# question? inverted vulva/vagina



## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

I took Sharlette to the vet yesterday. I moved about an hour away from this vet and I had previously taken her to a local vet but I was not happy with the local vets services and "bed side manner" so I decided to make the 1 hour trek to go to my regular vet with her. This was his first time seeing her. She got shots including her rabies shot. We set up her appointment for her spay at 7 months. She got a good once over by the vet. He said her heart sounds great. He said she has a great pulse. He said her lungs sounds great. He said she is at a perfect size and weight for her age. He said her new adult teeth are growing in good. BUT he said this isn't a big problem but just something to be aware of and to keep an eye on. He said her vagina isn't placed normally as it should be. He said a normal dog vagina when you look at the dog standing from the back it should kinda be seen a bit from behind. Sharlette's is more under her, can not be seen AT ALL from behind, and is tucked in... he referred to it as inverted. I was told she could end up with infections because it is so tucked in that her urine will end up staying on her skin and she can get burns from that. To keep it well cleaned and maybe even use Vaseline on it to prevent it from getting sore. I never even payed any mind to her vagina LOL is this a common golden problem or is this just something random. He said it is a conformation thing. Not exactly sure what he meant by that. I don't plan to show or breed her so no worries about puppies getting stuck or that genetic trait being passed on but I was just wondering if this is a common thing?


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I have never heard of it but I always have male dogs. So, I am not a big help. 
When I worked as a tech, I never came across a case. I would be interested also in hearing about any other cases.
Good luck to your little girl! I am glad she is doing great other than that issue!


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

I searched it on here and found 1 post and also I googled it and everything says to let her wait 1 heat and it will pop out a bit more and not be a problem. Now I am wondering if I should wait a heat cycle or not before getting her spay....


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

It is not uncommon. I always advise my puppy buyers to let a girl with an inverted vulva to go through a heat cycle if at all possible, as that will often "pop" it out, and end/prevent problems such as your vet was talking about. If she hasn't had any problems yet with infections, etc., she may never be bothered by it.


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

Our trainer at class said her golden had something like that. She said she spayed her at 6 months and found out later she should have waited a heat cycle. The dog is 5 now and she just had surgery to fix it because she was getting so many infections.

If you are prepared to deal with a dog in heat it sounds like it might be a cheaper alternative...


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

She has not had any problems yet with any infections. I WAS planning to let her go threw 1 heat before spaying because I had read it helps them mature and calm down a bit going threw a heat cycle so I was ready for a heat cycle but then had decided that if by 7 months she had yet to go threw a heat that I would spay her then. HOWEVER now I am thinking I should hold off and wait for her first heat. At about what age should I expect her first heat. My chihuahua is still intact and she had her first heat at 8 months. I remember my mothers female dogs (2 chihuahuas, 1 lab, 1 german shorthaired pointer) having their first heats at about 8 months also. Is this a general age when they have their first heat?


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

I think 6-9 months or something is the average for their first heat...?


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

I would also wait to spay her until she goes through a heat. Generally anytime after 6 mos they can go..mine didn't start until she was 10 mos old. We are doing surgery on a dog this week for this very reason..spayed before first heat and had a tucked in vulva..shes had so many infections. I say wait..it could only help in that situation!


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I have also heard to let them go through a heat cycle to see if the vulva will correct itself.


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

Jordan's sister has that and is just now going into heat at 10 months. She may go in earlier because of the time of year and weather. As big of a pain it can be and you have to be so careful, I think I would wait too. Good luck


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## Cocker+GoldenR (Aug 26, 2011)

Hi

My Lady has an inverted vulva, we got her from a rescue at 9 months old so she was already spayed, after adopting her I read about letting them go through 1 heat but she was spayed at 5 months, so far she has not had any problems, but if she started having UTIs we could do surgery to correct it ( rescue was upfront and will pay for it if we ever have to do it) our vet said that it can go either way, she might never have a problem or she could start developing infections( though she said if it has not happened yet, most likely it won't happen) had I had the chance I would have let her go through the first heat cycle, you still have time!!! Hugs, Olga.


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## aerolor (May 27, 2011)

I also think Sharlette would benefit from having her first season before being spayed. If you can wait you will ensure that she is sexually mature physically. Also larger breeds are often later than smaller dogs having their first season and frequently with a first season the discharge is not very heavy, so is often easier to manage. I have a friend with a GSP who is now 18 months old and she has only just finished her first season. My golden Bonnie is 10 months and she shows no sign of coming into season yet, so it may be that Sharlette will be over a year before she is spayed.


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## darbysdad (Dec 23, 2011)

Darby has the same thing. Iposted a while ago about a UTI she had. I was concerned about the constant cleaning of that area, and she almost seem obsessed with it. Come to find out, it is recessed. Our vet said to do nothing with it since as she grows, the skin tightens and tends to push it out close to where it belongs. They are going to revisit this at her spay in 6 months and if not corrected, they said they can do something with the skin around it so it protrudes more. He said it mostly fixes itself with age. I clean Darbys personal area with flushable wipes every couple days by pulling up on the vulva and wiping around the inside of the folds. This avoids any buildup of excess urine. We also trim the hair so it does not wick. I am not concerned with it right now, and will wait to see how it pans out.


