Elderly Westie with pyometra

[ArsonFire]

Our much loved westie who is 16 next month has been diagnosed with pyometra. Due to her age and cost we haven't insured her for a couple of years, but we have been lucky she has generally had good health.
Her only symptoms upto now is that she is drinking a lot , lethargic (though due to her age she was slowing anyway).
The only real cure is a full spay, which they have quoted £2k but due to her age there is a good chance she may not be strong enough.
The urge to just pay it even to keep her around for who knows how long is strong but we always said her welfare would come 1st before our not wanting to let her go.
We are siding on not wanting to put her through the stress of a major operation.
I'm just looking for fellow dog lovers points of view. Thanks!

My point of view is that this was avoidable. Your poor dog.

Avoidable in what way?

By having her spayed sooner. The risk of pyo is the one thing that really motivates me to have our younger dog spayed. We kept her intact to let her mature mentally and physically, but she was booked in a few months ago

I can understand being reluctant to neuter a dog (it can seem wrong to operate on them when there is no pressing need, and is in fact against the law in some countries) but pyo is a known risk, can come on suddenly and can be fatal.

As for your dog, a lot depends on her overall health. I would have a conversation with your vet about her chances. Does she have other health conditions? What was her quality of life like before these symptoms began? What is her recovery time likely to be if she comes with the op? The answers to those questions should help you make an informed decision.

Avoidable in the sense that you can totally eliminate the chance of pyometra by spaying your dog.

I think at nearly sixteen you probably need to accept that she won't survive such major surgery - whether you choose to try or not is entirely up to you, of course.

She was never spayed because she had to have a major op on her hip when she was very young and naively as it turns out we didn't want to put her through anything else. The years ticked by and she has never had pups so it never came up. She is the 1st female dog we have ever had.i had never heard of pyometra until a couple of weeks ago. And we have been told it can still happen with keyhole spay.

I'm sorry you're going through this. We had to make the call. Please let her go peacefully. 16 years is a brilliant age. She wouldn't want to go through all of that I'm sure she's an old lady. We got the vet home and all the family were around her in her bed. She drifted off with all of us telling her much we loved her. Do the same for yours. Sending hugs 🥰 the hardest part of living a dog is letting them go 💐

Ultimately you have two options - have her put to sleep or put her through the surgery but risk losing her on the operating table anyway.

According to my vet friend, the risk of an elderly animal dying under anesthesia is still low. Also the alternative with Pyo is put to sleep, So if she is well in other ways give her the chance. Small dogs like Westies can live to 20 so she might have several years of life left.

I think you are being given a hard time on here regarding spaying. This is down to your vet, they should have advised you on spaying her years ago, so I am sorry you are going through this now.

Personally, I would har her PTS now.

I would not put a 16 year old dog through such a large operation, although I accept that not all 16 year olds are the same.

Sorry you are facing this, Pyometra is a very nasty condition.

It's not the anaesthetic that's really the issue, it's that a full spay in a dog with pyometra is a huge operation for an elderly animal.

If she is otherwise well i would go ahead and give her the chance to survive.

I would not put a 16 year old dog through it personally. I’ve worked with dogs for over 15 years and have seen a handful of dogs that are 20…it’s certainly not common. The chances of her living a number of years more are slim.

I've got a Westie who is nearly 13, he had to go in for an operation a few months ago, we were told the risks with age which was increased because he has lung disease too. But it was either get him PTS or at least try. Fortunately he came through absolutely fine with no issues. It's a tough one but personally I'd take the risk knowing that the only other option is to PTS. Ultimately though this depends on how your dog is. Remember it's quality of life not quantity of life- it's always helpful to remember that when making a decision.

As a vet nurse I'd say goodbye. They really struggle with pyo and can have other complications. It's not going to be a quick op and back to normal. It's a massive op for such an elderly girl.

What did you decide op? 30 years ago we naively dog sat a female Doberman for over a year after its owner experienced a bereavement and had to relocate/get settled elsewhere and it developed pyro. It is a tough condition/operation, even for a young dog.

It is ridiculous no vet told you at health checks of the risks of choosing to not spay your female dog.

Its a routine procedure. If she's generally well I'd get her operated on asap

An elderly, 16yo dog, who is very sick with the infection from the pyometra? This is not a routine procedure for that dog.

OP, I would also be saying goodbye. I'm sorry you didn't have her spayed as a younger dog, but here we are. She's had a great innings.

As a vet nurse I’d also say don’t do it. The risk of death through anaesthesia is still low (although not as low as with a younger animal) but the op is a big one to put such an elderly dog through. Being a routine surgery doesn’t make it an easier one, it just means it’s done more often.

It's absolutely not a routine procedure.

A routine spay in a young, healthy dog is very different to a pyometra spay in an elderly dog.

What did you decide to do @ArsonFire ?

Thank you so much for the replies. She is on the whole ok but very slow. She has been on antibiotics the past week. We know this won't cure her but give us time to monitor her.

We have been told there is an injection that will basically be like an abortion that will clear out the infection but it will come back eventually. This may give her months.
She still gives cuddles..tries to play with her ball , wags her tail etc . We just can't imagine being without her.
We have another appointment with the vets this week to discuss options then we will decide.
Maggie is her name.

Best of luck Maggie xx

Spaying a dog increases rates of cancer and illnesses, not spaying your dog means the risk of pyometra and mammary tumours, educate yourself before being a vulture and coming for the OP when her dog is ill. Both have different merits and neither is wrong unless you're a drone that believes American spay propaganda from when they were dealing with pet dog overpopulation from wandering dogs breeding.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3572183/

OP let your vet guide you, they're the ones who can assess her general health and whether it's worth having the operation.
She's not going to be feeling well poor girl with her insides infected.
Good luck.