(Question) We recently had our two-year-old female Brittany spayed. She had a litter of six puppies in April of this year. About a week after being spayed she began spotting which lasted for about two days.

She also acted as though she was coming into heat. She attempted to mount our male. She had no real signs of being in heat before being spayed but was probably close to her next heat.

Is it possible that she could have come into heat or is it just hormones that may be left in her body? She seems quite healthy otherwise. Any comments or advice would be appreciated. --SJ

     (Answer) Some things that I would consider are healing of the uterine stump, estrogens remaining in the bloodstream and the possibility of a piece of ovary left intact during surgery.

As part of the standard ovariohysterectomy in the bitch, both ovaries along with the two horns and body of the uterus are removed.  The body of the uterus is removed by ligation and transaction at about the level of the cervix. This leaves a stump that must heal and during that healing process sometimes there is a discharge out through the vagina and it may appear on the vulva as a drop or two of blood-tinged fluid. If this is the cause in your dog it should resolve in a few days.

Estrogen is the hormone responsible for the external signs of heat that we see in the bitch. These signs include bleeding from the vulva, swelling of the vulva and odors that attract male dogs. This estrogen hormone is secreted from the ovary and is commonly excreted in varying amounts even at those times that the bitch is not in obvious heat. I don't think that enough estrogen might remain to cause these signs.

The last thing I would think about is that there might be an ovarian remnant remaining following surgery. This is not a common finding but it does happen as the ovary is rather surrounded by a fatty mass and can be difficult to identify accurately.

I would suggest that you take an approach of monitoring this condition. The best way would be to have the bitch examined and include palpation of the uterine stump, vaginal smears to monitor cornification of the vagina, changes in the vulva and general health of the bitch.

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Then in March he blew out his left ACL. I had surgery done April 14th. I received my instructions for rehab from the surgeon and followed them to the letter. He was given a "good to go" on June 21st. My vet, not the surgeon, told me this.