If you haven't spayed *Please Read*
I hadn't heard of it until Alice started having incontinence problems last week leading up to dripping a yellow-ish fluid. Took her to the pet ER on Saturday night. After an x-ray to confirm, the diagnosis was pyometra, in laymen's: a pus-filled uterus. She was "open" (aka, dripping), which was a good sign. A "closed" diagnosis means that the pus can quickly overcome the uterus, then the kidneys as they try and deal with, which slowly poisons your beloved. The course of treatment was an emergency spay followed by two weeks of antibiotics. Additionally, Alice was put on a hydrating fluid drip (under the skin), to bring her fever of 1 degree over, back down. I asked about an anti-biotic treatment to avoid the scarier surgery, but the ER doc, my local vet, and my vet-tech roommate (who had been out-of-town!), all agreed that the odds of the infection coming back after a 10 week blast of antibiotics was very high. Alice is recuperating at home now. Lots of sleeping and we're all still waiting for her appetite to come back (a slight concern so far). She has some oddly shaved places from the surgery and catheter/iv's. Otherwise she's being brave and doing fine. Alice will be 10 on December 1st and has had no medical issues other than a sensitive stomach. I read someplace that the odds of a non-spayed female having pyometra is something like 24%. Have your dog spayed. Don't put it off. Pyometra is a life-threatening infection. After a very serious scare, Alice and I will have many more years of muddy feet, hair balls, and dog kisses 
ps- her tv debut is now online (we're inside my apartment for some brushing, and at the park romping around) http://animal.discovery.com/videos/dogs ... epdog.html pps- thank you to the doctors and staff of Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston. You couldn't have been better! |
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| Oh, Nick, that is just terrible! I used to work at a vet many years ago, and I saw a lot of pyometra dogs and cats. Actually seeing the uterus when it was removed was enough to get me to spay my dog.
Give Alice lots of love from Asterisk, Wendel, and I! |
| Ye sit is an issue. No it is not the reason to rush out and spay your female dog willy nilly.
Glad to hear Alice is ok. |
| Glad to hear Alice is OK, and yes pyometra is life threatening if not caught early and also educating ones self on the Symptoms if you own an entire Bitch to being aware during & after the heat of the danger time it can flare.
Now it is no reason for everyone to rush out and spay a bitch, especially if you are showing or maybe going to breed with her down the track, Maiden Bitches (those that have not had puppies) are more proned to maybe or maybe not contracting Pyometra as they get older. Most cases seem to affect to a higher degree the maidens around 5 years old, although it can afflick younger or older bitches anytime in their lives. A bitch that has had puppies for some reason seems to be less proned to it although it can affect them also. Then there is entire bitches that never get it. Just luck of the odds as to wether your bitch is proned to it or not, being aware of anything out of the ordinary during and about 8 weeks after a heat is important for an entire bitches health. I've spayed mine around 7 after showing or breeding with, leaving them longer as each heat passes as they age, the higher the odds are of developing pyometra, 10 years old and Alice is still entire maybe she should of been done a few years back as she is past breeding with at her age so the risk also increases because of the age factor. One of mine a maiden was spayed at 5, she developed low grade pyometra and I knew straight away, no discharge, closed Pyometra but picked it up in time due to knowing what the signs were, she was unwell, off colour, just not herself, after her heat and no other signs. It's the knowing your dog in their persona and knowing every inch of their bodies which is more important as well as being educated on knowing things about entire bitches and learning OK if I leave my bitch entire what should I be aware of in the longer term, so if anything does go wrong you can pick up on things like this straight away, I am glad for you she had an open pyometra way easier to detect then if a closed one so you got her in time. I am really surprised your vet if it is one you have been using long term, having her files at age 10 still entire that no suggestion was ever made a few years back to have her spayed and filling you in with reasons why quite a few years back, with a vet being well aware as they age, more proned to this condition especially if never having puppies  |
| Lisa makes excellent points. I definitely see Nick's point-of-view though because I know if I'd seen my girl go through that, I'd want to spare anyone else and their dog from that same fear and pain, too.
I'm glad to hear Alice got good care and she's on the mend. She'll be in our thoughts. Give her a big hug from Clyde, Owen and Bear. |
| Ah, yes. Good points above. I should clarify - if you're not breeding and simply "haven't gotten around to" having your dog spayed, then I hope that this will help to motivate.
The diagnosis was terrifying, and the bill was particularly astronomical too (ER hospital surgery and two nights in their executive suite...). Alice is still sleeping quite a lot since her surgery on Monday (late afternoon), and since I picked her up from the hospital on Wednesday morning. She's peeing outside without any problems, but still has no appetite. I managed to get her to heat six small pieces of boiled chicken this afternoon after I stuck one piece in her mouth and kept it closed for a minute (hoping to stimulate her taste buds!). If anyone has any tips on how to give her appetite a kickstart, then I'm all *floppy* ears. So far her regular dry food nor boiled chicken pieces are having much effect. |
| Nick so glad Alice is on the mend, keep her fluids up most important then worrying too much at the moment that she is not eating much and tempting her to start eating again, try some chicken broth in with her drinking water and see if she is interesting in that. Probably still feeling miserable at the moment for all that she has been through.
Also you can try something like Tinned Sardines or Tuna, stinky but the smell sort of tempts them, I get either in a tin in spring water not oil and just pop one or two sardines or just a small amount of flaked Tuna in some cooked rice only then work up to their normal diet as they progress to being interested again in food. 
Give your girl a hug from us and again sorry to hear what happened and just glad you got her in time.  |
| Thanks for the support everyone!
I got a few more pieces of chicken in her, which is a good start. I'm off to the store to pick up some stinky gravy stuff. Just like mom used to make. Mmmm... |
nick&alice wrote: Thanks for the support everyone!
I got a few more pieces of chicken in her, which is a good start. I'm off to the store to pick up some stinky gravy stuff. Just like mom used to make. Mmmm... Even try putting parmesan cheese on it. The smell is strong and can make it more attractive (without having to resort to fish right away!). |
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