Elsa not quite herself ..

Hi there

Not sure what's up with my little girl at the moment. Last week she had a weepy eye which was causing her discomfort and she was wiping it on the floor and rubbing it a lot. I took her to the vets and he gave her some antibiotic drops for her eyes. It was a struggle to get them in but after a couple of days her eye was clear again and now it's back to normal.  However all week she's been behaving really strangely, really quiet and a bit withdrawn and sleeping quite a bit more than usual too. Her feeding has been okay but she's not been as eager to eat her dinner and she's not been looking at me longingly for my dinner either.  Ive put this down to her feeling a bit under the weather because of her eye.  But yesterday and today she's been picking up her toys and carrying them around.  She took one into her crate and lay beside it earlier on and when I was upstairs, she brought a couple of her toys up and lay on the bed with them. Now she's in my bedroom, laying on my clothes with another toy.  Does she think she has puppies? I'm a bit worried that she's not well or something. She finished her first season about 8-9 weeks ago, maybe longer and she definitely did not mate with any dog.

I'm at a loss as to what's wrong with her and what I should do next. She is back at the vets on Saturday as a follow up for her eye appointment so I'm going to mention it to the vet. Has anybody else experienced this? She's just coming up to 11 months old so she's still only a baby herself.

Thanks
X

They do like to worry us don't they and its so easy to spot when something is amiss cos they just love routine. It could be that she's under the weather with something and possibly it's the eye issue but she sounds to me like she's nesting so I wonder if it's a phantom pregnancy?

Seeing as she's eating and drink more or less ok I wouldn't worry too much on the health front but certainly mention it to your vet when she goes for the check up.

Do let us know how Elsa gets on at the vets.

Talking to the vet sounds the right way to go. It might just be her hormones doing odd things to her but as you're going to the vet anyway it's worth ruling out anything else.

It sounds like a phantom pregnancy to me, Katy did exactly the same with her toys, nesting, crying & trying to nurse them It was horrible seeing her that way. There isn't anything you can do for her other than spaying, just give her lots of cuddles for now

id speak to the vet does sound like a phantom pregnancy bless her wee staffy socks im very glad i never went through this with mia

certainly sounds like a phantom pregnancy. you can either leave her to get over it with some tlc, or you can go to the vet who will likely give you something to dry up any milk she's producing - but there's very little else the vet can do.

you're absolutely certain she can't be pregnant?

Thanks for all your advice, I appreciate it. A trip to the vets this morning has confirmed a phantom pregnancy. The vet squeezed her teat a little and there was some milk there too.  I'm definitely sure that she's not pregnant, she's never out of my sight.  I said I'd like to see if she comes out of it herself and if not, then some medication. As soon as this is over, she's going to be spayed.  She's worse today trying to nest with her 'puppy' it's quite sad. She's constantly licking it and trying to nurse it.  Her eye is okay now though, all back to normal.  They do worry you don't they? x

Aww bless her, hope she's back to her normal self soon.

Thanks Ian. I hope so too. Poor little mite.

If it's any help, it's undoubtedly more worrying for you than for her. Hope she's back to herself soon and then you can all relax.

it's very sad when they go through this, but generally it doesn't harm them. if you can wait another season before spaying it will be better fir her overall health. if you really want to go ahead now, though, you'll have to be quick. it's best to spay mid-season when her organs are fully normal, and that would be roughly within the next 2 or 3 weeks!

Hi. We are planning on Elsa being spayed in the next 2-3 weeks anyway but it now depends on when she is over the phantom pregnancy.  She seems a bit more like herself today but she's still nesting and very restless. She's loving the extra kisses and cuddles

Aww bless her, hopefully won't be for much longer

feefeemc wrote:Hi. We are planning on Elsa being spayed in the next 2-3 weeks anyway but it now depends on when she is over the phantom pregnancy.  She seems a bit more like herself today but she's still nesting and very restless. She's loving the extra kisses and cuddles

I'm sure your vet will guide you on that, but she should be okay by then.