JULY – MISSY MOO
Well, we’ve recently had a prime example of one reason we advocate desexing all pets unless they are to be used for breeding (and then to desex when finished breeding). We had 2 cats from the same family come in for desexing on the same day. However, one of them was noticed to have pus from the vulva and a suspected pyometra.
Both the cats’ uterus are seen in the photo above, the smaller one is regular size and the other large one is infected and what is called a pyometra.
A pyometra is a uterus that is infected and full of pus. All female entire (i.e. not desexed) dogs and cats are at risk of getting a pyometra. It is more of a hormone imbalance that renders the uterus prone to an overgrowth of bacteria and hence the pyometra. Once a pet has a pyometra, the cervix can be either open – like this cat (and pus can drain out) or closed (the pus can’t drain out). When the cervix is closed there is no way out for the pus and your pet is at a much higher risk of illness and therefore dying, and quickly. When the cervix is open, your pet won’t get as sick as quickly however, is still at risk of dying if left untreated. With this much pus, the only treatment is desexing your pet however, we are then performing surgery on a sick animal so the risk of complications and death increases substantially.
So in this case, this cat was a little sick however, her illness was not realised by the owner as is was not severe yet. Fortunately she was desexed and there were no complications and she is now doing well and a lot better than she was. So, it goes to show, this can happen at any age (8mths old for this cat) and the older they get the more risk there is..