cabbage before it; which stops the puppies from feeding on the milk.

All-round safeness is needed, hence, it is advised that you take precautions, to avoid any occurrence of swollen teats or mastitis. And the only way to go about this is to always clean the pet regularly. Wiping and bathing are the easiest things to get your dog in the most perfect health condition.

Dog Heat Cycle Signs

To prepare for fertilization, female dogs change their body type and physical appearance; and this dog heat’s cycle takes up to 21 days before completion. An obvious sign in dogs, whenever they are close to the heat cycle, is the swollen vulva. Below are the visible signs in your dogs during the heat cycle:

Cleaning

Spotting is not spotted whenever your female dog decides to regularly clean herself. This is because she has no choice but to do the cleaning, discomfort walks in, hence, she cleans.

Tail Tucking

The next set of actions from your dog, which is to keep the vulva safe during swelling, is tucking of the tail. Usually, this occurs at the heat cycle’s early stage.

Spotting

Spotting is one of the things that happen when the vulva swells; the next thing is the discharge of blood that spills on the floor and pieces of furniture around. Most pet owners, dogs, precisely, don’t know when their female dogs are in a heat cycle until the spot is noticed.

Breast Development

The circulating hormones around a female dog’s bloodstream cause tissue development, which makes the breast of your dog smaller; most especially during the early stage of the heat cycle.

Scent Changes

One of the changes in the hormonal gland is the scent of the female dog. And this scent is initially recognized by the male dog, even before other signs during the heat cycle.

Just so you know that the male dogs are the first to notice the scent, you would see them run around the female ones, sniffing and pestering her, with a wide concentration around the vulva.

Flirting

A female dog becomes flirtatious around others, while the extent to which she spots decreases. As fertilization and the release of eggs in enhanced as well.