# Recessed Vulva



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Does anyone have experience with a dog with a recessed vulva? Millie's is very recessed and recently she has been having some issues where her vulva seems to REALLY bother her. It only happens sporadically but she will throw her butt to the ground and pretty determinedly start licking. You can tell it must be a burning itch or something. I took her to the vet around it a 3-4 weeks ago. It was the culmination of my putting together her licking behavior with some icky looking hair and gunk I saw in the vulva area (the part covered by skin since it is recessed) while I was grooming her.

The vet just tested her urine and found enough "stuff" in it to send her home with Cefpoxidine. They didn't seem as concerned as I thought they should be about the dark gunky/crustyness in her vulva. They didn't do anything to treat that area and I think that she might have had some vulvitis in addition to a UTI.

I brought a urine sample to be rechecked at the vet's office and they said everything looked good. That was about 1-2 weeks ago. Well, I've noticed her doing that slam-the-bum-down vulva itch again and yesterday my husband found a pee spot in the study when he returned from work, while I was gone in the evening. With 4 dogs I can't know for sure who it was, but I had crated everyone except for Millie when I left, and I am pretty certain I would have seen a huge pee stain before I left. And it looked like clearly it came from a female as it was a pee puddle.

Any thoughts? Does anyone have experience with this? I am wondering if maybe she had some vulvitis in addition to a UTI and since only the UTI was treated, the vulvitis remains and maybe is causing her to get another UTI? But that is just a wild guess. Recessed vulvas - yet another reason not to spay your bitch at 5 months old! Apparently 9/10 recessed vulvas will become normal after a heat cyle. :angry:

I'm trying to decide if I just want to drop off another urine sample at the same vet or if I should maybe give my reproductive vet a visit. Even though she's spayed, he's an expert at the reproductive tract and might take a better approach.


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## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

My previous dog, Annabelle, had this problem. Finally, my vet suggested corrective surgery, but we felt Annabelle's heart condition made surgery too risky. I'd go to the repro vet like you suggested. 


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

For a second I thought this was going to be about Swedish cars.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

My GSD had a recessed vulva. She had a lot if issues with UTI's and I had to keep her clean and shaved up there. She always would lick it and the skin would be a rusty color. She didn't rally have issues with itching it. Unless the licking was a way to scratch. To get better more acurate a results on a urinalysis a sterile sample is the best way to go. A cystocentesis is the only way to get a sterile sample. It is very easy procedure as well. Did they do the first test this way or by catching it? 


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Nobody ever told me that she had a recessed vulva, but Tangee has always had that Rusty colored debris around hers. When she began having skin problems, I used the same spray that cures her skin breakouts on the vulva, and it totally cleared that up too!
It is called Phytovet CK spray. 


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I don't know if Misha's vulva was recessed, but when she was little I was constantly cleaning a sticky thick yellowish discharge and she was at it a lot. I took her to the vet multiple times and he always said she was fine...drove me nuts! I hadn't even thought of it, but it is true, after her heat it went away and she has had no further problems.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I can only imagine how a little urine trapped in the fold I have seen on some females could get sore. I imagine very irritated and burning plus the area is dark and likely stays moist. Perfect recipe for bacteria. Poor girl! Maybe wiping with an unscented hypoallergenic baby wipe would help?

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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

N2Mischief said:


> I don't know if Misha's vulva was recessed, but when she was little I was constantly cleaning a sticky thick yellowish discharge and she was at it a lot. I took her to the vet multiple times and he always said she was fine...drove me nuts! I hadn't even thought of it, but it is true, after her heat it went away and she has had no further problems.


To me that sounds like it was probably puppy vaginitis. Glad she hasn't had any more problems!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

poodlecrazy#1 said:


> To get better more acurate a results on a urinalysis a sterile sample is the best way to go. A cystocentesis is the only way to get a sterile sample. It is very easy procedure as well. Did they do the first test this way or by catching it?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yowch! A cystocentesis sounds painful!

No, the first two urine samples were both done by catching the urine. The first one suggested a UTI, the second one looked normal.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Talked to the vet who has already seen her about the UTI/vulva irritation and they prescribed an ointment to put on the skin for a week and to go from there. I'm pretty sure that Millie is the one who had the accident in the house, but I can't pin it down on her for sure, and with a puppy in the house, it might be worth it to wait it out to see if that was just an isolated incident of some sort, or maybe the puppy, or if she really is having bladder troubles.

I think my next step will be to go ahead and take her to the repro vet if the ointment doesn't clear up the skin irritation and if I see any more signs of a possible UTI brewing.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Lol it seems like it but I have rarely had dogs yip when performing one. They usually put up more of a fight when turning them over onto to their back and don't even realize what we are doing after. The reason for a sterile sample, is when doing a free catch the stream of urine passes through the urethra and out the vulva. When doing this the urine can pick up any bacteria that is on the urethral opening or on the vulva causing false positive results upon analysis of the urine. That is why a cystocentesis is the best way of collecting urine. You know you are getting only the bacteria found in the bladder causing the UTI and not bacteria found around the urethra or on the vulva. Especially in Millie's case of a recessed vulva I would think more bacteria than usual would be in that area causing more of a chance the urine would pick up other bacteria on its way out and into the collection cup. I would think about having a sterile sample taken and tested just in case, or if this cream and round antibiotics doesn't help. Different antibiotics fight different bacteria and if she has one bacteria causing the UTI and different one causing the problems on the vulva, the vet might need to switch up or change the antibiotics. If that made any sense at all lol . I hope it did. . 


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