Many dogs develop vaginal discharge from the vaginal area throughout life, which often indicates health problems. The vaginal discharge comes from the dog’s vulva, including clear and watery, mucoid, purulent, or mucoid discharge.
Each discharge can be a signal for different health problems such as physical abnormalities, infection, reproductive issues, foreign body in the vagina, or trauma.
Vaginal discharge can be watery and clear (serous), yellow or green (purulent), thick and gray (mucus), or dark/black/green (after the labor). Sometimes the discharge can have an odor, which is unpleasant for both the dog and the owner.
The common type of discharge is the white and yellow discharge from female dog, and like any other health issue, it requires a veterinarian visit as soon as possible. Besides discharge, dogs can experience other symptoms like excessive licking of the vaginal area, dragging their hindquarters, increased frequency of urination, or urinary incontinence.
Let’s find out more about this topic.
Types of Vaginal Discharge in Female Dogs
As stated, there are numerous types of vaginal discharge from the female dog’s vagina. The color, consistency, and odor can help in diagnosing the issue. Below we have stated the most common types of vaginal discharge in dogs:
- Pinkish discharge – This discharge occurs at the beginning of the estrous cycle of the dog, and it manifests in light or dark pink, watermelon, or even yellowish tones.
- Bloody discharge – This type of discharge is a symptom of many health issues, and most likely, it is a sign of pyometra. Although, it is crucial to remember that bloody discharge can be a sign of physiological conditions due to the first heat cycle or lochia after the labor.
- Green discharge – It often occurs during labor and indicates the placenta’s detaching. As soon as you notice this green discharge expect little puppies in a few minutes. However, if the female dog is not pregnant, the green discharge implies inflammation of the vagina.
- White discharge – What’s interesting about the white discharge from a female dog is that the color may change to yellowish or greenish, which is related to many infections.
- Transparent discharge – It manifests as clean and clear discharge.
Dogs With White Discharge?
Even dog owners recognize the difference between clear and bloody discharge; however, the white and clear discharge might be more challenging to identify. The discharge could pick up the matter as it passes by through the reproductive system; therefore, the clear discharge can get cloudy.
All in all, it is essential to distinguish these two types of discharge since white discharge from female dog can lead to uterine infection like pyometra.
Another cause of white discharge can be vaginitis in dog. Bear in mind that white discharge does not always indicate infections; sometimes, it is a sign of the heat cycle due to increased hormone production of hereditary malformations of the reproductive system.
On the other side, swollen vagina along with the white discharge is a symptom of numerous serious health issues like fungal or bacterial infections. The first sign is excessive licking with vaginal white or clear discharge. In case the infection continues, the white discharge can turn into bloody discharge.
Another cause of the white discharge is juvenile vaginitis which usually does not show symptoms except the discharge. This type of vaginitis is resolved after the first heat cycle.
Besides the pathological causes, there are non-pathological causes for white or transparent discharge from the vulva. This occurs after mating due to the residual sperm that exits the vagina, usually 24 hours after mating.
Other Causes for Vaginal Discharge in Dogs
Let’s explain the types of discharge in more detail:
- Bloody discharge is present for several days when the dog is in an estrous cycle, which is a normal sign of an intact female dog.
- Vaginal discharge is a normal finding after birth in the female dog. For the first several days, a dark green to black discharge is present, and it can last for up to 3 weeks.
- If the placental sites don’t recede after birth, a bloody or persistent watery discharge may occur, which is an abnormal issue.
- Any vaginal discharge in female dogs during pregnancy is abnormal.
- Urogenital infection can lead to pyometra (infection of the uterus) and can result in opaque vulvar discharge.
- Tumors of the urogenital tract may lead to mucus, bloody, or purulent discharge.
- Inflammation of the vagina (vaginitis) can lead to mucus, white or watery discharge. This condition can worsen if the female dog has congenital defects such as a recessed vulva.
- Clotting coagulation disorders result in abnormal bleeding that manifests with bloody discharge. Clotting coagulation and hematuria (blood in the urine) are difficult to distinguish.
- Foreign body and trauma in the vagina resulting in watery mucus, bloody, or purulent discharge.
- Ectopic ureters and issues with the bladder sphincter may cause urinary incontinence (inability to hold urine) and result with pooling the urine in the vagina and additional secondary irritation.
- Open fistula (communication and defect) between the vagina and rectum lead to fecal contamination in the vagina and cause vaginal discharge and odor smell.
Pyometra
Pyometra is described as a bacterial infection of the uterus in female dogs. It is described as a bacterial infection of the uterine endometrium. This health issue occurs a few weeks after the heath cycle when dogs are exposed to high hormone concentrations, including estrogen and progesterone.
Pyometra occurs in older unspayed female dogs and is very rare in young female dogs. In most cases, it is diagnosed after 1-12 weeks after the initial first symptoms. During the lifespan of dogs, 1 in 4 unspayed dogs can develop a pyometra.
