Got home tonight to find the kitchen covered in pooh and wee.
Sent the dogs outside and cleared it up. Went to let them in and Gemma was a bit unsteady getting up.
Lifted her tail and creamy liquid dripped out (I thought she was in season so I have been keeping a close eye on her laterly)
Rang the vet and told them what I thought it was,pyometria, they said bring her straight down. So I did.
The vet agreed, gave her an antibiotic injection and I have to take her in at 8.30 tomorrow morning to be spayed.
Whilst in the vets I found a lump on her chest, he said it wasnt a fatty lump and they will take that out at the same time.
Gemma is over 9 years old. Never had an Operation and I am absolutly terrified.
I have fed her and not allowed any food between now and after the op now but allowed water.
I am keeping a close eye on her.
Please everyone keep your fingers toes, everything crossed for us.
I really cant bare to loose her.
Lea :(

Oh Lea, I am so sorry :( It's bad enough news at any time, but so close to your move, you must be devastated :(

We'll all be thinking of you and Gemma tomorrow.

Daisy

xxx

Yes, we'll be thinking of you Lea x

Thinking of you both {{{hugs}}}

Margot

Oh Lea how awful :(

I am sure she will be fine and will be thinking about you both :) Is there no way they can operate now as don't mean to alarm you but I would have thought they should have operated as an emergency case :)

Lucy
xx

The antibiotic injection will help keep anything at bay till tomorrow, Lucy. Operating too soon after feeding can cause problems, and if they can wait it's better to.

I do hope so JG but I would have had her in under observation but I suppose it depends how far away you are from the surgery :)

We are about half an hour so I wouldn't risk it and we have 24 hour care at our vets :)

I just remember Glenys (Mattie)  loosing Minnie and know how upset she was :(

Lucy
xx

I'm sure that the vet will have judged it right :) They prefer to operate in 'optimal' conditions, which I assume will be tomorrow after the antibiotics have had a while to start working and, as JG says, when her stomach is empty :)

I'm sure that she will be fine :)

Daisy

I hope so :)

Lucy
xx

Fingers crossed all will go well, Lea. I'll be wishing her well.

Hope everything goes well for Gemma.

Lucy as JG says if the dog has not long eaten more problems can arise.  We had the same with our bitch when we phoned up the vet.  We phoned after hours and they said wait until the morning unless she starts being sick or becomes much worse.  While the pyo was open it was just coming out of her and she was very lively at the time :)

Rox why did the vet let Lea feed her

Sorry but I know how much Gemma means to Lea and want to make sure she does everything to help. They can stomach pump dogs as they do with humans surely :)

I maybe making too much of this but Pyo can be so quick and devastating :(

Lucy
xx

Lucy, there's a certain amount of hours etc when the dog can have a last feed.  So I assume this is why.

I'm not sure if they can stomach pump.  Every dog means alot, if not everything to their owners.  I can understand your concern but IME we got similar treatment but without any antibiotics, or even the vet seeing it to confirm it was pyo.

I know pyo can be quick and devestating.  :(  I also know someone who's vet would operate straight away as he once said "in the morning" and lost the bitch that night.

As for the keeping the dog in, not all vets have someone there 24/7 (unfortantly) and so it's better to have the dog at home, especially with someone like lea who would notice a slight change more then a vet nurse for example, because the owner knows the dog :)

Will keep everything crossed for you and Gemma.  Good luck.

Sarah.

Keeping all Crossed here as  Lucy said I sadly lost a  beloved Lab to Pyometra  aged 2 years.
I would just mention that in case anyone didnt know as I didnt that a pyo can happen when a female is in season I used to think it only happened to pregnant or bitches that had whelped so imagine the horror of finding out it can strike when in season.

sending hugs and best wishes.

Thats interesting mattie, I only thought it happened to bitches after a season and was more popular in those who hadn't whelped?

