It is taking all my courage to type this now with a great lump in my throat a pain in my heart and red rimmed eyes but its something I didnt know would happen and has so here goes
In the the early hours of this morning my beloved labrador Minnie died aged 2 and a half ,she was in season and was mated a week ago on friday,so as to make sure she was safe from my young dog here we boarded her with friends,Minnie came home last night and was lethargic she looked had what I thought was diahrea its was runny and was streaked with blood I rang the vet who said it could be the heat and was she drinking I said yes she was and she said to give her some kaolin,this we did and she went to sleep we thought she was ok at six this morning we found her dead
. We had a post mortem and the cause of death was Pyometra this is an infection in the uterus and the discharge I thought was diahrea was in fact coming from the uterus.
I am now full of guilt because I wonder if I should have insisted the vet come out but Ill never know if my girl could have been saved.
The reason im posting this is to say please please consider all the options of breeding before you plan a litter its six years since I bred a litter and we lost that litter of two puppies then its not straight forward and even I after twenty odd years of owning dogs did not recognise Pyometra
Please take time to do a search on pyometra and then god forbid this should happen to you ,you will get help straight away,Ill never forgive myself for not insisting that the vet come out last night My girl may have been saved,I am sharing this with you to also consider if breeding is all its cracked up to be .

How brave of you to tell us, Glenys. What a terrible thing to happen. Hindsight gives everyone perfect vision, but you know that in your heart you did your best for her. She won't hold it against you. Bless you.

Don't you dare blame yourself, things like this do unfortunately happen. If every time our dogs had the runs etc. and we rushed them to the vet well!! You did everything right and you did contact your vet at the time.

Look after yourself and give your other dog a big hug from me.

Take care and once again it's not your fault!!

Diane

Glenys - I'm so, so sorry :( C.

*hugs*

So sorry :(
Lel

Glenys I don't know what to say. I really do feel so sorry you we all know how much you put into those dogs- even the ones that aren't yours:( Please don't blame yourself though- Kassie was unwell with the runs about six weeks ago and I didn't take her to the vets- just starved her etc as usual then fed up on chicken and rice etc- you weren't to know:(

Stacey x x x

Deeply sorry.

Love Donna and charlie x

I'm very sorry mattie
C xxxx

So truly sorry, Hayley xx

So very,very sorry.

oh glenys my heart truly goes out to you.all on here know the heartbreak i suffered a few weeks ago. i swore then i would never breed again. i still miss my hamble so much and wonder if there was something i could have done to save her. she too was only 2/12 yrs old. be strong. big hugs.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

With all the troubles you have had over the past few weeks it seems so unfair. You have done so much for dogs. My heart goes out to you.

Love, John xx

I'm very very sorry to hear of ur loss. :(

My breeder lost her girl this year Babe do to the same thing. The only thing she did have her at the vets and they said she was way to dehydrated to operate on. They had her on IV but she passed away that night :(. She just turned 4, was bred 2 weeks before :( She rushed her there as fast as she could about a 40min drive after hours. She blamed herself and still has trouble with it.

Sorry again to hear of ur loss, please don't blame ur self :(

ttfn :(

What terrible news, I am so sorry Glenys.

What a terrible shame. I am so sorry.

Fiona and Saffy

I am just so sad for you.

But please don't load yourself with guilt we can all miss the obvious at times and say if only, and wish that we had done something different but remember the good times with Minnie and that she loved you as you loved her.

I know, as I am sure a lot of other people on this board do, that you are one of the most caring owners that I know and I think it is very brave of you to post as you have.

Love and ((hugs))

Jayne

So sorry Glenys to hear your tragic news. It could happen to any of us, anytime,you musn't blame yourself. Try and think of all the dogs you have saved and rescued and nursed and the difference you have made to their lives.

I am so so sorry Mattie.
Please don't blame yourself.

So sorry to hear your news Mattie :(

Very sorry Mattie.
Dawn.

