# First heat, trouble urinating



## Julz (Aug 20, 2014)

Short Version:
My dog is in her first heat. 30 hours ago she started having trouble peeing. She'll squat down and then immediately stop peeing, lean back and lick herself. Only a little bit of pee comes out.

Long Version:
I have a 10-month old girl who's in her first heat. Today is her fifth day of bleeding.

Yesterday her vulva swelled a ton. I think it's normal, since I've heard someone on these forums describe it as "intimidating" when in heat, and in previous days it was only a little bit bigger than before.

Yesterday, about 30 hours ago, she started having trouble urinating. She would squat and then immediately drop back to lick herself. I spent hours with her outside and she would attempt to pee several more times and each time was the same: squat and then immediately lean back and start licking her vulva.

She is drinking water, though a little less than usual.

This morning after she did her squat and lick routine, I felt the grass and there was pee there. So she is peeing a tiny amount every time she does this.

I felt her belly, abdomen and inner thighs, gently pressing down on them. She is not in pain.

My mother-in-law called her veterinarian friend who said it doesn't sound like a UTI because with a UTI she wouldn't be able to stop the urine flow. And said it's nothing to worry about, her vulva is probably just extra sensitive right now, but we could get some Wound Heal and apply it to make the vulva less sensitive to make the dog more comfortable.

It's been about 30 hours now since the peeing problem started. I gave her watered down broth and she ate a glassful of ice cubes early this morning and still hasn't peed more than 3 very brief squirts all day.

I don't know what Wound Heal is and google doesn't help. I feel like I'm playing a game of broken telephone with the vet's advice: MIL says "the vet meant it for disinfecting, or maybe the vet meant it for numbing, or was it for anti-inflammatory?" ugh

I need help. 

Is this normal for a first heat? Is it time to go to an emergency clinic?


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Your MIL means well, but I think you should take her to a vet.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

That's not normal for my dogs, I agree that you have to get to the vet before it gets worse and maybe very expensive to fix.


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## Julz (Aug 20, 2014)

*Follow up*

I wanted to follow up, just in case someone else has this issue in the future.

I ended up taking my girl to the vet the next morning. The main issue ended up being that she had a yeast infection.

It was her first heat and her vulva was sensitive, swollen and felt unfamiliar to her. It was a very heavy/messy heat, so I had her in doggy diapers (that I changed frequently) and she kept trying to lick around them, sometimes succeeding, other times just licking her thigh next to the diaper. She got a hot spot on her thigh and because of the trapped moisture in the diaper, she got a yeast infection. All of those things together made peeing uncomfortable for her.

The vet trimmed the fur off the hot spots and gave me Vetericyn VF spray to use on them until they went away. She cleaned the vulva and sent me home with Phytovet Wipes to use for the yeast infection. And said not to use diapers. My girl was able to pee a little bit more than a squirt that day, but would still hop up as if the grass touched her sensitive spot. The wipes treated her yeast infection and within a few days she started peeing normally. 

She just finished her second heat. This time it was about 1/10th as messy as her first heat, so I didn't use diapers but still pulled up all the rugs. I may use diapers in the future, but only if I'm confident that the inside is kept dry and she won't try to lick through them.

And thank you MaggieRoseLee and Mary Beth for reading and offering up your advice and experience!


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## Rockinindian (Jan 7, 2020)

Sounds like my 4 lb chihuahua going through her first now. She pee's smaller amounts more frequently and she's very swollen. I think they cut the pre a little short because it's uncomfortable for her. Wet dog diapers are like wet baby diapers and wet shoes/feet. Their no good as common sence.. Love my dogs but I'm not running then to the vet every small thing. Glad to hear you're is doing good


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