Minnie was in season when she got the infection   she went very quiet and drank a lot of water it was the hottest day of that year I rang the on call Vet and she said it was probably the heat and to see how she was in the morning she was dead within a few hours I live with that just wishing I had insisted the Vet saw her I would never make that mistake again granted she was at the end of her season think it was the 19 th day

I hope all goes well tomorrow and she is soon home, Lea. 

Keeping everything crossed for you Lea, no doubt you are going to have a long night up with her. Hope all goes well tomorrow. Sending warm healing thoughts. Asking angels to watch over her. hugs xxxx

Will keep everything crossed for you Lea
Hope everything turns out ok
Thinking of you

Dee xx

So sorry to hear this Lea, know it'll be a long night for you worrying :(
{{{{Great big huge warmest Hugs for you}}}}
*And heaping Hyping Helping of Positive thoughts for Gem*
Everything crossed here xxxxx

Thankyou for your words and thoughtd everyone.
As Mattie Says, they can get it when in season. Gemma's season seemed strange, didnt really come to what it should if you get what I mean. I thought it was because she is getting on. But now i know not.
So everyone please keep an eye.
On retrospect she hasnt been herself for a few days, just little things, on their own you wouldnt really think anything of it, an I am sure if I had taken her to the vet then they wouldnt have picked up Pyo.
Well as you can see it is before 7am, I have been awake every 15-30 mins I think through the night just listening to make sure she was still breathing and not going down hill. And when she came and laid beside my bed I kept putting my hand down to make sure she was ok.
I am now wide awake.
She was very unsteady coming down the stairs this morning and didnt really want. But she is downstairs been out for a wee, and now I have 1 1/2 hours before I have to take her to the vets. Then it is off to work until 3 so I wont be able to update anyone until 4 or after I pick her up.
The worry of last night is out of the way, now I am worrying about the operation, will she pull through being the age she is, and what will they find when they take out the lump.
Lea.

Oh what a night you must have had L :(  My Sweep had a planned spey & she`s the same age as Gemma, she came thu it fine, know its different in your case but hope all goes well for her :)

Thats good to know christine. I am worried about her age.
Gemmas an 'old' 9 and a large dog.
I told my mate who is staying with me to help me move, has a female Rottie, and told him last night to get her spayed erlier rather than later,.
Lea

Sweeps a lab Lea but very lively & quite young in the mind! but even so I remember being ever so worried before hand. She`d had a bad reaction to the anaesthetic when she had op for bloat awhile beforehand.

Loads of good thoughts flying over, hope all goes well & try not to worry tho thats probably impossible!

Paws crossed her for your girl

My late BC bitch was spayed(closed pyrometra)at 11 years of age & she was the size of a Sheltie & her womb + infection weighed 14lb ! She was up & running around normally after a week & survived for another 6 years

Do hope that everything goes well Lea.  Thinking of you and Gemma.

Fingers crossed for her.  I had a Pyo last year with a 3 year old bitch. She recovered after being spayed.

So sorry to hear about Gemma. We're both sending out good thoughts for her today. I hope there is some good news this afternoon. I'm sure she'll be wagging that tail at home soon.

All fingers and paws crossed here until she's safe and well.

Hope everythings ok thinking of you both.

Everything crossed here too, thinking of you and Gemma :(

libs xx

SHE IS HOME :D :D :D :D :D
Laid on a bed beside me.
I was meant to pick her up between 5 and 6, but ring at 1-2 to see how she was. Well, It took me 3/4 hour to pluck up the courage to ring, and they said she was perfectly fine and I could pick her up after 3.30. So after I picked the kids up from school I went to the vets and she is looking ALOT better than this morning :D :D :D
Only thing is, I am not allowed her upstairs (And she sleeps in the bedroom with me) So how am I going to work that one out??????????
She is going to mums when I am at work, and I will have Beano with me. She is only allowed out for a wee on a lead. And I have to lift her in and out of the car!!!! She is 33kg!!!!
How long before I can leave her on her own????
I am sure I will have many more questions.
And luckily the vet that spayed her this morning was not the one I saw last night. The vet that spayed her was a lovely women who I have seen before with Beano and my rabbits and I had every faith leaving her with them.
Although my stomach was still doing sommersaults all morning!!!
Many Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and their experiences.
Lea :)

Great news Lea, so pleased to hear that the op went well and Gemma is home again. :D

Oh thats great news L :D

Can you sleep downstairs on the sofa with her bed next to you? And I wouldn`t leave he alone for a few dys, maybe you can take some time off work??

