To have 12 year old dog euthanised due to pyometra

[Sp3849]

Trying to make the best decision for my dog. She is a 12 year old shih Tzu and the most loyal lovely dog. I noticed Wednesday she had been bleeding a gooey substance from the back end. Vet saw her yesterday and said she had a small pyometra which is open and it was very beginning of it. (Massive infection in her uterus) She isn't unwell and her usual self. She said she would operate straight away as she didn't feel she was poorly or suffering and it could wait until tomorrow. She explained that it is a major operation and due to her other health issues with arthritis and her age I should consider what to do. She will not survive without the operation. She may not survive the operand if we do have the operation and it is successful it would be massive for her at her age. We hadn't had her spade before as we had her later on in life and we didn't want to put her through that at an older age also we had never known this could happen. (Regretting that decision now.) She is booked in for surgery in the morning but after speaking with family and friends they think it is cruel to put her through it. I love my dog and I really want what is best for her. I don't want her to be in pain. I want her later years to be comfortable her arthritis is getting worse and I do wonder if this operation will be too much. I need to decide what to do before tomorrow morning. Has anybody else had a pyometra operation on an older dog? Is it as awful as it seems? Would

@tsmainsqueeze I think that's what is my problem. I have seen her decline in recent months and am the thinking am I putting her through all of this and will end up putting her through it to further decline and have her PTS in a year or so as the decline in her back legs has come on quite quickly. I wonder if the pyo has an effect at all and maybe she is more wobbly because of that or it is her arthritis deteriorating. I have no medical experience so have no idea if it is the pyo or not and I am clinging on to hope

Just reread your post , is this vet not confident to operate by any chance ?
An experienced vet is not fazed by a pyo , yes a bit more complex than a normal spay but really not that common for anything to go wrong , its no more invasive and it can't spread , the bloods will show if the other organs such as kidneys will have been affected by the toxins.
And as for pain , that will be controlled very well , we make sure of that.

Operations for pyometra are usually straight forward with good outcomes. For a shih tzu she still has some years in her yet. I would go for the op.

I think I would have to give her the chance, and after reading the reply from the vet on here that has definitely made me even more sure of it.

So really it's not concern about the pyo operation, it's concern that her quality of life isn't good anyway because of her arthritis. We're you considering that she was coming to end of life soon? I'm not a vet but I doubt a decline of several months would have anything to do with the pyometra. Have you tried treatment for her arthritis?

If her blood results are good enough and her arthritis can be improved that may make your decision easier.

Our Jack Russell recently had leg surgery at age 13. At this age she's still happy, well, eats like she always has, but is slower and sleeps more than when she was younger. The vet did liver and other blood tests before the op to make sure she was fit enough to go ahead which was very reassuring. She had major surgery as a younger dog (7ish) and this time recovered quicker than last. She's back to her normal happy self now just a few weeks later.

The vet gave fluids during the operation and I really think this speeded her recovery.

I’m a vet, so hopefully can help a bit.

There are two types of pyometras, open and closed. You’ve said your dogs is open, which is good. In my experience closed pyo’s are the cases which are much higher risk, these dogs tend to be very ill, and more risk of sepsis, rupture etc. Open pyo’s don’t tend to be as concerning in the same way.

I don’t want to step on your vets toes as I clearly don’t know your dog, and maybe there are factors that mean they feel the risk is higher, and they are right to warn you off risks, but personally I don’t tend to be too concerned with open pyo surgical risks.

12 isn’t ancient for a shih tzu, but is obviously an older dog, I would generally recommend bloods to check there are no other concerns (not just due to the pyo, I recommend if for any older dog having a GA), and a drip. Provided that’s all ok then, yes, there is a risk still, but I wouldn’t say particularly high.

I generally advice 10-14d recovery post spay, and unless the dog is really unwell (generally closed pyo’s), I don’t tend to find this any different for pyo spays rather than just a spay.

It absolutely needs treating, either medically (but then still spaying as will generally happen again after next season), or surgically. From what you had said surgically treatment sounds appropriate, but euthanasia is not a wrong decision either if financially or for other reasons you decide surgery isn’t right for your dog.

Our 13 year old male had to have surgery to remove foreign objects, it was a big surgery and he was off his food for about a week but afterwards he was fine. He lived til he was 17.

Have you read @Patchworksack ‘s (vet) helpful reply?

Yes. Please spay your female dogs, pyo is horrible - but so avoidable.

I would go for the surgery OP, if she is otherwise healthy (for her age).

This 👆 unfortunately

I am in my 50s, so much younger than your dog in dog years, and I already think old age is miserable! It's such a difficult decision but I think overall we as humans live too long and we let our dogs live too long. So if it was me I'd probably let her go. Just because we can (treat conditions) doesn't mean we should. I know it's the hardest decision.

You know what I think OP. I think you just don't want to pay for the operation and rather let this dog be out down. When you decided to have a dog, you should have known that you will be in it the long haul.

@secular39 I think you are very rude. I had a dog and can more than afford to pay for her treatment 10 times over thanks. I am very fortunate to have a very well paid job as does my husband. I couldn't give two hoots about what it costs. I understand some people aren't fortunate enough to be in that position and people's circumstances financially can change throughout the course of the years of owning a dog and I would never judge someone for that and I feel sorry for you and pity you for your narrowmindedness

After the plenty of reassurance of the vets nurses and people with similar experience we have decided to take her in the morning have the tests and let her go ahead with the op. If they feel that is best. I will be very clear of my concerns and discuss them with the vet and make it very clear that If at any point she feels that it would be kinder to let her go or there is any concerns about quality of life then she is to let her go and not bring her back around. Thankyou everyone I feel alot more positive about it. I can't understand why the vet seemed so negative.

I would definitely do the surgery! She could have years left yet. She will hopefully be right as rain in a couple of weeks!

I’m glad so many vets and at least one vet nurse were able to advise, OP. It was terribly kind of them and I would personally put a lot of store by their words.

Your post resonated with me as my DD has advanced arthritis, and when she recently got a second serious back problem the vet initially thought we were facing radical surgery. I was trying to weigh up what was going to be invasive and quite risky surgery and how much it was likely to aggravate her arthritis. So I was in pieces over it all.

The arthritis is terribly real and is only going to advance. Anyway in your case I’m glad she’s going in for the op and wish the best for her.

Good luck OP! Fingers crossed all goes well for her. If it doesn't, at least you know you've done everything to give her every fighting chance

Get your dog spayed - it will save her life. And give her a few more years with you as a result.

This is why I firmly believe in spaying a bitch as soon as possible, because it will prevent problems eg pyometra in later life.

@Sp3849 just saw your recent update - wanted to let you know my Springer had pyro op at 10 almost 11, just before we rescued her and she's a hale and hearty 13 y 8 months now! Best of luck 🤞

Pyo*. Am not suggesting she's a firestarter 🤣

Idk if that's always the case, PTS was offered as an option (alongside cast and see and surgery) after my chihuahua's front leg was fractured at 7 y/o with no other health conditions!

Pyometra is nasty, OP, I'm so sorry you didn't know of this risk earlier, it needs to be more well known.

You know and love your dog, if you genuinely think this op+recovery+pre-existing arthritis will be too much for her to bounce back from, then let her go knowing it's done out of love.

We had our husky spayed due to pyo at a similar age a couple of years ago, she's still alive and kicking! She's just gained an appetite and got chonky 😂

Good luck tomorrow. Please do let us know how she gets on. Hope the operation is a success.