Illness in unspayed female?

Some of you may know more than I do about this, since both my dogs are spayed/neutered. My mom has a 7 year old saint female that was never spayed, and during her last heat, she wouldn't eat, slept in a tight ball, and fell over when she tried to pee. My mom said she was also losing a lot of blood, and she and my younger sisters called me freaked out that she wasn't going to make it through the night.

Well, she made it through the night and is eating once again, but her vet seems to think it could just be that being in heat takes more and more energy each time, and that she may not live through the next one and recommended spaying her, if she's well enough for the surgery. Mind you, the vet is a friend of my mom's, and the dog didn't even see the vet, my mom just described the problem.

What do you guys think about that? Have any of your females ever developed a problem like this? I somehow think there is an underlying problem, as my mom is not the best with vet care, feeds really cheap food, and all of her dogs are suffering from flea allergies that have lasted for the last 3 years now (these fleas are invincible, I swear!). With all her animals, she didn't have the money to keep trying new stuff that wasn't working, but the fleas seem to be gone now, but the dogs are still missing a lot of hair and have definitely suffered from it.

I think that the flea allergy has weakened the saint's immune system, and I think she may have uterine cancer or tumors. She does have some lumps on her body that the vet said seems harmless, but I'm just wondering about this whole being in heat could make her look near death thing. Has anyone ever heard of that? It drives me mad that my parents let their pets suffer because they don't have the money (since they spent it on their summer vacation... don't get me started..), and they won't let me take any of the dogs to make things easier on them. Dusty (the saint) was a pup that I found through a great breeder in California when I was younger and still living at home, and it kills me to think she could be suffering from something serious or possibly even treatable, and it's just being ignored. Help!?!

Did the vet check for the possibility of payometra? As you get 'open' and closed payometra.

Payometra is infection of the reproduction system. When the bitch comes into heat her cerfix open, and after heat it closes again. Payometra is when she picks up infection whilst the cerfix opened. "Open' payometra indicates that the cerfix stayed open after the season passed, eventually a thick coffee coloured puss might drip out.
In 'closed' payometra the cerfix picked up infection, but closed up again. So you won't know that the dog picked it up.
the Vet need to check this, as you wont' be able to tell.

The signs are that bitches are not there normal selves just after a heat cycle, to as much as 3 weeks after a heat cycle. May not eat, are restless, and may run a feaver. Ofcourse in 'open' payometra you will pick up the discharge (and might even confuse it with a heat discharge)

'Closed' payometra is far more dangerous in that it's not picked up easily. If not treated the bitch may die due to 'poisening' from inside out.

Antibiotics is the cure, but usually it will return with the next season (unless bred), so it's best to spuy a female if she's not a brood bitch, or as in this case, an older bitch.

This is also another reason why it's also reccomended to spuy bitches, due to the chances of picking up.

Not sure if this is what ails your mom's dog, but it's sure worth checking it out? It happened to me 3 times now, so I'm always on the look out just after my girls had a season.

I'm not sure, I don't even know if my mom actually took the dog to the vet or not. My mom was given antibiotics though, so I would assume that would help clear up anything like that.

From what I heard, the vet made it sound more like going into heat when she is 7 or older could be deadly since it's hard on her body. I was a little confused by that, because what is more natural than a season in any animal?

But thanks for the advice, it's definitely worth looking into and I will mention it to my mom!

Not to step on toes here, but I've heard vets come up with funny 'excuses' if they are not exactly sure what they deal with. Whatever ails usually might get fixed with antibiotics.

But not that I'm the 'pro' but the heat thing sounds funny to me. I had an 10 year old female, and heat was NEVER a problem. It's the most natural thing in the world. Unless the process doesn't happen as it should? But then I don't think the heat cycle itself is the problem, but there is some underlaying issue?

Non the less, let us know if your mom's dog is fine now?

