Accidental mating

[bearkat]

A neighbor of ours has a 3 year old female Rottie of questionable heritage, and they swear they didn't know she was in heat last week. She is allowed LOTS of freedom, and hence, her owner found her "locked" with a mutt, and now they assume she is pregnant.

I expressed my concerns about why they had never had "Roxy" spayed, and they said "Well, we just didn't think about it".... I told them about all the problems with poor breeding, etc., and they seemed to get a little concerned about what had happened. They do not have 'net access, so as their "proxy", they have a few questions...

Is there such a thing as a dog abortion?? Would a vet spay a female who is already pregnant, thus killing the puppies(embryos, I guess)?? Would the hormones that cause the bitch to go into heat cause problems during (and after) spaying?

The owners seem to want to do something NOW, and I find it sad they didn't think of this before, but it is really none of my business to be judging another. They asked my advice, and I have absolutely NO experience with female dogs, because the only one I ever had, Gisela, I had the sense to spay her immediately after we got her, about 2 weeks before her cycle was to begin..

Any thoughts???

[frontierrots]

yes they need to get the bitch spayed ASAP. Vets will spay in this instance up to but not beyond 4 weeks pregnant. They usually figure it is better to spay a pregnant dog than to allow unwanted pups to come into the world.
I had my brother's pitbull spayed at 4 weeks along after he found out his girlfriend's dad intentionally bred her to his (the dad's) rottweiler while he was supposed to be keeping her locked in the bedroom!
There were no complications whatsoever.

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Diane
Frontier Rottweilers & Shiba Inu
www.frontierrots.com

[Nancy Estes]

Yes - spay as soon as possible. The main reason is that the further along you get in the pregnancy the more vascularity there is and subsequently the higher the risk of blood loss. They can be spayed at the time the litter is due but you can't expect to find a lot of vets willing to do this when it also involves not reviving or putting the puppies down. This is not a pleasant experience for anybody!

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo@hotbot.com

[Rott'n]

I agree with the others. They may be required to pay more if she is still in heat, but then it might be more anyway... just because she's pregnant.

The last thing this world needs is more unwanted/unplanned puppies and especially Rottweiler mixed breeds. There are too many purebred Rotties in rescue that can't be placed, sad to say.