Hey folks,
I just wanted to share an experience I am dealing with for the first time. Any input is greatly appreciated Hopefully this thread can help others as well since most of the information regarding mastitis is with lactating bitches. Mine has never been bred so this situation seems a little irregular.

My female is just over one year old and developed lumps tits, just the two furthest back (closest to the hind legs). I will post a few pics today when I get around to it. Since she was not bred, mastitis did not make sense to me so I then believed it was mammary tumors. The thing is she is in great shape and well cared for and young so she seems like an unlikely candidate for either issue. The timing couldn't be worse as she is healing up from a recent accident so a vet visit probably isn't a good idea, although wounds are mostly healed up and very minor at this point. I reached out to a much more experienced dog man and he is confident it is mastitis and highly doubts its cancer, which is a relief. I started my girl on Cephalaxin at 500mg 3x a day as she weighs 43lbs. The first dosage was administered this morning. I am also using hot compresses on the affected areas, twice a day. My friend also recommended Dex as well which I do not have and have never used so Cephalexin it is.

This bitch has been through one heat cycle. If my memory serves me correctly, about a month after her heat cycle she started swelling up a little, not only her vagina but her mammary glands as well. Nothing crazy, but you'd sworn she was pregnant or just had a litter. This wasn't another heat cycle though, no bleeding or anything like that but my male was certainly interested. Keep in mind guys, I've been around these dogs for a little while but I'm still a total greenhorn who is trying to learn. I wasn't alarmed at her swelling up a little since I had a four old Hammonds Tanner Chink Eye bitch that swelled up like this in-between litters, where her tits became large drooping flaps but then went right back to normal. Everyone would have sworn she had just a litter as these things were hanging, but not really swollen up like they had milk in them. Maybe something environmental is causing this? Anyways I just wrote off the situation with my young Mims' dog and figured it just "was what it was". The reason I am mentioning this is because I am now convinced that this swelling of her vagina and mammary glands is connected to her mastitis. I have heard of bitches that will drop milk for orphaned pups and other strange phenomenon. Also, I had someone suggest that she was swelling up like that perhaps because she is often around an intact male. What do you guys make of this? Is mastitis in bitches that haven't been bred more common than I realize? I haven't had much like finding info regarding this situation everything is talking about mastitis in lactating bitches. Also, is there anything different who folks would recommend for treating this? I will triple check but I think Jack recommends running the Cephalexin for 10 days. Thanks in advance everybody.