She should not have been mated

18/10/2007 by Arielle.

Bessie came in yesterday morning with a wag in her whole body yesterday morning; as Staffys do. Her owner had bred her in the beginning of the year and had a healthy litter. She had been mated by the owner’s dog (also a Staffy) and she obviously did not want puppies again so soon. I explained how dogs will scale walls to get to a bitch in season and a female in standing heat is sometimes capable of the same to get to the male. Bessie was fortunate in that the male lived with her!

The owner had come in for a Mesalin injection which we give when there is a case of a mismating. Mesalin is an injection that has to be given by us if your bitch has just been mated and you do not want her to have any puppies. We call this misalliance.
As Bessie had had a proper tie on Tuesday, I had to advise that she goes home and comes back on day 3 after the mating for the injection and then another injection is given on day 5.

Mesalin is made up of oestradiol benzoate which is an oestrogen - a hormone. This hormone may be toxic to bone marrow which I had to advise the owner. It is also not 100% effective and the owner said that she wanted Bessie neutered after her season anyway which I recommended too if she did not want to breed with her again. We cannot spay bitches that are in season for risk of bleeding.

The owner sighed when I mentioned that another side-effect is that it prolongs the season for up to another 2 weeks. She would have a desperate male for longer!

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