Surgery or put down

[foxylady122]

I seen a vet on Wed 6/23 and she examined my golden retriever. She said my dog was very sick. she took blood work and urine sample. She also took a stick dip of the vaginal area where she had blood and ran it on a slide. On Thursday 6/24 she said to bring my dog in again and she would run a x-ray to see her abdomen. She called me on Thursday and said to come in to see the x-rays.  She showed me how serious the Pyometra was and that she would schedule her for surgery on Monday 6/28. She did not have office hours during Fri/Sat or Sun.  I noticed my dog got worse by Saturday and I called a nearby hospital and they recommened to bring her in immediately.  They ran their own set of x-rays, ultra sound, and blood work and said there would be a 50 50 chance of surgery due to her age and how weak she is.
What does that mean 50 50 either it will help her or not!  Please reply
What should I do???

[Arnold L Goldman, D.V.M.]

The uncomfortable truth is that doctors are human and sometimes base their recommendations on their own values, skill level with various approaches to disease, knowledge of their own outcomes with certain conditions or approaches to those conditions and other factors. The first doctor may have judged your dogs situation differently than the second. That is why judgment is and necessarily must be a part of medicine. We are trying to help living creatures that cannot communicate exactly how they feel. We have to make educated guesses to help them. The second doctor looked at  the situation differently, judged differently.

Bottom line: If your dog was suffering and something had to be done, take comfort that something was done, her suffering was ended. While some dogs live longer than 11, 11 is not a short life either. Sadly, they are programed to get old far sooner than we do. Please accept my condolences for your loss.
Sincerely,
Dr G

[foxylady122]

The second opinion was when I brought her in on Saturday and they ran additional tests. They did not feel comfortable with the surgery. She was weak and panting very hard. They actually said it may be better to put her down since her chances were not good. I hope I did the right thing.  My only concern was why would the 1st Doctor at the clinic tell me to wait until Monday, 6/28 to do surgery. When taking her to another place on Sat 6/26 tells me she was very sick.  No one will give a straight answer.  If they did surgery would she live.....they would not say...they said she had a 50/50 %  

[Arnold L Goldman, D.V.M.]

Hi,

Sorry your old dog is ill. If the diagnosis is correct and she has an infected uterus, removing it should be curative. generally, that should be done ASAP. If the cervix is open (there is bloody or pus like discharge from the vagina a short delay of a day or less is likely safe.  If however, the cervix is closed, such that no or little discharge can escape, than she should be operated that very day. If the uterus ruptures inside the body that can lead to sepsis (bacteria in bloodstream) and death. If someone is willing to operate her soon, do so. There is no reason to wait. I dont know what other factors may have played into their 50:50 assessment, however in a generally healthy dog, a pyometra should not lead to death. If there is already leakage int he abdominal cavity, well then the prognosis is more serious. Bottom line, get her cut tonight or ASAP. She will need supportive care in hospital perhaps for several days: fluids, antibiotics, antiinflammatories, pain relievers, nutritional support, etc. I advise seeing someone right away.

Dr G