My 18 month old girl is having her first heat -- medical reason only, I have no intention of breeding her.

She started bleeding 12 days ago. Up until yesterday, her doggie bloomers with an added doggie pad was good for at least 5-6 hours. Yesterday she started bleeding much more. She can soak the pad and the bloomers in about an hour. She sleeps on my bed. Over my blankets I put an old mattress pad with a sheet on top of that. Last night she left about a 6 inch diameter spot (and lots of other smaller ones). The big spot soaked through the sheet and the mattres pad and left a fairly sizable soak on my blanket. While I was washing her bloomers (yet again) this morning she was dripping a drop about every 3 seconds for about a minute. The blood is not a bright red, but is kind of dark.

So, after all that lovely detail, my question is whether this is too much bleeding. I did call the vet, a tech called back and said the vet was not concerned. But the amount still bothers me so I thought I would check with you people who actually have this happen on a regular basis. (Though I don't know how anyone could go though this more than once -the stench!)

In case it matters, she was diagnosed with a bladder infection 5 days ago and is on Cipro. The vet took a look at her 2 days later because she threw up brown bile, which the vet thinks was discolored from her licking herself. She has not vomited again. Also, her plum sized vulva decreased in size at about the same time the pace of the bleeding increased.

Thanks!

It really depends on the dog. One of my girls is fine with a pad being changed once a day, she doesn't really "drip" at all. My other girl bled like a stuck pig for the entire 3 or 4 wks. Personally, I have my girls sleep in crates while their in season so they don't have to be in their panties 24hrs a day. I put a fake sheep shin mat in there which pulls the moisture away from them and keeps them dry.

I agree that it varies dog to dog. I have one that barely bleeds and one that bleeds tons the whole time also. I don't really worry. I have a black leather sofa, no carpet, and black sheets on the bed. I just mop a lot, wipe the sofa off a lot, and wash the sheets a lot.

Thanks for your replies. I feel reassured knowing that this amount of bleeding is not abnormal. And, DarwinsMom, I particularly appreciated the "bled like a stuck pig" description. I do leave her out of her bloomers at night, so that is why I tried to put enough old layers on the bed so that she would not soak through to the good bedding.

I wouldn't worry, this is likely normal for your girl. I have a girl that bleeds rather heavily too when she's in heat. And I have others that barely bleed at all. There shouldn't be a foul odor though. That could be due to her bladder infection.

Every dog is different. Some bleed more than others.

Although I don't see the tie in with vomitting. Nor do I see her licking herself causing the color of the vomit.

I had a heavy bleeder once too. I agree that there shouldn't be a foul odor.

Regarding the odor... My brother walked in and said it smelled like a monkey house. It is not a sick dog smell, but it is overwhelming. So I guess I would classify it as a musky odor. There is also the smell of blood, which I cannot avoid unless I change her bloomers ever half hour. The smell has gotten a little less intense in the past day (or I am just getting immune to it), so maybe it did have something to do with her bladder infection.

Regarding the vomiting ... about every other month she is an early a.m. bile girl. This is continuing to improve - as a puppy she regularly threw up bile. So it was the color of the bile that concerned me. I have been giving her slippery elm and she has not vomited again.

We are now on day 14 of bleeding. She will probably end up being one of those girls that bleeds for a month.

Thanks for your assistance. I appreciate all advice - my knowledge on these matters is limited.

I'd probably make her sleep in the crate during this time. It's always good to reinforce the crate, and that way she's not bleeding all over everything. Oddly enough, when Grace would lie on our bed, she'd get blood on it. When she slept in her crate, it stayed clean....she must clean herself more in the crate.