Brilliant news She'll be back to normal by the weekend ;) A few nights on the sofa I think ;)

Brilliant news Lea :D :D

I agree with Christine........hope you got a comfy sofa, or perhaps borrow a campbed and sleep downstairs with her :)

libs xx

Oh what great news I am so glad she is ok

Sneding healing thought to her now for a speedy recovery :)

Any news on the lump ?

Lucy
xx

Sorry yes,
The lump is close to the trachia and jugular so the vet this morning said she would leave it alone and not do anything to it apart from take a smaple (Even though the vet last night said he would take it out at the same time!!!!!)
It is a FATTY LUMP :D :D :D :D :D
I am now going to avoid the vet i had last night and stick to the ones I know!!!!!
Lea :)

I am delighted it is a fatty lump although to be fair to the first vet if the second one was convinced purely on examination they would not have taken a biopsy would they? ;)

Double good news then Lea.  Very pleased for you. :)

That's brilliant, Lea! I'm sure she'll be bouncing around again in no time, giving you more worries! :) In the meantime, can you sleep downstairs with her?

Great news, been thinking of her often today :)

So pleased she is home okay. My Goldens all sleep in the bedroom as well.  My 9 year old was spayed with a Pyo about 8 weeks ago, I still let her walk up the stairs to bed, it wouldn't be advisable for a bouncy dog, but that is not the type of dog you are describing. Just let her walk up slowly and as long as she hasn't got a dog bouncing around her she can have a potter around the garden without a lead, just assess the things she wants to do.  I am sure she will be fine, my girl was sore for a couple of days but was fine after that and she had 3 other Goldens around her.  As for leaving her, you will just have to assess whether she is troubling at her stitches or not, when mine have been operated on I have been able to tell them 'leave' when they have sniffed at their stitches and they tend to leave them alone, as I say just watch to see how she copes.

Great news what a relief for you. We sleep downstairs with ours for a couple of days when they have had ops,put a open sleepmg bag on the floor so she have plenty of room to stretch out, things will be back to normal in a few days.

Sheila.xxx

So glad to hear Gemmas ok , you must also be feeling so much better now.

Lea........so very pleased to hear your good news! :D you will have many sofa nights but I'm sure you wont mind that :D Its wonderful to have good news. As to the lump, I would personally stay with the vets you feel happy with, you can insist on seing them if not an emergency (although even in an emergency I ask, just in case they are there, had I not with my girl when she had torsion the idiot vet that saw her would have killed her coz he said she hadnt got it :( ) I have an older lady now that has a number of lumps, all checked and just old age, so dont worry but do keep an eye on it in case it grows considering where it is. Lumps can have a habit of being bigger inside than they show outside.

Me thinks you are going to have a very spoilt girl over the next week or so, as in more spoilt than ususal ;)

So glad she's OK Lea!  When I've had mine spayed, I've slept on the sofa downstairs with them.

Sarah.

Quick update. Now I have moved and back online after a week.
Gemma is fine.
The stitches come out tomorrow.
Only had one problem last Saturday, the day I moved, where I had to ring the vet up as she had a bad discharge from the stitches, but she would not settle all day due to the caos that was going on around her and I couldnt leave her in the car as it was too hot so she had just done too much.
It all looks as if it has healed up fine.
Considering I thought I was going to loose her l;ast monday, she is back to 100% herself now :)
Thankyou everyone for your kind words.
Lea :)

Aww :-) Thanks for the update on Gemma.

I'm so pleased she is feeling better now :-)

Good Luck at the vets tomorrow :-)

Great news Lea!  Glad Gemma's now fine.

Sarah.