03/29/2024
I got this from a friends post and it explains this subject very well so i wanted to share.
Pyometra (Uterine Infection in dogs)
Having lost 2 bi***es in my small kennel to this dreaded & often fatal disease, I would like to shed light onto this problem in our beloved dogs.
Last month when I ended up taking Miss Holly to an emergency spay due to Pyometra, my veterinarian said: “When will you learn to listen to science & not skip your bitche’s heats?”
I was taken back by this question and asked him to please explain the new science in this.
Here is what he said:
“Biologically the bitch is made to have 2 litters yearly. She does not have a metestrus (where the progesterone drops if not pregnant), but has a diestrus (where the progesterone stays elevated regardless of pregnancy). Repro veterinary science now reveals the damaging effects on the endometrium of the repeated progesterone. The biological facts are that there is no advantage to skipping an estrous cycle (heat) in a healthy bitch as the progesterone will be elevated and the endometrium regardless of pregnancy status. The placenta sites are totally healed 12 weeks post whelping”.
He also said: “It is optimal to breed in the second heat, and every cycle, rather than skip heats and thus breed older bi***es because the uterus is a young dog’s organ and fertility is optimal prior to 5 years of age. But that in order to do so the bitch should be in optimal body condition, so both diet & exercise should be employed to achieve that.”
His words have given me much to ponder, as I am of the older belief that skipping heats were meant to be good, and to always wait to breed until after 2 years of age.
But having had lost 2 bi***es to Pyometra in 6 years, I am now terrified to ignore science any longer.
And I was lucky that my bi***es did not have CLOSED Pyometra, as their uterus explodes and the bitch goes septic & dies. 😱😱
So in the midst of it all, I still think I’m blessed.😜
I know it’s a common mistake to treat our dogs as if they had a reproductive system comparable to the humans, but to get my brain to look at things from a scientific point of view can be hard for me 🤔
