Pyometra in dogs is a potentially fatal condition that's all too common in
entire females it is one of the big reasons why vets generally recommend all
females should be spayed for those unfortunate dogs that develop pyometra
emergency life-saving surgery is the best option to ensure a full recovery
stick around to learn more by I'm dr. Alex Avery from ourpetshealth.com
helping you and your pet to live a healthier happier life Pyometra is an
infection of the uterus of entire female dogs which typically develops around
middle-age or later now when we think of an infection we will generally imagine
that antibiotics in the main way we treat and cure it it's not so simple in
this case in a dog with pyometra the uterus essentially becomes like a giant
pus filled balloon and there is no way that the antibiotic can even control the
infection let alone cure it it's a bit more complicated than that
but first let's go back to the beginning while older individuals are at a much
higher risk of developing pyometra it can happen in young animals too who have
not been spayed in fact this is one of the major reasons for spaying in the
first place with intact females having around a 20 to 25 percent chance of
developing this condition by the time they reach 10 years old now this is a
1 in 4 chance there are reported differences between breeds and in some
breeds having a litter of pups may offer some protection but for all entire
female dugs there is a real risk of developing pyometra and although the
risk increases with age young individuals can also be affected
occasionally to hormonal treatment given to prevent seasons or hormones given
after accidental mating to prevent pregnancy are also thought to increase
the risk of a female dog developing pyometra the death rate of pyometra is
about five percent with treatment and without treatment death should be
considered as an almost certainty so the typical pyometra occurs within
two months of a season and there are a number of things that you might notice
in your dog they're generally pretty vague but they can include lethargy
inappetence weakness vomiting diarrhea and increased thirst increased urination
and potentially also an enlarged abdomen the clearest sign of a pyometra is the
presence of pus draining out to the vagina your dogs may keep themselves
clean though and this discharge may not be obvious when this takes place it is
known as an open pyometra because the open cervix allows this
drainage if the cervix is closed though this discharge won't be seen and a closed
pyometra develops in this instance there is nowhere for the pus to drain
and so the patient often becomes unwell faster and is worse affected at the
time of diagnosis any unwell entire female dog should be considered to have
a pyometra until proven otherwise but how then will your vet diagnose this
condition well a blood test is often taken to check on general body health
and this will give them some clues x-rays can be useful and can give a
diagnosis if the uterus is very enlarged when a pyometra is small though or just
starting x-rays are not very sensitive and so a pyometra can be missed and the
blood tests can similarly miss the condition x-rays also cant distinguish
early pregnancy from infection and this is because the bones of a developing
puppy only show up a couple of weeks before birth ultrasound is the best
method of diagnosis they can pick up the condition at an earlier stage and can
easily distinguish between pyometra and pregnancy ultrasound is also risk free
and quick when it is available once the diagnosis is made quick treatment is
needed to reduce the risk of the uterus bursting as well as other serious toxic
complications from taking place in all patients antibiotics will be started a
decision there needs to be made surgery or medical treatment for any dog not
wanting to be bred in the future a complete ovariohysterectomy is the
treatment of choice because it not only cures the condition but it also prevents
it from happening again depending on the condition of the patient stabilization
with intravenous fluids and medication may be needed before going to surgery
and it must be mentioned that any anaesthetic or surgery carries a risk to
the patient especially one who is older and unwell despite this though in the
majority of patients surgical treatment is by far the best choice and the vast
majority will recover really well after a short hospitalization for patients who
want to be bred later there is the option of medical treatment for those
who are severely unwell though surgical removal of the uterus may in fact be
safer this is because all the toxins and inflammatory substances will be quickly
removed and not able to continue damaging the body it typically takes two
to four days for medical treatment to result in an improvement
to the patient also for those with a closed pyometra there is an increased
risk of the uterus bursting which can be catastrophic for those where drug
treatment is desirable then there are several different protocols which will
depend on your vet's own experience as well as the drugs that are available at
the time the reason for this is that not all drugs are stocked by everyone
especially if your vet doesn't have a big breeding client base the big
drawbacks are medical treatment are time taken for an improvement to take place
the risk of treatment failure and also the significant risk that a pyometra
will occur with up to 70% of patients having a recurrence of a pyometra within
two years now this means that breeding should take place as soon as possible
and once completed the patient should ideally be spayed of course prevention
is much better than cure having a bitch spayed completely removes
the risk of a pyometra so long as the ovaries are completely removed this is
because active ovaries are essential for a pyometra to develop ovary sparing
sterilization is not common and also does nothing to remove the risk of a
pyometra from developing as for when to spay well this is a video for another
day there is a lot of research going on in this area and our standard dogmatic
recommendations are being challenged so watch this space as a final comment
while pyometra can affect cats it is in fact very uncommon so I hope this video
answers the questions that you may have had about this common condition but if
you have any other questions or if there are any comments that you'd like to
leave I'd love to read them down in the comment section below also if it's your
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live a healthier here life so until next time i'm dr.
alex from our pets health comm the best care for every pet with every condition
every time