Diagnosis and treatment of chronic vaginitis in the bitch.

The diagnosis of chronic vaginitis is made primarily on the basis of the historical and physical finding of a persistent, nonhemorrhagic vulvar discharge. Licking the vulva and pollakiuria are present in some (10%) bitches with vaginitis. The diagnosis can be confirmed with vaginal cytology and vaginoscopy. Treatment for vaginitis in bitches younger than 1 year of age is justifiably conservative, because the majority of such bitches (90%) recover with or without treatment. Chronic vaginitis in bitches older than 1 year of age most often is associated with identifiable abnormalities of the genitalia (35%) or urinary tract (26%). Resolution of the vaginitis is directly related to the resolution of the other abnormalities.