my ****zu thinks the rabbit is her baby puppy

[tikigirl]

I have a 8 month old female ****zu, and she is very mothering. She cleans the cat, and even was eating the cat poop untill we moved the litter box so she couldnt anymore.....ewww
My boyfriend found a small white stuffed rabbit for her, she loves her stuffed animals. We only buy ones that are made for dogs to play with and thought she would like this new addition. Well she overly liked it........ spent hours with it alone in her dog bed down stairs, carried it everywhere she went, hid it when she had to go outside or if eating, was starting to get protective with it when the cat ventured too close to it. She would show it off to us by holding it in her mouth very gently and would make those cute little noises that ****zus make.
That was about 2 1/2 weeks ago then 4 days ago she was spayed. After coming back home she became more obsessed with the rabbit to the point we got advice to take the rabbit away, so we did. She is depressed now, not eating very much, and she has started to produce milk in 2 of her tits (sorry if that is not a proper term). It is hard to see her like this, how long will this last? Does anyone think we should give the rabbit back? Any advice offered I will take....... oh by the way, she has a little pig that she would play with now it seems like she is treating that differently now also :(

[Georgias Mom]

I just wanted to say it's SHIHtzu not ****zu....

[carlar9]

Wow! I don't have any advise but that is really interesting. What does your vet say about it? She really has the mothering urge...

[BrinkleyBing]

I know what you explained is something called a 'False Pregnancy'.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canine_false_pregnancy.html

This link would give you more info. about it.

Hope it helps!!

[tikigirl]

Well the vet told me to take the rabbit away and she would be fine. She is almost back to her old self now.......... thank goodness!!!! She had me pretty worried ......... but she is not back to eating like she was before. I dont know if she thought that she had to eat as much as she was, or due to her being spayed she hasnt come back 100% from that, or she still is abit depressed.
She is average size for her breed..... by the way i have seen s h i h t z u, shihzu, and s h i t z u.......... i dont know which one, the last one doesnt look right........ :)
I read the link that was suggested thanks for that. It made me feel better.
thanks for the replies

[mynameislola]

The correct name is Shih Tzu.