Sorry to hear your sad news, Mattie.
Best wishes,
Sarah

so very sorry.....it must be heartbreaking,

Try and take comfort in everything everyone has said....don't feel guilty...sometimes it's so easy to miss these things, it's not your fault.

I know how awful you must be feeling now, but really...you know you did the best, and always would do the best by your girl.

I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say our thoughts are with you.

I'm not very good with words, sorry about that, but I really am crying for you. It;s such an awful loss.

Lots of love and hugs to you.

Lisa x

I am so so sorry Mattie.

Not sure what to say but we are thinking of you.

Pam

So sorry :( *hug* thinking of you.

I am so sorry Mattie. You did what you thought was right at the time so don't blame yourself.
Sue

So sorry to hear of your sad loss :-(
You said she had been staying with some friends, had they not noticed her being unwell? Maybe if they had seen some signs and mentioned them to you then alarm bells would have rang :-(
As you only saw her at the later end of the pyometria then the more obvious early symptoms would not have shown to you, so don't blame yourself.

Oh Mattie, I don't know what to say, I'm so sorry.
Dawn R.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this sad sad time {{{{{Hugs}}}}}. Gillian

Can I just say a big thankyou to you all for your lovely words of kind condolence and the e cards etc we've recieved xxx

So sorry to hear your news Mattie.
I just had my Dolly spayed a couple of weeks ago, and the vet said there were 'changes' in her uterus and fluid building up, a sign that a pyometra was likely to develop, probably at her next season. The trouble with dogs is, they are so stoic, you sometimes just don't know that they are ill until it's too late.
Please don't blame yourself.
Thinking of you.
Liz x

If only they could talk. :(

So sorry for your loss :(
Lara x

My heart went out to you and your little Minnie. My heart also goes out to all of those poor dogs in need of a home. We have taken in a rescue dog who was desperate for a family and is absolutely beautiful although we have had mega problems with him in our first year together. He was in a terrible state - both mentally and physically. You obviously are a real animal person and I would love you to put your heart and time into those poor homeless dogs who could benefit from such a caring person - instead of breeding or buying from breeders. Good luck in your recovery - I know, the pain is unbearable.

Please don't blame yourself, it's not your fault. I nearly lost one of my collies last year to pyo, I didn't even think about it as she was only 8 months old, took her to the vet who picked it up and operated the next day. You don't think that a young dog is going to have pyo, it never enters your head and you wern't to know. I am so sorry.

Tracy

(((((((hugs)))))))))

Sweep x

So sorry to hear about Minnie. :(

I'm terribly sorry to hear about Minnie :(

It is easy to blame oneself - I have guilt over one of my dogs years ago who hated the vet, but was pts there. He was in my arms for the last time, but spent the night there. If i had known how ill he was ( it was kidney failure) I would have had him home for his last night. It is one of my life's biggest regrets.

Life can be full of "if only's" and we can only do our best. Even very experienced owners such as yourself can miss things, dogs don't always show symptoms that they are supposed to, either.

My Terv bitch had pyo at ten and a half, one vet just suggested i "watch" her but i took her for a second opinion because in my mind i wasn't happy - but she was not showing any real symptoms, it could so easily have been lethargy because of the heat etc etc......

You do so much for dogs, I am so sorry this has happened, it just doesnt seem at all fair.

Lindsay

Mattie, I'm sooo, soo sorry for your horrendously sad loss.
Haven't had too much time lately to read through as much as I would like of CD, as I've been so worried over one of my dogs...think her time may have come to leave me.
I can totally understand your pain, and I feel for you.
But please do not blame yourself. You DID ring the Vets, you DID follow his advise. What more could you have done?? Hindsight?? Don't cause yourself more pain by going there.
My heart goes out to you.
Stephanie xx

The loss of Minnie was made easier to bear with all the love sent by my doggy friends and kindness shown via the net.

Im sorry to hear about your dog and I hope things go ok for you and her.

The good news is that Ned (my young dog who was run over) is improving daily and he now has his plaster off,but sad thing is he misses Minnie so much he mopes about a lot as the other two Dogs mattie and Bobby are old and dont want to play.