What's on my 11-week old puppy's vulva? Vet's closed, is it urgent?

Poor girl. It appears they may have a bacterial infection on the skin. This can be due to trauma to the skin or a weakened immune system stemming from just giving birth. The puppy also may have had an abrasion that occurred during the birthing process. This doesn’t seem urgent at the moment and can wait until Monday to have your vet address this issue. A short course of antibiotics and topical treatment from your vet should be able to resolve this. In the meantime you can try cleaning it with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water or Chlorhexidine 3% diluted. Thes are effective antiseptics used in dogs. Best of luck with Mom and her pups. I hope everyone’s skin issues resolve soon. Best wishes and take care.

I would not be immediately concerned but would continue to watch for any changes. This does just look like a small pimple or blocked oil gland but continue to monitor for any signs of infection such as heat, redness or pain which would indicate a sooner visit may be required.

We will commonly see skin problems that we call perivulvar dermatitis (infection of the skin around the vulva) when dogs have a recessed or tucked vulva. That infection can be due to a bacterial or yeast overgrowth as a result of excessive moisture that can develop in those skin folds. Treatment is geared towards drying the area (with a medicated drying wipe or solution), treating the infection (with an antibacterial or antifungal solution) and decreasing inflammation. The only concern that I would have with waiting until Tuesday would be if Ella makes the infection worse by licking at it, so you might consider using an e-collar until her vet appointment on Tuesday. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Ella feels better soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. I would not consider this an emergency and scheduling an appointment with your veterinarian should be fine. These bumps may indicate an infection or they may be some small growths or cysts. Your veterinarian will get a better idea with an exam. They may want to do a fine needle aspirate if they are leaning towards a growth or cyst. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope you get all of the information you need when you see your veterinarian.

Hi and thanks for your request. This small skin lesion seems to be related to a superficial skin abrasion, which could be traumatic, infective or due to self-traumatism (licking). I would recommend to: - stop any further licking (if any) by using a buster collar. - disinfect the area with some hibiscrub diluted 1:10 with water twice daily for 5-7 days. Lack of improvement by then should be ideally checked by your local veterinarian.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This looks like a focal infection. You can try to use chlorhexidine containing pads (such as the Douxo chlorhexidine 3% PS pads) to clean the are twice daily for 7 days. You may find these online or at your local pet store. If there is no improvement or in the meantime this appears to be getting worse, have her evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!


I looks like Bailey could have a cyst or skin infection on her vulva. I would recommend having your vet examine her, especially if she has been licking her vulva. This could be a sign of allergies or even a urinary tract infection, or it may be something you can treat topically and monitor.