Why is my female dog leaking clear fluid? Well, imagine, you and your female golden retriever, Dandelion, are sitting on the couch. It’s a peaceful afternoon and you pet her while you’re watching television.
Dandelion decides to leave the couch and goes to her personalized dog bed, you wonder why, it’s unusual for her to suddenly leave your side. You look at where she sat and you see that she left because the couch was drenched!
You’re thinking that she peed all over the couch while you were distracted by the television and you scold her “bad dog!” and you can tell Dandelion feels bad for what she did.
But did she really do it? Or did she have no choice?
Today, I’m going to explore the two most common possibilities to the question:
Why is my female dog leaking clear fluid?
So, that you don’t possibly falsely accuse poor old Dandelion of peeing on the couch and prevent any illnesses that may come from this involuntary leaking of clear fluid :).
Vaginal discharge
Vaginal discharge is the answer. This refers to the leaking of clear fluid from a female dog’s vulva.
There are different types of vaginal discharge, some of them bloody, some of them green and yellowy, and others completely odorless. I’m going to tackle the most common vaginal discharges.
Take a look:
Urinary incontinence
This refers to the involuntary leakage of urine. This is quite common for female dogs especially if they’re spayed (spayed means they’re sterilized and can no longer reproduce).
Common symptoms of this are an unpleasant odor and irritated skin from her vulva, and your female dog leaving drops of urine around the house whenever she walks around.
Causes
Her urine is heavily controlled by her levels of estrogen (female hormone). If she is spayed then her ability to produce estrogen becomes hampered. Old age can also affect her levels of estrogen because her ability to produce estrogen weakens as she grows older.
Obesity can also affect her ability to store urine in the right places, an increased size makes storing urine more difficult and may lead to leakages. And although spaying can cause urinary incontinence, it’s not a completely bad idea to have a female dog spayed because it can help her prevent other illnesses.
The most common way to treat this is through a medicine called Proin which you can get at the vet, so make sure you give them a visit if your Dandelion might be suffering from urinary incontinence.
Dog periods
Yes, dogs can have periods, just like female humans. So, whenever you see a puddle of watery blood on the floor, you know that this bloody discharge is Dandelion having a period. Just like with female humans, this is very common.
The only difference is the period happens at different times. For female dogs, it’s when they are interested in mating and are “available”. For female humans, it’s when they missed the chance to mate.
It’s not so much a period, really. It’s more commonly referred to as “being in heat”.
Causes
“Being in heat” is caused by a female dog’s estrous cycles. Her hormonal glands start producing different kinds of hormones that make her available for mating and signal male dogs that she’s “ready”.
This is perfectly normal for female dogs and it doesn’t need any treatment. If you want to prevent them from having puppies and or having bloody discharge, however, you can have them spayed at the vet.
It’s important to take them to the vet when they have bloody discharge, however. This is because there’s a possibility of it being Coagulation (a type of vaginal discharge that can lead to health problems), Neoplasia (cancer), or there’s something in Dandelion’s body that isn’t supposed to be there. So, take them to the vet at least once to make sure if they’re really in heat or are suffering from a serious condition.
Common symptoms of vaginal discharge
- Irritation/inflammation on the are of the vulva
- Restlessness
- Constantly licking the vulva
- Rubbing their vulva across the floor
- Low appetite
- Attracts male dogs even from far away
There are multiple reasons why your female dog could be leaking clear fluid, they could be having difficulty withholding their urine, they could simply be in heat, which is perfectly normal, but they could also be suffering from something more serious beneath the surface.
It is then important to take them to the vet whenever they have vaginal discharge. However, if you can’t take them to the vet for whatever reason, do your best not to falsely accuse them of peeing. If it is true that they are suffering from urinary incontinence or other types of vaginal discharge, scolding them will only make them feel worse.
I hope this answered, Why is my female dog leaking clear fluid?. Thanks for reading and please take good care of your very own Dandelion!
I just published What Does My Dog Have Diarrhea at Night?
Disclaimer: I am not a Vet, and not ginving any health advise, just a dog LOVER. All this information are my own opinions and research, that’s it!
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