An adorable puppy was rushed to the vet showing bizarre signs of ovulating – after she accidentally licked HRT cream off her owner's arm.
Vets were stunned when they examined 12-week-old sausage dog Lilly who was in season, which is very unusual for such a young puppy.
Her worried owner Kirsty Mattinson became concerned about her beloved pet and took her to Paragon Veterinary Referrals in Wakefield, West Yorks.
It emerged that the cheeky Dachshund had licked her owner after she had rubbed Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) cream on her arms.
Tests revealed Lilly had absorbed the oestrogen contained in the cream which had caused her to develop symptoms of being in season.
Lilly has since made a full recovery and Kirsty, in her 50s, now wears long sleeves after applying the cream.
She is also urging pet owners to be aware of the dangers HRT creams pose to animals which can cause fatal bone marrow toxicity in dogs.
Kirsty said: “Lilly seemed to be looking more swollen each day and we thought it may have been an allergy.
“We very concerned but the team at Paragon were excellent and kept us constantly updated.
“I’ve learnt an important lesson and my advice to dog owners is to keep them away from hormone products that you may use on your body.”
Lara Baptista, clinician in small animal internal medicine at Paragon, said: “Lilly is fortunate as her owners realised something was wrong and took action.
“By identifying the cause of the problem Lilly was no longer exposed to the hormonal cream.
“Once the contact with the cream is stopped, the signs should resolve themselves.
“We would echo Kirsty’s advice in that dog owners using hormonal cream containing oestrogen (HRT) shouldn’t let their pets come into contact with the area where they are applying the cream as the consequences can be very upsetting.”
