Does anyone have any experience of pyometra please?

[BoatyMacBoatFace]

Suspect that our diabetic dog is suffering with this

She's fine in herself, her temperature is normal, but an ultrasound today has shown she possibly has a womb infection.

To complicate matters she's diabetic (normally well controlled) and it was her sky high blood glucose that made me take her in for an emergency appointment today.

Problem is two of the symptoms of pyo are excessive drinking/weeing which she'll also have because of the high blood sugar (she's only drinking a little more than normal though to be honest)

Like I say she's happy in herself and has started the antibiotics. She hasn't been spayed as she has a heart murmur and can't have an injection (Alizin) they would normally give because she's diabetic.

Just wanted some help/advice if anyone has any please. Thank you.

I have had experienced this with my mums dog some years ago. She had a discharge from the uterus so an open pyometria. She lost use of her back legs and was drinking excessively. She was rushed to the vets for an emergency hysterectomy followed by iv antibiotics. She made a full recovery and went on to live to a ripe age. My own dog had a possible closed pyometria so without the discharge whilst in kennels. She collapsed and was taken to the vets. Her bloods showed raised white blood cells and renal damage. Ultrasound showed a possible enlarged uterus but she was also on heat at the time. Alabama rot was the other diagnosis. Fortunately we had just come home but sadly I had her PTS that day as she deteriorated within hours. Surgery was a huge risk due to the renal damage combined with geriatric age. I hope your dog is ok, I know that it can go either way.

You have separate issues entire females who are diabetics are much harder to control their diabetes, so much so that current best practice is to spay them no matter where in their cycle they are. Risks of being an unstable diabetic are far, far greater than the risks of spaying an in season bitch.
You then also have a potential pyometra. Any infection will cause the diabetes to be unstable, but until you get rid of the source of the infection the diabetes will be difficult to stabilise.
Yes high blood glucose slightly complicates anaesthetics, but being entire and having a pyometra complicates the diabetes more.

What Lonecat said....and even in non diabetics, if they have a pyo after a season and are treated medically and not spayed, it's practically a dead cert that they'll get a pyo again, only worse, after each subsequent season. Unless her heart is truly end stage horrendous I would spay. Last pyo I spayed was a 10 year old Cavalier with a grade 5 out of 6 murmur...did great.

I have just lost my lovely 12 year old lab to this. I thought she had had a bad season, she was panting, but a day or two later she seemed back to her old self. Around two weeks later my husband remarked that she seemed swollen around her back end, and yes, she was. She began to leak a cream liquid, but I had not noticed at first because she cleaned up after herself.

Took her to the vets straight away and for some reason in the waiting room, I just suddenly knew I was going to lose my dog. She was checked over, vet offered to do immediate hysterectomy but she did not sound positive. She asked if my lab was eating well and she was, but when she was put on the scales, she had lost weight. Again, as I was with her all the time it was not so noticeable. I could put her through the op, she may not survive, and vet felt there were other underlying problems. After examination, she suspected a tumour.

It was a terrible decision to make but when made I was told I had made the right, kindest decision.

I am now torturing myself wondering whether we should have taken the chance on the op and she could have come through it. I would urge anyone to watch out for signs such as drinking a lot, panting, urinating more, being swollen a fortnight or so after a season.