Mastitis = spay??

[TxCloverAngel]

Hi  y'all!!
Sara's (great Dane)  pups are now three weeks old.  they are starting real food.  doing well.
But Sara has one tit that has mastitis pretty bad.  she is on antibiotics.  The vet says it's a 50/50 chance she'll get it next time she is bred.  She said often people spay any bitch who has a history of mastitis.
But she also said we could get her on antibiotics BEFORE her next litter is born and that may help...

Whats your thoughts?
It just seems such a shame.. she is such a great momma and has beautiful pups.
btw.. she is not letting the pups nurse form that tit.

any advice would be great! thanks so much!

[patrick]

I would not spay because of one teat with mastitis  In addition to antibiotics I would use warm compresses 4 times a day.  We had one bitch that had recurrent mastitis and we used ice packs for the first few days then switched over to warm compresses- it cleared in a few days.

[TxCloverAngel]

thanks.   Her sister also has mastitis whern we got her, but it was undiagnosed and they lost all of the pups.  it was terrible.  This is the 2d bout w/ it w/ Sara, but we catch it early, dont let the pups nurse that tit, and it clears up pretty fast.... 
I just done understands why they say spay if she ever gets it..

Geesh.. I got it while breastfeeding one of my kids....
I didnt get "fixed" lol   and went on to have 4 more! lol

[cricket36580]

I have to say that if you know this a recurring problem, spaying may be litterally a lifesaver.  Often they contract mammary cancers and it's almost always fatal if not caught seriously fast.  It's almost as if the mastitis is an early warning symptom.  I'm not sure about other breeds, but experience has taught me this about danes. 

**I'm still trying to figure out how to get one of those babies...LOL

[paharts]

i know danes have a tendency to get cancer and mastitis might be an early warning in them. but ...
we had a lot of OEM litters and while sometimes the mom got mastitis, they didn't get cancer. i remember my mom would always regularly check the nipples & watch for this problem. if the signs were there, she would automatically start warm compresses. and we never spayed them because of mastitis.
     and just because they got it once, that doesn't mean they'd get it again. sometimes a new mom would not rotate her pups to all nipples and that could cause it. we had many who never had mastitis and several who had it only once. if this vet says she has a 50% chance of getting it again, i would ask what the chances are for a 1st time mom & for an experienced mom who hasn't gotten it yet.

in talking to my mom, we think you should get a 2nd opinion. Davis told us to neuter a puppy because he had 'severe hd'. he turned out to be a top show dog with great hips and no hd once he grew up. this was a long time ago and is only to demonstrate that the vets don't always know what's best. i'm glad your here asking what others have experienced with their BP. i think as a whole, we have encountered more issues than any one vet could dream of.
what would i do? definitely not spay her just because she has experienced mastitis. like you said, women experience it all the time but that doesn't mean having another baby will bring it on again.