Pyometra

[Dame Aussie]

Does anyone have a link or know the rates for pyo in dogs? I've searched and can find lots about symptoms etc but can't find anything about how common it is...

TIA :)

[mixeduppup]

Pretty common where I worked. I saw a heap of pyos in my 2 years but I worked in a district with lots of undesexed and overbred workers. I doubt it would be as high in affluent city suburbs.

Edited May 6, 2014 by mixeduppup

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Common in rescue when we are taking older female dogs (who have never been desexed and sometimes they've obviously had litters, sometimes they haven't - according to the vet).

I've had 2 this year already.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Her Majesty Dogmad

[Guest Clover]

Pretty common. My Youngster has the beginning of pyo when she was desexed. Lucky I booked her in when I did.

[keetamouse]

There aren't any symptoms that I have heard off it is only when the vets open them up that it is found, I just had one a couple of weeks ago but was just at the beginning and she is fine.

I have had at least 5 in my time in rescue (14 years) one was so bad she was actually crying from the pain and had to take her to my vet around 9pm he actually opened up his surgery to give her a pain killer she was a mess, poor baby.

Maree

CPR

[ish]

Karen Hedberg wrote an article for the GSD club magazine recently in which she said older entire bitches were very likely to develop pyometra - so she must see it very often.

[dancinbcs]

I have no stats but know plenty of breeders who have had at least one of their bitches with it. My dog picked up the very start of it in one of my girls and she was treated with antibiotics successfully. It is usually seen is older bitches but I have known of them as young as under 2 years. Most are saved by surgery if you pick up the symptoms early enough but some still die from the condition. Most desex their breeding girls by 8 or 9 years to avoid it but if the bitch is still being shown in normal competition then you can't do it. Some breeders decide to spay much younger, when finished breeding if they do not wish to continue showing the bitch. At least with Neuter classes now, a lot of older show bitches are being spayed and returning to the ring as Neuters.

[Allerzeit]

There aren't any symptoms that I have heard off it is only when the vets open them up that it is found, I just had one a couple of weeks ago but was just at the beginning and she is fine.

I have had at least 5 in my time in rescue (14 years) one was so bad she was actually crying from the pain and had to take her to my vet around 9pm he actually opened up his surgery to give her a pain killer she was a mess, poor baby.

Maree

CPR

There certainly are symptoms - excessive drinking, vomiting, loss of appetite, general malaise, discharge from the vulva (open pyo), but they can be harder to pick if the bitch has a closed pyo rather than an open pyo.

Fortunately, we've only had one case of pyometra in over 20 years of breeding, and that occurred after a series of mismating injections. Our girls are desexed once they have finished breeding to remove the risk of getting it when they're older, but we still keep it in the back of our minds with the younger ones - particularly just after they've finished a season.

[mixeduppup]

There aren't any symptoms that I have heard off it is only when the vets open them up that it is found, I just had one a couple of weeks ago but was just at the beginning and she is fine.

I have had at least 5 in my time in rescue (14 years) one was so bad she was actually crying from the pain and had to take her to my vet around 9pm he actually opened up his surgery to give her a pain killer she was a mess, poor baby.

Maree

CPR

There are symptoms associated with open and closed pyo. Closed pyo is a lot harder to diagnose as the biggest symptom is puss or disgusting discharge escaping from the vagina. If that's not present then ultrasound can almost always pinpoint it or at least give you a rough idea.

[Aziah]

In addition to what others have written...the more frequently a bitch cycles the more at risk she is to pyo.

[Christina]

I have heard that it is generally a case of breed the bitch or the risk of pyometra is higher. Seems that keep coming into season for years & not being bred is a contributor although not the sole cause.

It is very common in cats too but they are screaming on heat almost constantly if not bred in most breeds.

There are stats somewhere on the net I have looked at them before but can't recall the details.

[Diva]

I have yet to see it, touch wood. Always have my eyes open for it though. I wonder if some breeds are more susceptible as the incidences I hear vary a lot.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Diva

[Sandra777]

I'd say yes some breeds are more prone than others, and some families in those breeds are more prone as well.

I've had a few over the years, from very mild to removing a 1kg uterus from a 14kg bitch - who had no temperature and showed no real signs of illness except a constant discharge. Think we got very lucky with that one.

Many years ago I had a bitch get it on her first heat, antibiotics cleared it and she went on to have 4 litters no problems as all. She was never spayed and lived to 14 when stomach cancer took her.

[Dame Aussie]

Thanks for all the responses :)

[Airedaler]

I have owned bitches for 40 years and bred many litters over that time and fortunately have never had a case of pyometra. Most of my bitches have been de-sexed at about 7 or 8 years of age.

[_PL_]

With the older females...we got 6 in a row

Only one, a large rottie cross, was hours away from not making it. She was bloated, miserable, ill and just generally tired. Preferring to lie down rather than walk or stand.

There's a whole story to that poor girl I believe the antibiotics the pound put her on for her eye somewhat held her over and in the end she recovered and was adopted by her carer.

The others, and anyone since then, were at different stages and did fine afterwards. At the beginning you can't really tell without an ultrasound or until they open them up and the uterus is (from what I can gather) sort of blobby and filled with fluid.

[poocow]

Have to agree there certainly is symptoms!!!!

There's no rule for pyo - my 2 year old bitch had it over Easter. That would have only been her 4th season.

[yarracully]

We have had two with Pyro. One was a bitch that had never been mated. Unfortunately we lost her to it. We had an emergency desexing done but she passed away while coming out of anesthetic due to massive blood loss. The other has had three litters. We were able to treat it with three weeks of daily injections and tablets. Can't recall the name of the stuff used but we were lucky to catch it in time. I have since had her desexed as I don't want her to go through it again.

[Alyosha]

I've had one open one, in a two year old entire bitch. It wasn't known in her family at all so a bit of a mystery. The only thing that I personally think contributed was a heavy phantom after her first season, and then the Pyo a few months after that. I always thought she may have had some tissue or fluid from the phantom that was retained and became septic. She was treated successfully, never had another issue (or another phantom), and whelped a large and healthy litter two years later.

[benshiva]

One of my girls had an open pyometra last year. She was fine when I went to bed, when I woke up in the morning she was lying on the dog bed in my bedroom and was listless and wouldn't get up. Not like her at all. I check her gums and they were so white it was scary. Turned her over and ran my hand down her stomach and the worst discharge I've ever seen came out of her.

It was an absolute nightmare and so stressful. She was on a drip in the vet to stabilise her before surgery. Luckily for us, she survived. In hindsight, she was a little quieter the day before, but ate her dinner and seemed normal otherwise, so little to no symptoms shown. It was horrifying.