In severe cases, these dogs and cats are often septic (bacteria in the blood) and in shock. These cases must be handled as a medical emergency. Treatment involves correcting the animal's dehydration (sometimes aggressively), antibiotics, and surgically removing the infected uterus and ovaries (i.e., spaying the pet). This disease can also be medically treated (more often in Europe) with antibiotics and a class of drugs called prostaglandins, but it is my opinion that pyometra should be treated surgically, and not medically.
I am posting photos of a case that I saw recently, of a cat that had the most severe pyometra I (and my colleagues) have ever seen. With the owner's permission, I am sharing this case: This was a darling older unspayed cat, about twelve years old, that presented to me with a decreased appetite and a massively distended belly. I took two radiographs (x-rays) of her belly, and this is what I found:
X-ray on her side
X-ray on her back
Without advanced knowledge of radiology, one can appreciate the distended abdomen. For those wtih some understanding, there is a large (massive actually) tubular soft-tissue opacity taking up much of the abdominal cavity that is consistent with pyometra. Keep this in mind when having a look at the following photos. These were taken while in surgery. What you see is the cat's uterus (and ovaries) that has almost completely been removed. It is huge.
This is the uterus after surgery. Take special note of the normal cat uterus to the right, which was removed that same morning during a routine spay. Astounding.
The very sad news is that the cat died two days later. We were all saddened by this.
Please everyone, this is one very good reason to have your female pet spayed.
7 comments:
My pup is now 7 months old, not yet spayed....I found this on the internet and wondered if you could comment on it - http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf
Also, is it not in the interest of the dog, obviously taking a chance (much like everything in life), to allow them to complete their growth intact due to hormone production?
ToNurse,
Thank you very much for that link. I think that these findings should not be discounted and warrant further studies. It would be incumbent on the veterinary medical community to provide some good long-term studies looking at all of the issues raised in this paper.
I am still a fan of spaying females prior to their first heat (oestrus cycle). As for neutering males, it is more difficult to make the same arguments.
That was a really interesting case. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm sorry that the cat passed away, but I really appreciate the radiographs you put up. I've never seen anything like them! Well, it's back to studying, but I thank you for keeping me inspired. :)
Tayaki,
Thanks for the comment. Inspiration, no matter what you do, is always good.
Even after seeing dozens of pyometra cases, we still learned from this one. We were so sad (but not shocked) that she died. Good luck in your studies.
TorontoVet
I've spent most of my 13+ years in practice doing emergency med, and that's still one impressive pyo. Of course, in saying that I should probably add that I've never been much of a pyo magnet, or maybe it's just that most of the ones I get can't afford surgery.
In the Dec. 1 issue of Journal of the AVMA, there's a good review article on optimal age of gonadectomy in dogs and cats that goes over the pros/cons of spay/neuter. I was particularly interested because it was written by a former instructor, but it's also very relevant to this little discussion.
Mel,
Thanks for the very relevant comment. I don't have a subscription to JAVMA, so I don't know how to get the article, but will try to find it somehow. Your blogs are very interesting and look great. Funny, we're both knitting vets.
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