i have two staffordshire bull terriers that i had rescued from the local staff rescue centre near me , at separate times .
my dog (rocko) i rescued in 2006 and my bitch (ruby) in 2009.

so on Sunday morning i noticed that her bedding had what looked like dark reddish blood on it , not a lot but it was not the usual color red i have seen countless times when she has been in season .
so i just kept my eye on her and as she was eating and drinking completely normal i thought nothing more of it , i woke Monday morning to a very subdued dog who just didn't want to move and i knew something was seriously wrong .
now my dog Rocko is registered with the pdsa but ruby cannot be registered as they only allow one pedigree dog to be registered. even though they are both rescue dogs .

so i took her to the local vets at 9am Monday , we saw the vet who immediately diagnosed Pyometra.
a very serious condition that needed immediate surgery or her outcome was certain death .

i asked the vet how much it would cost and after a lengthy chat about her background the lady vet told me she would take £100 off as she was a rescue dog and that i was unemployed.
they phoned dogs trust and they agreed to pay £130 which left me with £470 to pay .
i was in complete shock - £470 is no small amount of money to someone like me .
however i had been saving for a new tv and had £500 in the bank .
i said to go ahead and do the operation , i filled in the relevant consent forms and left her there watching as she dissapeared around the corner with the assistant .
as soon as i left the vets i broke down in tears , knowing how serious her condition was and thinking i may never see my beautiful little girl again.
i got home and laid in bed with my other dog rocko who i know could sense something was wrong .
i cried for nearly 4 hours straight off and on . looking at pictures and video i had taken of them both together.
time just seemed to drag on - i had left the vets at around half 9 and now it was only half one and still nothing from the vets.
anyway three o clock came and i couldn't cope no more so decided to phone them , they told me she was in the operation room and they would be in touch when they had finished .

half four came and the phone went , i run to it and answered .
"hello" they said , i replied hello , we are calling about ruby , yes i said , she has lost a lot of blood during the operation but her being a big girl she has recovered and is now sitting down in the recovery room .
we would like to monitor her for another hour and she has a intravenous drip in for fluids .

fine i said but is she ok ?
yes she is still groggy , would you come down at half 5 and pick her up ? of course i replied.

i walked into that vets with my heart thumping i didnt quite know why but it was intense . i sat in the chair in the waiting room while hearing the phone ring in there and people talking but none of it was making sense to me .

then in a completely confused state my darling beautiful girl came around the corner - her little tail wagging even though she must have been high as a kite .
i knelt down on the floor and told her i love you i do i bloody loves you daddy's little girl while the tears were starting to fall again .

even the vet got a bit emotional .

anyway - she is on pain medication and anti biotics and has made a marvelous recovery .
seems to have a little spring in her step .
i have my special best friend back to her best and as for the tv i was saving for - well i don't even want one now .

i know what is more important to me ....

so anyone with a female dog who your not going to breed from , then please go and get them spayed and this problem will never happen to you .

just thought i would share my story .

What a great story with a happy ending. Glad she is OK and on the mend

I have seen this a couple of times in my local vets when i have visited or when collecting my own dogs after procedures. Both times the dogs survived, but only literally by the skin of their teeth...both times the owners were completely unaware of pyometra and the seriousness of the condition.

I know it's hard sometimes regarding costs, but even I (i work full time) have struggled to find the money to pay for something my dogs needed, but i did it, and yes in the grand scheme of things my dogs life was more valuable to me than a tv etc.

I'm glad your Ruby is ok...

I'm glad to hear that Ruby is all recovered now

Literally just happened with my cat Bella, her pregnancy got to full term before showing any signs. She showed a brown discharge, which of course because she was nine weeks pregnant I was preparing for any sign of kittens rather than anything else (I couldn't feel any, but I figured it was possible there was only one). A couple of days later she began bleeding. When no kittens arrived that night, I took her to the vet. She'd had pyometra pretty badly and needed to be spayed as soon as possible. The vet said when she operated she didn't find any kittens, just an empty space where they ought to be. They must have died at some point and the body did whatever it does to them, very sad. But I got my Bella back the next day and she's recovered remarkably, had the stitches out on Monday and it's like it never happened! Just got a hefty bill to pay as a reminder.

Oh, poor Bella (& her unborn kittens). Glad she's OK now though

Why did the rescue not spay her before adopting her out??

Pyo is a real risk but not always as lethal as people make out. I choose not to spay my dog at the moment, she's not for breeding, I just do not wish to put her through such an ordeal until she's more confident.

My little Pixie had Pyo. When she joined our family aged 16 weeks I followed my vets advice. He advised I let her have a season and then wait 2 or 3 months till her hormones settled then get her spayed. She had her season, was booked in for her op and less than 3 weeks before the op date she was very very ill. She wasn't herself, was seeking out wee places to hide, was a bit grumpy and then she had this awful smelly discharge come away from her. That ended up in an emergency dash to the vet after midnight on a Saturday. I have no interest in breeding my dogs and the way she was I had an awful thought that Merlin had got his leg over when we weren't keeping as close and eye on her as we should. I really thought she was about to give birth! It was touch and go but she came through her op and that was my first locking horns with the pet insurance - spaying isn't covered. This I understood but I had proof she was booked in and it was a life and death situation. The insurance wouldn't pay for any after care or any costs to do with her treatment. They did tell me if she had died they would have paid out £700+ to replace her. I still can't figure that one out. I wasn't expecting them to pay for her spaying!

The vet told me that it was very unusual in such a young bitch but my heart goes out to people who aren't in a position to pay for such an expensive treatment for their pet and have to take the other option when their pet is so ill. We struggled to find the money to pay for her treatment and op but we managed somehow. We had been budgeting for her spaying but the total amount was lots more than that!

I'm so happy that Ruby is on the mend. Give that Happy Staffy a good belly rub from me when her stitches are out.

I have never heard of pyometra

We have always had our bitches done as there are enough puppies in the world.

So glad Ruby is on the mend - the new TV can wait

i have no idea why the rescue center didn't have her spayed , but as for pyo not being lethal . i couldn't disagree more with you . my vet had told me they have seen countless cases where the owners had just left it too late and the dog could not be saved . it is most definitely a deadly infection if not caught straight away and anti biotics are infective .

anyway i am pleased to say my ruby is back to her self , in fact i would say even more bouncier and a bit more spring in her step . all healed up nicely .and worth every single penny .

Dealing with pyo is a heavy price for owner and, far more relevantly, the animal to pay. I'd rather elect to pay for a young, healthy animal to be spayed versus fund an emergency operation on a seriously ill animal with all the stress (on me and the animal) that entails. My bank account prefers the price of the former too.

Ive never heard of pyometra either, but another reason to get your girl dogs spayed is mammary cancer. They have a massive risk of getting malignant lumps if you don't get them spayed. We didn't get Betty spayed til she was older and she died of very aggressive mammary cancer it was then that we found out that getting bitches spayed sooner rather than later drastically reduces the chance of cancer and if they do get lumps they're more likely to be benign.

But, I'm happy your Ruby is better, it's horrible when the furry ones are poorly and they can't tell you what's wrong.