Pyometra is a life-threatening uterine infection in unspayed female dogs that causes severe systemic illness, requiring emergency surgery and posing significant welfare concerns for affected animals.
Dogs with pyometra experience acute severe welfare compromise from systemic sepsis. Affected dogs show lethargy, vomiting, excessive thirst and urination, abdominal pain, and in late cases collapse and shock. The toxins released from the infected uterus cause systemic organ damage including kidney failure. The condition is extremely distressing and painful, with affected animals showing obvious signs of severe illness. Even with emergency surgery, mortality rates are significant, and surgery itself in a severely compromised patient carries substantial risk. Dogs surviving pyometra often have residual health effects from the systemic illness.