No uterus found during spay procedure

[unfocus]

I'm looking for Border Collie know it all's to tell me if Border Collies are known for having to be born without a uterus.

I bought my 2 year old border collie of a farmer who said he owned her for 2 years and was planning to spay her but she never showed heat so they didn't. 

2 months after owning her I decide to go get her spayed as she seems to have behavior of an entire dog, aggressive towards male dogs and female dogs, trying to mark territory everywhere they possibly go. 

Surgery happens I get a phone call, they ask me when her last heat cycle was, I have no idea and the farmer sure didn't see signs of heat, they then tell me they can't find the uterus. So i google and it does tend to happen during these procedures in a case where the owner didn't know if they were spayed or not. 

I called 2 animal hosptials for price of ultrasound and they told me its really expensive and generally the doctor is right that they have been spayed previously. Now here I am with my border collie who may have been cut up for absolutely nothing and has to remain to no exercise for 2 weeks miserably. I am absolutely stressed and frustrated. If she has been spayed how did the doctor not notice the scar???? I know they shave the hair all down there before making an incision, and if the doctor is wrong is there any other birth defects that could result him into not finding the uterus??? 

[GentleLake]

I'm no vet but I've never heard of it. I suppose it could be possible for a dog to be born without one, but I think it'd be exceptionally rare. Did the vet say if there were ovaries or not?

I do know that the spay scars can be very difficult to detect. It's the reason many vets are now dying the incisions (my dog's is green, but I don't know if that's a universal color or not) so that it's apparent to a vet that the dog's been spayed.

And I'd guess the younger the dog was when spayed the less visible the scar might be. Maybe she'd had a pediatric spay before the farmer acquired her?

As far as behavior goes, some females are just, well, bitches with other dogs, especially other females, even if they're spayed (and if she has ovaries, she'd still have the hormones). It's probably why the word came to be applied to fractious human females.

[NW_MONTANA_BC]

When I rescued Taffy from the dog pound I had to have her spayed. They made the appointment and I took her in. When they prepped her for surgery they found the scar. She had all ready been spayed. The scar was barely visible. I'm sure she was thinking oh no not again.

[Riika]

How long had the farmer owned her? Is it possible that she was spayed before he got her? Does she show excessive male attitudes or outwardly appear more masculine than feminine? 

[aschlemm]

Hi,

     I've worked in the veterinary field for over 20 years and I have never (yet) seen a female dog born without a uterus.  I would guess she has been spayed.  I've seen maybe three or four cats that were missing an ovary and that side of the uterus (they have a Y shaped uterus normally.)  I imagine a dog could be the same way but I've yet to see it.  If she has an ovary she should show signs of heat.  If she was spayed and a piece of ovary was left behind she still should show signs of heat (no bleeding, just a swollen vulva.)   I'd keep checking her vulva and if it never appears swollen, after a year I'd say she was spayed.  If she ever appears swollen I'd get an ultrasound to check for the missing ovary. 

     My house cat can from where I work.  She came in as an almost six month old kitten.  After her injuries healed she was opened up to be spayed- no uterus or ovaries were found!  She was already spayed.  She was not ear tipped, shaved, dyed nor was there a visible scar.  I'm still flabbergasted about it.  She must have been spayed tiny.  I asked my vet if she was sure my cat wasn't a "freak of nature" and she said no, she felt the uterine stump.  She had already been spayed.  Like you I felt bad that she had to be opened up for this to be discovered.

     Another thought, if your dog has a small, tucked up vulva and infantile nipples she was spayed before she came in heat, perhaps as a puppy .  If she was a  hermaphrodite or pseudo male or anything odd like that the vet would have noticed something I would think.

[GentleLake]

1 hour ago, aschlemm said:

I felt bad that she had to be opened up for this to be discovered.

This is why I think the tattooing (or dying, whichever it is) is the best thing it took someone way too long to think of. And such a simple way to prevent an animal needless pain.

If I should ever have the responsibility of having another dog spayed I'd insist on it because even though I wouldn't be planning on it, you never know for sure that a dog could never get lost or an owner has an accident or dies suddenly and a dog could end up on a shelter or something.

[unfocus]

Sorry for late reply so I got my collie from a hutterite farmer who runs a cattle op and he doesnt use the internet really his nephew who was the contact for selling told me they got her under a year old not sure when. The farmer told me he had her almost 2 years and she hasn't been spayed. I will keep in mind to check her Vulva but there is just so much hair there lol. She shows outward aggression to a lot of dogs that walk by us across the street on our walks. She doesnt show any aggression to our puppy at home but they never interact cause she does try to nip at her because our puppy is too energetic. She acts like a male dog and tries to mark her territory everywhere. She usually gives it a good 10 second sniff and a little pee then the next spot. Even if she doesn't have any pee left. 

[urge to herd]

Border collies tend to like or tolerate other dogs who have good dog manners. That means a dog who sniffs appropriately and doesn't rush in and try to wrestle immediately. These dogs have a definite sense of personal space and generally don't like having their space invaded by bouncy, in-your-face dogs. A very few are okay with it, none of mine have been.

I'd bet there's a really good chance that your girl just doesn't care for other dogs in her space.

As far as the marking goes, Shoshone marked a LOT. She was spayed before I got her, I could feel the scar on her tummy, and she never showed any signs of going into heat. It's not that unusual for the girls to mark, I've known a couple other female dogs that did it regularly, both spayed.

Ruth & Gibbs

[unfocus]

Honestly I think it might come down to resource guarding of us or our house. It's usually the moment she sees another dog she starts growling  barking and lunging. I usually notice the moment so I try to avoid confrontation or stress. Been trying a new thing just started  where I treat her the moment she sees another dog before she growls and gradually keep treating if she can tolerate the dog walking by or towards us.

[GentleLake]

Some females pee mark as badly as any male, and even worse than some. I had a border collie x spitz-type mix who was the worst dog I've ever had for pee making on a walk.