Heat cycles - blood...but brown. Split heats, etc

[kmaot]

Hello. I have a 3 year old maiden bitch that started to bleed about 9 days ago. However, for the first time, it was "brown" blood and very faint. (her other 2-3 heats showed bright red blood and more of it). Her vulva had been somewhat enlarged and my neutered male started to sniff. She bled from what I could see for 2-3 days. A progesterone test was done several days ago and was 0.9 (nothing going on). A smear a few days later showed blood (again brownish) but nothing to indicate impending ovulation.

<u>She is not swollen at all at this point </u>whereas she was more "prominant" in the area a week or 2 ago.

Today I found more "brownish" blood??

I know we have not missed ovulation. I am just wondering if anyone's bitch bleeds a bit "brown" as opposed to red and also whther this could be a split heat. Also, she has usually had an enlarged vulva with her heats....is it possible that this time it is not that enlarged?

(some breeder friends have said they haven't ever seen a split heat but.....)

I am not sure how to proceed other than more progesterone tests. According to when I 'first" saw brown blood it has been almost 10 days or so.

Any thoughts?

[MaggieRoseLee]

Is the vet worried?

Have you ruled out Pyrometra? Can kill a dog if not dealt with.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/pyo.html

this one even mentions brown discharge http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dog-Breed...-Discharge.htm

[BlackGSD]

My female had brown discharge when she first started coming in heat. Her breeder said it is NOT abnormal. Though I must say that it was her first heat. She "bled" the brown gunk, then red blood, then nothing over the course of 3 weeks with no real obvious swelling, (just a little bit). I though SCORE, no big messy deal. WRONG!!!!! She then bled bright red blood and a fair amount of it and proceded to have a more "regular" cycle. (Including normal "swelling".) Nothing like then messing around with being in heat for a 6 freaking weeks!!!!!!


(I asked the breeder because I had never noticed a brown discharge before, but then it HAD been 10 years since I have had a female in heat.)

[GranvilleGSD]

My female had a little bit of brown discharge before she came into full heat this time. It was really frustrating since she was going to be bred and I kept thinking she was going in, but she really wasn't. She then had a normal cycle. See if your vet can do a vaginal swab to see what the cells are doing. This can tell you a lot about where she is in her cycle if it has started.

[kmaot]

Thanks for the input. Yes we had done a swab several days ago and it came back that she was not ready to be bred. I have a feeling we are going to be watching and testing and watching and testing for a while now.

No mention of pyometra. She has no changes to her eating, behaviour etc. I had done some reading on that as well... There is no smell at all to the discharge.

[angelaw]

I've had two females do a split heat. Plenty of silent ones too! Typically will have a couple days of spotting, not even really bleeding, then nada, then anywhere from 3-6 wks later, reg. heat.

[eldonsea]

My female's last heat (21 Feb) started with day 1 & 2 of brown blood, then turned into normal red blood. I counted 10 days from the brown blood day and there she was, standing for my male. She was bred once on 5 Mar and again 2 days later. She only stood for 5 days, but the vet has just confirmed, she's pregnant.

Her vulva was swollen as well, but she's never bled brown blood before.

Maybe it's something in the air.

Also, pyometra can also be internal, which means no discharge or foul smell. My friend lost her bitch that way, even though she had no signs.