From some research I did which I can't seem to find...
They had high success rates with prostaglsmdins combined with muscle relaxers and abx. Maybe talk to your vet about that. The study suggested an 80% survival rate with that and a 37% rate of getting pups on future breedings.
Those who have used prostaglandins like Lutalyse before know how dangerous giving them to a closed case of pyo can be. Talking ruptured uterus. Bad way to die.
Sorry i got some of my percentages wrong on the success rates... but hey... THERE IS HOPE!!! Heres the research and info a great link everyone should have. Scroll down to page 45 for the closed cervix stat info. Please read the whole PDF its very informative.
http://www.blendivet.de/PDFs/Pyometra.pdf
Good research!!
It recently worked for us. She's in heat now. We shall see if she's viable shalt we?!
That is nice to hear ... best of luck![]()
I saved a bitch with an open pyometra with prostaglandin about 2 years ago. The treatment itself almost killed her. The vet I used then, said to hit her with it and the next morning, if no "bad discharge", hit her again and do this until it was finished. I had to hit her 3 times. Each time, was terrible. The vomiting and what it does to the dog is way worse than the actual infection.....or appears to be. It did save her life and uterus. However, I honestly do not believe she'll ever have a pup. She's had 4 heat cycles since then. All very weak, no swelling, no flagging. I bred her on one where she "kinda" flagged, nothing.
Best of luck mound.....I'd like to know the suggest treatment for a closed one. The only closed I had, I put down.
Had a buddy who claims a bitch of his had a vaginal infection and that THAT caused the pups eyed to no open early enough and one of the pups come out blind. He says his vet said the vaginal infection was the cause. Any validity to that? What about treatment for Vag Infect?
THANKS JACK I said you was right.
I had no doubt I was right, been down this road a time or two, so that wasn't the issue.
The issue was you asking for help ... me taking the time to correctly inform you ... and then you coming back like a wise-ass, claiming it was a "vaginal infection" and worms ... calling me a "know it all" ... and then later finding out that "vaginal infection" was in fact pyometra (which is not a vaginal infection; it's a disorder of the uterus).
Nowhere did I see any "thank you" or gratitude for making sure you took your bitch in and telling you what to look for.
You gave just a one-liner or two, and a little lip, followed by an admission I was correct to begin with ... which, again, I didn't need to be told.
I figured it was either pyometra or babesia.
If I had the bitch in front of me, I could have told you which one, but I didn't so I knew that a vet could tell.
Many bitches get symptomatic for babesia when in heat ... because it destroys the blood cells ... and when they lose blood through their heat cycle as well, sometimes it's too much for the body to keep that kind of blood loss in check ... so they start to go down. That's why I said to check for that as well.
The other common ailment is pyometra, which usually starts to lay a bitch out right after they come out of a heat cycle.
It's not rocket science.
It's a matter of having the experience (or being well-read enough) to know what potential troubles lie ahead for bitches in heat.
I have quite a bit of both.
My very first two litters I made, back in 1988, I already had bought two 2-inch-thick vet books ... because I gave a shit enough to be informed right from the beginning ... and you'd best believe that the entire "breeding-whelping" section was read in both books before my bitches ovulated on Day 12 and I was making my breedings. I wanted to be prepared!
I have since added about 9 other topshelf books to my repertoire ... and about 25 years of actual hands-on experience ... more experience than just about any vet author ... so it may "surprise you" that I was right ... but it sure doesn't surprise me.
But what I expect is a little more gratitude, and a little less lip, out of anyone I take the time to help.
Jack
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