At the beginning of this life-threatening disease, the dog looks normal, and the symptoms begin to develop later. Clinical signs include vomiting, inappetence, depression, lethargy, and in very difficult cases – an enlarged abdomen.
The pyometra can be “open” and “closed. The open manifests as green, yellow, red, brown, or copious green discharge from the dog’s vulva, making this health issue easier to detect.
On the other side, the closed pyometra is when the cervix is not open, and there is no visible discharge. This could mean that the uterus is distended with a rupture risk. Since this pyometra is challenging to diagnose, vets prefer X-ray imagining to make their work easier.
All in all, pyometra is a life-threatening condition, and it can rapidly develop septicaemia and even death. Many medications such as antibiotics or intravenous fluids can be used to treat this condition and refer the patient for an emergency ovariohysterectomy (spaying)
We recommend spaying the dog at 4-6 months of age to prevent this terrible disease.
Symptoms
Dog owners easily recognize vaginal discharges since the clinical signs are visible to the human eye. However, we have listed some of the most common symptoms related to white vaginal discharge from the female dog:
- Excessive licking in the vaginal area
- Attracting male dogs
- Vaginal discharge (most common symptom)
- Scooting the bottom along the ground
- Difficulty defecating
- Increased frequency of urination or straining to urinate due to urinary tract infections
- Fever, lethargy, and increased thirst
Many pet owners notice this health issue when they notice that male dogs are attracted to their female dogs, although the dog is not in a heat cycle. On the other side, during the normal heat cycle, females allow the male dog to approach them.
Diagnosing Vaginal Health Issues
In order to get a diagnosis for your puppy that suffers from vaginal discharge, your vet must perform numerous diagnostic tests, including blood tests, cytology, prepare urine culture, ultrasonography, X-ray imagining, biopsy, etc.
As soon as you visit your vet, you’ll be required to provide and explain your puppy’s previous medical history and the current clinical signs you noticed.
The following diagnostic tests are performed in most cases in puppies with vaginal discharge:
- Blood work including biochemical profile, complete blood count, and urinalysis
- Urine culture to determine urinary tract infections
- Vaginal cytology
- Vaginal discharge culture to determine the reproductive or the urinary tract infection
- Abdominal radiographs (X-rays) to make a diagnosis for pyometra
- Vaginoscopy which is performed with a flexible or rigid speculum
- Cytology and biopsy of any suspected abnormal vaginal tissue
- Serologic tests to make a diagnosis for herpesvirus and brucellosis
- Intravenous dye of the ureters and kidneys to define abnormalities the dog may have
- Coagulation profile to make a diagnosis for clotting issues
Some puppies require additional tests if your vet does not diagnose any pathological condition due to the health issue.
Treatment of Vaginal Discharge in Dogs
As long as the vaginal discharge is not caused by urinary tract infection and is considered normal physiological, the female dog does not require any treatment. A great example of such physiological normal cases is the heat cycle and the process of giving birth when female dogs show normal vaginal discharge.
However, be aware that young puppies very often develop mild vaginitis that resolves after the first heat cycle or after getting spayed. That is why many veterinarian professionals practice the wait-and-see approach with young puppies.
Treatment for dogs with vaginal discharges depends on the cause. For example:
- Infected uterus, foreign vaginal bodies, or vaginal/uterine tumors require emergency surgery. Other cases require surgery, such as congenital defects of the ureters and walls of the rectum or vagina.
- Symptomatic therapy for bleeding disorders that occur in the female dog
- Chemotherapy treatment for tumors of the external genital organs and the vagina (such as a transmissible venereal tumor, transitional cell carcinoma, and lymphosarcoma)
- Avoidance breeding the female dogs while having vaginal discharge
- Antibiotics are prescribed for infections with bacteria
- Vaginal douches with o.05% chlorhexidine or 0.5% povidone-iodine solutions for the treatment of many infections
- Spaying surgery if you want to avoid the following heat period and reducing the chance of getting pregnant from a male dog
- Spaying surgery for a female dog that has extensive discharge during the heat period.
Home Care
Provide hygienic space during the heat period of the female dog to avoid infections of the reproductive organs.
Administer the prescribed medications and only use medications approved by your veterinarian for the specific clinical signs. This remains for all the health issues that can possibly occur in both female and male dogs – use only the medication that your veterinarian prescribed.
If the clinical signs are not getting better and the prescribed treatment does not have an effect on your dog, call your vet and discuss about the additional tests.
FAQ:
Final Words
Seeing your dog suffering in any way is not pleasant for many pet owners. Therefore, as soon as you notice any signs, call your veterinarian and ask for professional advice. This uncomfortable health issue can occur in any dog breed at any age, so you have to be extra careful with your female four-legged fluffy friend. We hope you found this article helpful.
*photo by tonodiaz – depositphotos