Canine Pyometra: Origin, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Many female dogs, once they reach sexual maturity, run the risk of developing pyometra, whether open or closed (very urgent). This infection originating in the uterus is treatable, but often ends up costing our beloved dogs their lives.

The female doesn't need to have mated — any female dog can develop it without warning, and since its symptoms aren't always obvious, treatment often starts too late, unfortunately. That's why at SoyUnPerro we want to inform you about this disease, its symptoms, treatments, and ways to prevent it.

What Is Pyometra and How Does It Develop in a Female Dog?

Canine pyometra is a uterine infection and, therefore, a buildup of purulent material after the estrus stage in female dogs. A few weeks (4-8) after going through heat, the uterus goes through various changes. After estrus (in diestrus), there's an increase in the hormone progesterone and in uterine secretion. This, combined with reduced muscular contraction of this organ and bacterial proliferation (E. coli), leads to pyometra.

Uterine secretions caused by the estrus cycle itself can also build up, producing the same infectious problem.

Symptoms of Canine Pyometra

There are two types of pyometra in female dogs: open and closed. In closed pyometra, the uterus is closed, and we won't be able to observe discharge coming out, unlike in open pyometra, but we may sometimes notice abdominal distension in our female dog.

Closed pyometra is more urgent, since externally, very few symptoms are visible at first glance.

So, with open pyometra, we'll see purulent (pus) discharge from the vulva, possibly mixed with digested blood (chocolate color), originating inside the uterus, giving us a clear clue something's wrong.

The main symptoms we can observe in a female dog with pyometra are:

• Abnormal vaginal discharge in the open type (pus, digested blood, or a mix of both).
• Bad odor from the discharge.
• Abdominal distension.
• Pain / apathy / lethargy.
• Polydipsia/polyuria (drinking and urinating more than normal).
• Anorexia.
• Fever.
• Vomiting/diarrhea.

If the vet were to run bloodwork, they'd see an increase in white blood cells, anemia, elevated liver enzymes, etc.

Diagnosis of Canine Pyometra

The vet, besides observing most of the symptoms described above, can run additional tests such as bloodwork, an X-ray, and/or an ultrasound to confirm the pyometra diagnosis. These will show the presence of pus in our female dog's caudal abdomen.

What Is the Treatment for Pyometra?

Due to how serious this type of infection is, we don't recommend any type of applicable home treatment. If we suspect our dog may have this infection (especially the closed type), we need to see the vet urgently.

It will be the vet, after examining our dog, who determines the treatment to apply, with surgery to remove the uterus or to provide a way to drain it being very common.

In addition, obviously, a significant amount of antibiotics aimed at stopping the infection and possible sepsis (the infection spreading into the bloodstream).

The best prevention against this disease is spaying our female dog (removal, not tubal ligation). This prevents this and many other possible conditions, as well as possible tumors.