Dog Still Bleeding 40 Days Post-Whelping: What Medication?

Okay, listen up. If your dog is still bleeding, I mean genuinely bleeding, like, noticeable discharge, 40 days after she had her puppies? Forget trying to figure out “what medication” on your own. Stop googling home remedies. Stop asking your breeder friend (unless they are also a vet, and even then, she needs an exam). This is not normal. This is not okay. This isn’t a simple little spotting; at 40 days out, any significant bleeding is a flashing red light telling you something is wrong. Seriously wrong. Your absolute, immediate, and only course of action is to pick up the phone and call your veterinarian. Like, yesterday. An emergency vet if your regular clinic is closed. Don’t mess around with this.

Trying to guess what medication she needs is not just unhelpful, it’s downright dangerous. Why? Because the bleeding is a symptom, not the disease itself. It’s like having a fever and asking what pill cures fever. The fever is a sign of an infection or inflammation, maybe pneumonia, maybe a kidney issue, maybe something else entirely. You wouldn’t just grab Tylenol for a raging fever without knowing why the body is heating up, right? Same deal here. Bleeding 40 days postpartum could be caused by several different things, and each one requires a completely different treatment approach. Some might need antibiotics, but which antibiotics? Some might need surgery. Some might need drugs to help the uterus contract, but these can be risky if not used properly and after a proper diagnosis. Giving the wrong thing could waste precious time, mask the real problem, or even make her condition worse.

Let’s talk about why this is so concerning. Postpartum bleeding, or lochia, is totally normal for a few weeks after a dog gives birth. It’s usually a reddish-brown to greenish-black discharge as the uterus cleans itself out and shrinks back down. It typically tapers off and stops completely within about 2-3 weeks, maybe four at the absolute most in some cases, though that’s pushing it. Forty days? That’s way, way past the normal window.

What could be causing it at this point? Oh, buckle up, because none of the common culprits are trivial.

1. Retained Placental Tissue or Fetal Membranes: This is probably one of the most common reasons for prolonged bleeding. Sometimes, a piece of placenta or a bit of membrane gets left behind in the uterus. The uterus can’t properly contract down and heal with this foreign material hanging around. It’s also a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

2. Uterine Infection (Metritis): Often, retained tissue leads to infection, but sometimes infection can happen even without obvious retained material, maybe just opportunistic bacteria taking hold in the healing uterus. Metritis is serious. Symptoms can range from just the persistent bleeding/discharge (which might be pus-like, foul-smelling, or still bloody) to full-blown systemic illness: fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, dehydration, even septic shock. A dog with metritis needs aggressive treatment, usually including broad-spectrum antibiotics, often intravenously initially, and supportive care. Waiting around is not an option; this can be fatal.

3. Subinvolution of Placental Sites (SIPS): This is less common than retained tissue or infection, but it happens. Essentially, the sites where the placentas were attached don’t heal properly. Instead of shrinking and scarring over, they remain open vessels, continuing to bleed. The discharge is usually bloody, sometimes intermittently heavy. While not always infected initially, SIPS can lead to infection if the unhealed sites become contaminated. Diagnosis often involves ultrasound and ruling out other causes. Treatment might involve medications to help the uterus contract or, in persistent cases, surgery.

4. Other Less Common Causes: While less likely to originate from the whelping process 40 days out, you can’t completely rule out other issues like blood clotting disorders, trauma to the reproductive tract, polyps, or even tumors, although postpartum timing makes the first three much more probable.

See? Retained tissue, infection, SIPS… all different problems requiring a vet to diagnose. And the diagnosis isn’t just a quick look. The vet will need to do a thorough physical exam, check her temperature (a fever is a huge red flag for infection), feel her abdomen, and ask you a ton of questions. How is her appetite? Is she lethargic? Is she still caring for her puppies? What does the discharge look like? Smell like? Is there a lot of it? Has it changed?

Then comes the detective work. A vet will likely recommend diagnostic tests.

Bloodwork: A Complete Blood Count (CBC) can show if she has an elevated white blood cell count (indicating infection or inflammation) and if she’s anemic from the chronic blood loss. Chemistry panels check organ function and hydration.

Imaging: This is crucial. An ultrasound is typically the go-to. It allows the vet to visualize the uterus, check its size, look for retained fluid, pus, or tissue, assess the thickness of the uterine wall, and potentially see if the placental sites look abnormal (suggesting SIPS). X-rays might sometimes show large retained material or the overall size of the uterus, but ultrasound gives much more detail about the contents and condition of the uterine wall.

Vaginal Cytology and Culture: The vet might take a swab of the discharge to look at the cells under a microscope (cytology) – this can help differentiate between normal postpartum changes (which should be over by now), inflammation, and infection. Even better, they might send a sample for a bacterial culture and sensitivity test. This is gold! If bacteria are present, the culture identifies what kind they are, and the sensitivity test tells the vet exactly which antibiotics will kill those specific bacteria effectively. Guessing with antibiotics without this information is significantly less likely to work and contributes to antibiotic resistance.

Only after getting a diagnosis based on the exam, history, and these tests can a vet recommend the correct treatment. If it’s retained tissue, they might try medications to help the uterus contract and expel it, combined with antibiotics to prevent or treat infection. If it’s a raging metritis, aggressive IV fluids and antibiotics are often necessary, maybe even hospitalization. If it’s SIPS, specific hormonal treatments or other medications might be tried, but sometimes it’s incredibly resistant to medical management. In severe, chronic, or unresponsive cases, especially if there’s retained tissue causing ongoing problems or if her life is in danger from infection, a spay (removal of the uterus) might be the safest, most definitive solution. Yes, forty days postpartum, surgery could be necessary. It removes the source of the problem entirely.

Think about it from a medical perspective. How could any over-the-counter medication, or any antibiotic you just happen to have lying around, possibly address these specific, potentially severe underlying issues? An infection needs specific antibiotics at the correct dose for the right duration. Retained tissue needs to be expelled or removed. SIPS needs medical management to encourage healing or surgical intervention. You can’t fix these with guesswork.

And what about the puppies? While this is happening, their mom isn’t well. If she has metritis, she could be weak, feverish, or even unwilling to nurse. She might not be producing enough milk. There’s even a risk, though less common than transmission during birth, of passing certain infections to the puppies through the milk or environment. Her illness directly impacts their well-being. You might need to be prepared to supplement feed the puppies or even take over their care entirely if your dog becomes too sick. This adds another layer of urgency to getting her seen by a vet immediately.

So, to answer your question “what medication?” the answer is: The medication prescribed by your veterinarian after they have performed a thorough examination and diagnostic tests to determine the exact cause of the bleeding at 40 days postpartum. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and guessing is a risk you absolutely cannot afford to take with your dog’s health, and potentially her life.

Don’t wait. Don’t hope it will stop on its own. Don’t give her some random antibiotic you found. Forty days post-whelping and still bleeding is a veterinary emergency. Get her seen. Now. This isn’t just some minor annoyance; it’s a sign her body isn’t recovering properly from the monumental task of carrying and delivering a litter, and she needs professional help to figure out why and how to fix it. Good luck, and please, call the vet.