Female Reproductive Issues?
How many of us have owned a female Shikoku Ken who has had "strange" heat cycles? Would you mind sharing it with us? What was strange about it?
For us, we had Loa who had one normal heat, then what appeared to be a split heat, then 2 more heats. She averaged at least 2 heats a year.
Cho Cho had the strange split heat thing too, but with her first heat. Then she had a normal heat, and then this past one was very short. She has had 3 heats and is only 13 months old!
Ahi was spayed at her first heat.
So, anyone else experienced these strange heats with their female Shikoku Ken?
Is there a reproductive issues in the breed that we're all ignoring?
----
For us, we had Loa who had one normal heat, then what appeared to be a split heat, then 2 more heats. She averaged at least 2 heats a year.
Cho Cho had the strange split heat thing too, but with her first heat. Then she had a normal heat, and then this past one was very short. She has had 3 heats and is only 13 months old!
Ahi was spayed at her first heat.
So, anyone else experienced these strange heats with their female Shikoku Ken?
Is there a reproductive issues in the breed that we're all ignoring?
----
Comments
I think Kotomi had a split first heat cycle. Then she seem to have regular heat cycles about every 10 months. Her 5th cycle this past summer was normal. However, she started a split in September....it stopped and then she finished up October/November. So here's hoping her next cycle will be normal.
I know Katja has experienced split cycles with Yana and I believe Mura only has 1 ovary that's functional (the other ovary is damaged). Both Yana and Mura were still capable of producing litters. However, Katja's first Shikoku female Import, Retsu, was never able to get pregnant to produce a litter no matter how hard Katja tried. =[
I think you might be on to something concerning the reproductive system in Shikoku. I've suspected this as a potiental issue as well. Let us not forget Aki who is sterile too, right? This is a possible serious concern within the breed for sure. Thanks for bringing it up. I wonder what the ratio in Japan is? I understand most breeders choose not to breed often but what troubles have they had when attempting to produce litters? How many breedings turned out unsuccessful? How many breedings were actually successful?
Jesse
Brad, didn't ChoCho's second heat (or second part of split heat) occur when practically all your other girls went into heat? I'm wondering if it's not really the fact that they have weird cycles but more that they are "sensitive" to the cycles of other bitches around them.
I kind of am also wondering, since Miyu still has her uterus, if my girl would have some form of heat symptoms if she lived with several intact females (like what Brad has, for example)to hormonally feed off of.
Split heats occur when a bitch grows follicles on her ovaries and experiences the signs of pro-oestrus (swollen vulva, vulvar bleeding, attractiveness to males) but does not progress into oestrus and does not ovulate. The bitch's follicles will usually regress, and then she will come into a complete heat cycle with ovulation anywhere from two to 12 weeks later. Split heats are most common in a young bitch, especially at her first season, and are not considered to be associated with infertility when bred on the cycle in which ovulation occurs. Split heats must be differentiated from short inter-oestrous intervals between two true heat cycles. A vaginal smear will show red blood cells and intermediate and superficial cells as would be expected during pro-oestrus but in a split heat will not progress into an oestrus smear.
From: http://www.k9magazinefree.com/k9_perspective/iss1p23.shtml
@Brad: I seem to recall you posting that Loa had cysts on her ovaries? That sounds more indicative of reproductive problems.
@Calia: From what my vet has told me, the ovaries are responsible for producing the hormones necessary for going into season and things like pyometra, so Miyu shouldn't have any heat symptoms. If she had a tubal ligation instead of an ovariectomy, she would still go into heat but not release eggs and therefore not able to be bred.
She got her first heat a year ago last August 2010 (~8 mo old, it lasted 3 1/2 wks total from start to end), then she got her next heat in January 2011, again about 3 weeks. Then another one in August of 2011, again for 3 weeks or so. And funny thing is, it always seems to start at about the 6-10th day of the month (ie, Jan 7th, August 6th)? Of course they are regular in that they have so far occurred in the same months, but irregular the distance between the heats in terms of months (4 vs 6 months).
The split heat thing is a little controversial, some repro specialists do not believe split heats happen after sexual maturity and that anything that seems like a split heat is actually an irregular, and potentially problematic, heat cycle.
But, my point was not to have a discussion specifically on split heats, I brought them up as an example of the volatility that appears to be common in the esters cycle of the Shikoku. The volatility, not the split heats, is what troubles me.
I have read that ovarian cysts can cause females to not ovulate. So, for sure that could have been the issue with Loa. But I wonder if that is what we are seeing in other females. And the info that Corina gave about Katja's females makes me think that that is the case - cysts, perhaps, seems to be an issue in the breed - and could be the reason for the abnormal esters cycles.
----
then there was a female shikoku that normally was going to have a heat, it started ,but suddenly it was split..
the owner said that something like that was normal, that i does happen.. and that they can postpone it, when it's too cold to be pregnant,the owner said that that was completely normal, because that is the way they do it in the wild..
and it's because it's a breed that is still very close to nature.. and it also can be that there are other females in the pack that want to go first, another female can postpone her heat because of that..
she explained also that shikoku females don't mate with a male that she doesn't want..
ETA - Moved my rant to a new thread.
----