[PyrNet-L] Breeding; Health: Pyometra

My young bitch Esibelle has got pyometra, and if at all possible I don't want her spayed. I want to keep her intact for showing, breeding is probably out of the question by now, but I hope some of you may have knowlegde or suggestions that can help me achieve that. All inputs will be received gratefully.

Esibelle is 3 years old and had a litter last april. I don't know if this has any thing to do with the present problem, but that birth which started out as a nice and easy birth ended in a caesarian and a ruptured uterus, and I have known all along that she may not be able to become pregnant again, but she has been having two quite normal heats since then, and things seemed to be going well, so I was being optimistic

Then in the begining of april - some 4 weeks after the last heat - the pyometra began, all the classic symtoms, discharge, drinkring too much, a slight fever, the uterus slightly enlarged, but at least it was an open pyometra.

At that point she was injected with methergin - to contract the uterus and help expel the matter - and treated for 10 days with Sulfotrim (I don't know if the medicin I mention is know outside Europe, but this contains Sulfamethoxazol and trimenthoprim). As expected there was a lot of discharge - mostly blood - for the first day or two, but after that it stopped and she seemed fine, the fever was gone, and she stopped the excesive drinking.

4 days after stopping the medicin I noticed she was discarging again and vent back to the vet. This time there was no fever and no excesive drinking. I suggested we take a sample from the uterus to do a resistence test but the vet said it was not necessary as he would treat her with Baytril (Enrofloxin) this time as there has been found no bacteria resistent against this medicin, which is the strongest they have. Also this time we treat with Methergin for 10 days instead of just the initial injections the first time.

Esibelle has not seem to respond well to this treatment, as there has been a lot of discharge, and I had more or less given up hope to avoid spaying her. Today - one week into treatment - for the first time I have seen no discharge. I hope it is a good sign.

I have been told that if I don't spay her I will have to breed her next season - which is in august - and of course I am prepared to do that, allthough I don't want an other litter now. The teory behind this being that a having a litter restore the hormon balance and she might be right again. With no litter the pyometra will recur. Now I know that I am probably fighting a loosing battle, and that the chance of a litter is slight, on the other hand I don't want to give up if there is any hope to avoid spaying her, so if any of you know of anything I could do, please let me know.

Maybe I should add that the vet did tell me about treating with prostaglandin, which he was very much opposed to because of the suffering it gives, and I agree. Much as I would like to keep her as showdog, I will not put her through a lot of pain to achieve it.

[PyrNet-L] Breeding; Health: Pyometra - long