Heat?

My rescued shepard mix recently started to have vaginal bleeding. We have had her for 4 years now and have never noticed this before. We do not know if she has been fixed and in the past the vet told us they could only really tell if they opened her up. Is it possible that she has had her cycle all along with out her showing the bleeding we are seeing now?

[ginger899]

Most likely, if she had had a heat cycle in the past 4 years you would have noticed it, as you are noticing it now.
Does she have any other symptoms? Is she wanting to go pee very frequently?
The best plan would be obviously, to take her to the vet, on the assumption that this bleeding could be unnatural, and something is wrong. If she has been spayed, it would be a bleed from her bladder, maybe caused by bladder stones or an infection, and she will need attention as quickly as possible. Take a urine sample with you.

But if she seems otherwise well, and is behaving normally, no other symptoms such as loss of appetite, lethargy, drinking a lot more water than normal, frequently peeing, etc. I can think of a very easy way to tell quickly if she is experiencing a 'heat cycle' or whether this is a symptom of illness.
Do you know of anyone who lives nearby who has an un-neutered male dog? (Both dogs during this experiment would have to be leashed!) I can tell you that dog would be MORE than normally interested in her (particularly her rear end) if she were on heat. And you would be able to tell without a doubt. It would not be subtle. The dog could diagnose this for you! Try it.

But don't wait too long to do this. If you can't do it in the next few hours, assume she is ill, and take her to the vet.