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

Just another thought if you are going to wait. Sometimes the first heat is "silent" meaning there is not much blood and mood change. I have taken several rescue dogs into be spayed and then be told afterward they were in heat. You are going to have to be really diligent about checking down "there":curtain: for changes. I wonder what Sharlette would have to "say" about all this??


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I think in general, large breed dogs come into their first heat cycle later than the small breed dogs.


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## darbysdad (Dec 23, 2011)

cgriffin said:


> I think in general, large breed dogs come into their first heat cycle later than the small breed dogs.


Your dogs look so "wordly"


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## Sosoprano (Apr 27, 2011)

Pippa had an inverted vulva as well, and it really improved after her first heat. She went into season at 7 months. There seem to be several benefits to holding off on spaying until after the first heat, so I’d also recommend waiting if you can.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

Thank you all for the advise. I think I will wait for sure! The next vet visit is in 3 weeks and I will for sure discus it with the vet then and see what other information he can give me.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Even my vet recommends waiting if they have an inverted vulva (and they usually push for spaying/neutering at 6 months and before the first heat cycle). Let us know what your vet says.


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## zphantom (Jan 4, 2009)

My 2 year old golden, Dakota, had this.

IMHO, the vulva is supposed to be popped out sort of like a knuckle with little recession. If the there is a recession where the "knuckle" is not external to the body, or even if the "knuckle" is partly masked by the body, there CAN be issues (more about that below).

In other words, if a male dog cannot mount your female dog in the normal fashion canines do that (meaning that it is inverted enough that the male would not be able to locate it in the normal position) its not normal.

Now, for most dogs, that is not an issue, because they are not getting bred or not being shown (which is a purpose to find the best dog to breed). Where it becomes an issue is if the dog is prone to getting a UTI.

Dakota had a rather severe case of this, she had her first UTI around 4 months of age, and if removed from medication, would get a UTI in less than two weeks. We would get the UTI cleared up, then we would stop the meds, she would get the UTI again. Finally, after taking her in for numerous UTIs, it turns out she was on medication for UTIs for a year (but we had to switch back and forth to make sure that she did not get immune to the meds).

Unfortunately, it did not always seem like a UTI to the vet, they believed that it may be vaginanits (sic), or that she had a kidney infection. We had urine removed directly from her kidney (however they do that) several times, to prove that her kidney was fine and that the only reason that her urine samples were infected was due to a UTI or disease in that area (this was just a matter of money for the removal).

You know that your dog is potty trained when she gets upset when she has an accident in the house due to a UTI that makes her seem that she has to pee all the time. If she goes to the bathroom like four times in a row outside that is a dead giveaway she has a UTI.

The above is the story if you dog has issues due to it, if she doesn't she may have one UTI her whole life, or she may never have any issues. In that case, awesome!

If she does, keep reading.

I support the idea of waiting to spay until after a heat cycle (I think the dog matures better and looks better), however it requires control of the dog so she doesn't get pregnant, and it requires a lot of cleanup of blood. At least with Dakota, you knew she was in heat (blood left when she sat / laid down). The reason that it is believe that the heat cycle will solve the issue is that the area will swell and sort of pop out during. Dakota went off the meds when she went into heat, unfortunately, as soon as the heat ended, she got another UTI. She came into her first heat around 14 months.

Call me crazy, but I think you can tell on a 7 - 9 month old dog if the heat cycle has a chance to correct it. I think in most cases the issue is due to extra skin to the rear and sides of the vagina. In fact, if you pull that skin rearward, the area will pop out (making the "knuckle" visible from the rear). This is how it should look. If there is a lot of extra skin there and especially if the extra skin is on three sides, I don't think a heat cycle will solve it.

If I recall correctly, I think a spay has to be delayed by about six weeks after a heat cycle (maybe more, maybe less). When we got her spayed, we had corrective surgery done. IMHO, it is the best time to do so. Unfortunately, the spay is a surgery that has been mastered by the world, whereas the corrective surgery is rare. I would ensure that the person doing the surgery has done it before, or has access to someone who has done it. The spay would normally require a few days recovery, the corrective surgery requires more time (they have to wear the lamp shade collar for about two weeks I think). Also, unlike the spay, it requires real stitches which have to be removed.

Dakota had the spay and corrective surgery, got her stitches out and I am happy to say has never had another UTI. The surgery was well done, as if I rolled her over with other dogs and you compared I doubt you could pick her out.


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## Pemphredo (Nov 14, 2011)

::UPDATE::
Sharlette started her first heat yesterday. Even though it is still fairly early in her heat she has already swelled and popped out a bit more. I hope as the heat progresses it does come out a bit more but I do notice improvement already. Also Sharlette has never had any UTI's or infections of any kind from her inversion. 

It is funny cause 3 nights ago I was just discussing with my husband how she is well over a year old now and I am shocked she hadn't went into heat yet. BAM the next day she was in heat. LOL


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## Zuca's mom (Aug 14, 2012)

Hi there. I just found this and noticed you live in Aransas Pass. We live in Portland, TX. We were told the same thing about our girl and hers just popped out on its own. She is five months old and just had her spayed. We had to because we are going to Mexico for a few months and couldn't go through a season there. I would love to schedule a play date one of these days if you're available. Zuca likes to play but since she hasn't had too many opportunities, she's a little shy at first.


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