Emergency
She is drinking for two, licking under her tail and finished her season a few weeks ago. Pyometra is an emergency, even when you can see no discharge at all.
Emergency. An unspayed bitch who drinks a lot, vomits, is listless or has a swollen belly in the months after a season, with or without discharge: call your own vet or an emergency clinic now. Stop feeding her and do not give leftover antibiotics from the cupboard.
Call your own vet or the nearest clinic with an emergency service now, and set off. Do not ask a group what to do: every answer you wait for there is time lost for the dog.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
Your bitch is eight, unspayed, and finished her season five weeks ago. For a few days she has been drinking enough for two dogs, waking you at night to go out, licking under her tail a lot, and on her blanket you found a yellowish stain with a foul smell. Perhaps in your case there's no discharge at all, just a belly that looks bigger, a full bowl left untouched and vomiting this morning. Both stories can be pyometra: the womb has become infected and filled with pus. It is an emergency. Untreated, she can develop blood poisoning, and the womb can rupture. Below: what to do now, what to tell your vet, and how to prevent it.
A womb full of pus pours bacterial toxins into the bloodstream. The kidneys suffer first, hence the thirst and all the weeing, then the heart and liver. A bitch who is only drinking a lot today can be in shock in a day or two. When the cervix is closed, the womb can stretch until it ruptures, and then pus spills into the abdomen. Surgery becomes much harder and the odds drop.
| What you see | Open form (cervix open) | Closed form (cervix closed) |
|---|---|---|
| Discharge from the vulva | Yes, pus or blood, foul smell | No, or very little |
| Drinks and wees a lot | Often | Often |
| Licks under her tail | Often | Rarely |
| Swollen belly | Sometimes | Often, may be firm and painful |
| Vomiting, diarrhoea | Sometimes | Often |
| Listless, off food | Gradually | Quickly, within days |
| Fever | May be absent | May be absent; a bitch in shock can even have a low temperature |
| How fast it worsens | Over days | Over hours to days |
The table doesn't make a diagnosis. Heavy thirst has other causes, such as diabetes or kidney disease, and discharge can come from a milder vaginal infection. Your vet tells them apart with an ultrasound scan.
When she's discharged, ask which signs mean coming straight back: a red, swollen or weeping wound, fever, a bitch who still isn't eating on day two.
Spaying. It's the only sure prevention: no womb, no pyometra. The timing (before or after the first season, at what age, by size and breed) is something to decide with your own vet. For large breeds the advice has changed in recent years and varies from case to case. If you don't want puppies from her, it's worth a proper conversation early on.
If you don't spay her for good reasons (a breeding or show bitch, a medical decision), watch her closely after every season:
No hormone treatments "to stop the seasons". Injections and tablets that postpone or suppress seasons raise the risk of pyometra and of mammary tumours. So do hormone treatments given without follow-up after an unwanted mating. If you want to avoid puppies, the safe answer is spaying; talk to your vet.
Age. The risk rises year on year, and most cases happen in middle-aged and older bitches. A three-year-old can get pyometra too, just less often.
If you have an unspayed bitch, unusual thirst in the months after a season is the sign to remember. Many people put it down to hot weather or age and lose days she needed.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
An infection of the womb, which fills with pus. It happens in unspayed bitches, usually a few weeks after a season, when hormones keep the womb ready for pregnancy and bacteria multiply easily. Toxins get into the blood and hit the kidneys, heart and liver. Untreated, it can lead to shock and a ruptured womb.
She drinks far more and wees often, licks under her tail, has discharge from the vulva (yellow, greenish or bloody pus with a foul smell), goes off her food, is listless, vomits. In the closed form there is no discharge and the belly swells. If she has had a season in the last two months and you see any of these signs, ring today.
In carefully chosen cases, yes: young breeding bitches with the open form and no body-wide infection, under strict veterinary supervision with repeated scans. The risk of it returning at the next season remains. For a pet bitch, the usual treatment is surgery to remove the womb and ovaries, which solves the problem for good.
Most often within two months of the season ending, sometimes up to four. That is why it's worth marking every season on the calendar and watching her drinking, appetite and vulva in the months afterwards. Any discharge that appears after a season has finished is a reason to ring your vet.
By spaying, the only sure prevention. Decide the timing with your own vet according to size and breed. If you don't spay her, avoid injections and tablets that stop her seasons, because they raise the risk, and watch her closely after every season. The risk grows with age.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
Drops of blood on the floor, male dogs at the gate, a restless bitch. The season itself is normal; the two months that follow are what you need to watch.
The neighbour says before her first season, the breeder says in a year. The right timing depends on the dog, and recovery has clear rules worth knowing in advance.
The bowl filled three times a day, requests to go out at two in the morning, a puddle in the hall. Sometimes it is just summer. Sometimes it is the first sign of illness.
Two months after her season she is nesting in the wardrobe, mothering soft toys and making milk. It is a false pregnancy and it usually passes. A few signs will not wait.
Call your own vet or the nearest clinic with an emergency service, say what happened and when, and set off. A call made from the car saves minutes on arrival.