Lab female odor

[margimc]

My 15month old female yellow lab omits a vaginal odor quite often. Someone had mentioned that this sometimes happens when female labs get startled. Has anyone noticed this with their female lab? Help!

[ginger899]

I see. I would think that her natural smell shouldn't be unpleasant, if it was totally normal. And from what you say, it sounds as if she has a little discharge too?
If this smells a bit "fishy" it is possible she could have a urinary infection, maybe not bad enough to give her bad symptoms, but maybe low-grade and chronic.
If something is coming "out of her" then the vinegar and water baths may do no good...as soon as you remove the smell, it will come back again.
Another possibility is she has a very slight urine leakage going on. Maybe only a drip or two at a time, but you would notice it if she was sitting on a couch for example. Occasionally this can happen with females who have been spayed. If she has a mild form of Spay Incontinence, this is treatable.
You could test this by using a disposable "dog diaper" with a thin pad inside it -or if you don't want to have to buy a whole pack of dog diapers, you could improvise by using a pair of your old panties, cut out a hole for her tail, and insert one of those thin self-adhesive pads (you know -"light day" period pads which can be bought quite cheaply at a store)
She could wear this for a few hours in an evening, and then at the end of the evening, take it off, and see if there are any urine spots or discharge of any kind.

You could take her for a urine check up. A Urinalysis won't cost too much money. I live in the UK and the last urine test (2 weeks ago) cost just over £11.
If there IS any tiny amount of infection, the test sould pick this up, and if all is normal, well at least you will know for sure.

[margimc]

Thank you so much for responding to my problem. She was spayed at 5 months. It is coming from her vagina. It is a female smell. When this is going on, off and on, she leaves the scent on whatever she is sitting on. I have had to put 2 sheets to cover the couch, instead of the 1 that I normally use. I might try the vinegar and water baths, and look up the cream that someone had posted.
Thanks again.

[ginger899]

Are you absolutely certain the smell is from her vagina?
The reason I ask is because a vaginal scent shouldn't be a "bad" smell. There often can be a fairly strong "female" kind of scent around the time of a heat cycle (if the girl is entire) but it is not usually very unpleasant. For the very fastidious, though, it could be a smell which isn't liked (somewhat similar to a human female on her period)

I'm wondering two things, could it be an anal gland smell you are getting (not nice!) either that, or she could have a uterine infection...(if she isn't spayed) in which case I wouldn't delay in taking her to the vet in case it could be Pyometra.
If she HAS been spayed, then it is possible she has a urinary infection, if the smell is unusual or unpleasant.