Need for hysterectomy?

We live on an island in arctic Norway. We have an unspayed 9-year.old papillon, Lucy. Every winter, she lactates, despite not being pregnant, which is then diagnosed as a false pregnancy. Suckling herself leads to further lactation, but we don't know whether the suckling or the lactation comes first. Cabergoline has stopped the lactation, but has not always been necessary. Most recently, a lightweight sort of bodice that blocked her access to her teats stopped the lactation when it returned after the cabergoline treatment. This winter, our local vet diagnosed a hormonal imbalance and said a hysterectomy was required. As far as we know, this diagnosis was based on the lactation, as the only procedure undertaken was an ultrasound (no blood tests). None of the vets here, however, have been able to say why the lactation happens only in winter. We are aware of the potential risks of surgery, especially on small breeds, so we don't want to rush into it. Living on an island, there are not a lot of options when it comes to medical consultation. Lucy likes to lay on her back and have her tummy rubbed. The first time we became aware of the lactation was after my partner realised she had been accidentally brushing against Lucy's teats. The tummy rubs can go on for some time, as my partner is often reading or otherwise engaged at the same time. We don't know if this triggered the lactation. She wears a coat for winter walks. We don't know if the coat stimulates the teats to an unhelpful degree during the walks, which can last anything up to an hour. We also don't know if the cold causes soreness of her teats, in the same way that human knuckles often become sore in dry winters, and she begins suckling to comfort herself, and thus produces milk. Our vet says the fact that it happens only in winter is just a coincidence, even though she comes into heat twice a year, and there is no problem with the earlier heat. Without an explanation for why it doesn't happen during the rest of the year, and before committing her to surgery, we would really like to know if anyone else has had a similar problem, and there turned out to be an alternative explanation connecting the phenomenon to winter. We would be grateful for any similar experience anyone could share.

Hello - I'm pleased to report that I have never heard of anyone causing lactation by tickling a dogs' tummy, so you may relax on that score.  We'd never make that sort of link (milk being stimulated by touch alone) in humans either; there is usually some underlying hormonal cause of lactation, connected with the hormone pro-lactin.  It is not unusual for dogs to have 'false-' or 'phantom-pregnancy' symptoms after an unproductive season - the body prepares for pregnancy and produces pro-lactin even when pregnancy hasn't occured.  Some dogs seem to be far more prone to this than others.  Because it only happens at certain times of year then I wonder whether, in your dogs' case, the day-length may also be implicated - however, I cannot fully explain it.  I can, however, identify three or four possible courses of action going forward; the first would be to ask to be referred to a specialist in hormones, who will probably give you the best answers to your questions and help to identify the best possible treatment in your dogs' individual case.  A likely possibility may be a physical spey operation.  There may be chemical ways of acheiving a similar effect but unfortunately I do not know of any licensed products.   The fourth would simply be to carry on through it, and hope that the condition resolves and the milk dries up, but I hear this is potentially quite distressing.   I am sorry not to add very much but if you do find a good solution, please let me know.  Meanwhile, if you go over to our blog section and look for 'false pregnancy,' there is an article about it to be found there there. https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2020/10/11/what-is-a-false-pregnancy/#:~:text=False%20pregnancy%20is%20most%20commonly,called%20phantom%20pregnancy%20or%20pseudopregnancy.