PYOMETRA

A lot of times we approach the argument for why spaying your pet is important by advocating for overpopulation prevention. If they are spayed, they cannot bring more puppies or kittens into the world, thus they are not contributing to the 19 million homeless pets in the United States. However, another important aspect of spaying your pets is for the health benefits. An unspayed cat or dog produces hormones and goes through heat cycles once a month. For each heat cycle a female goes through, her uterine lining thickens, until eventually, cysts begin to form. These cysts create an environment that is ideal for bacteria to grow. This bacteria growth causes an infection called pyometra, which, left unattended to, can be fatal. The only way to truly get rid of the infection is to perform a spay and, when the infection has already set in what is normally a simple surgery can be much more complicated. We see pyometra most often in older dogs who have been left unspayed. The worst we’ve seen was in a dog weighing 54 pounds with her infected uterus weighing 10 pounds. It was nearly 5 times the size a healthy uterus would be! Imagine how painful it would be to carry 10 pounds of infection around in your belly! Nip this potential problem in the bud (literally) and bring your pet in for a spay. No amount of puppies or kittens are worth your sweet pet’s health and life.