Late Heat in dogs - Answered by Dr. Van Lienden

[bethaliz]

Hi,

Have a 3 year old shih tzu. Shes beautiful and I love her to bits. I do have some concerns about her heat cycle. Her annual visit to the vet for her check up is in April and I will be addressing my concerns at that time, if the issue persists, but I will like some feed back as to weather or not I should be concerned and possibly make an earlier trip to the vet.

I have Roxie on a breeding contract and she is therefore not spayed. She has always had irregular heat cycles. She did not have her first heat cycle until she way 11 months and has been going anywhere from 6 to 8 month between cycles. It has been almost a years (in three weeks) since her last heat, and I am concerned. In March of last year she had her last heat, at that time she was bred and had 5 puppies. According to the vet she must have come in contact with something toxic to the puppies as there were developmental problems in which we lost two of the puppies and one was born with three legs. According to the vet the remaining living puppies and Roxie were fine and healthly with no adverse side effects. He indicated there was nothing to worry about. However with her having gone so long I wonder if she wasn't affected.

Anything thoughts would be appreciated. I Hope someone answers.