She's much better now that her heat is over, but the vet said the next time it could kill her. That's what confused me, I could see feeling crappy when in season (who doesn't, right?) but killing her? That's why I was asking on here, thought maybe someone would have a decent suggestion or have heard of this. But the lack of ideas makes me think the vet really doesn't know and my mom doesn't care enough to find out what's really wrong. If I didn't live so far from her and I had the money I'd go pick her up right now and take her to my vet, whom I love, but alas I cannot...

Hopefully it was just some sort of infection or something, I even checked pet food recalls to see if there could have been anything funny in that regard, but nothing has been recalled lately. She really needs to get some blood work done and maybe x-rays, but I know my parents won't pay for it (so frustrating!). I really hate when people won't get medical care for their pets! My dogs see the vet so often, I'm pretty sure we're paying for their kids college single-handedly!

Thanks for the suggestion though, I'm going to talk to her tonight about that!

If the vets says it will kill her next time I'm pretty sure it is payometra. Because payometra comes back every time, and if not pick up the dog will die.

Maybe suggest to your mom to rather spuy her for safety sake?

I had nearly the same problem in my Bulldog. she was comming into season very often and would lose her hair each time. We reconed that it could be a Hormone imbalance and we got her spayed.( 1 Week ago) and she has never been better! Her hair is all growing back and she has more energy to play with the Saints. I think you would get your dogs spayed

Here's hoping my mom does! Glad it helped your dog out, how old was she? I'm worried Dusty may be too old for the surgery at 7, but I don't know. I'd totally pay for it if I wasn't a broke recent college grad with a baby on the way and pets of my own!

My mom's not the type of person that likes to hear what to do, so it's hard telling her to get her S*&^ together and take care of her pets. She gets very defensive about it. Maybe I'll suggest that she goes through a shelter spay program, they tend to be cheaper and do tons of spay/neuters.

Savannah is 4 years old. Get your female Heart Tested first on the same day as spaying. It really didnt cost that must ( around 250 euro's for everything)but here I know there is Animal week in some vets and they spay pets really cheap! I thinks its 20 euro's but not sure. Its in Connection with ISPCA. Maybe ask your vet if they have an Animal week where you are

I wanted to thank you for your help. Dusty is being spayed as we speak. My mom took her to the vet because she stopped eating and appeared bloated. She has pyometria, and my mom wouldn't have known to ask about it if it wasn't for you. Her uterus was really large and could have ruptured had they waited any longer to take her. Provided she makes it through the surgery, this should solve the problem. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for telling us about this. The specialist recognized it, but not the normal vet. She could have been dead tomorrow.

so pleased to hear things are getting sorted!

keep us posted ? are you saying the vet didnt know what pyo was???

cheri xxxx

From the way my mom made it sound, the vet knew what it was, but the specialist was the one that caught it. Most (almost all, seriously) people in the area have little chiuahuas or shih tsus and get them spayed or neutered, so it may not be something they encounter a lot. At least she had the specialist check. i'll keep you posted. I'm just glad my constant nagging convinced my mom to take her. I'd much rather get the call that she's in emergency spay versus the alternative!

Pretty scary stuff. I had never heard about it before, but i will definitely know to spay my females in the future! It's not worth the risk, or the $2000 vet bill!

So my guess was right... Paymetra is really a bugger if you dont' know about it.
I live close to a university, and when my dogs get sick I usually take them there. So the students and proffessors usually work on the dogs.

This is why it was picked up in my dog first time.. And ever since I'm on the watchout for it.

I'm just clad all is sorted now.

Dusty made it through her surgery, but she didn't make it through the night. No one was at the vets office with her, but they assured us she was on pain meds and probably went in her sleep. Thank you all for your concern and help. This is always the worst part about having a pet, especially knowing that it is something that could have been avoided or treated if caught earlier.

I'll be traveling to Philadelphia to be with my family, as they are all a mess about the whole thing (especially my little brother and sister). i'll always be weary of this, and thanks for making me aware of it!

I am very sorry to hear this! It's always heartbreaking to lose a beloved pet.

Condolences....

so sorry to hear you sad news

cheri xxx