Has anyone experienced pyo after a first heat cycle? I have an 11 month old who started her first heat around Sept 15, and just began to bleed/flow again yesterday. She is at the vet now for blood work, but I thought it was odd for a first heat, so soon after the cycle, and since the flow was blood and not pus with no odour.

If treatment is successful, would I expect pyo after every cycle now? How much would this effect breeding potential?

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Chris

Chris?
Could she be having a split heat? I just re-read some of my notes yesterday, cleaning out my notebook, and came across notes that the first heat can often be a split season. Either way, I hope it she is okay.

Please let us know what you find out.

Chris, I would NOT assume this was a pyo, unless the vet did xrays and was sure.
Sounds to me, like others said, a split heat, but none of us are there to see the discharge, do a physical exam or look at xrays. No pus, just a bloody discharge, bitch feeling well?
If the vet did not do xrays or ultrasound and is automatically suspecting a pyo, I would stop, re-group, and see another vet asap, preferably one that is knowledgeable in reproductive medicine.
Remember, most regular vets are "generalists" and havae a mindset of pathology and since pyo is something they see in unspayed bitches, that's maybe where their thought process is taking them!

Wishing you it is a split heat. If it is in fact a bloody discharge, doesn't sound like a pyo.

In case it is a pyo, discharge is red/brownish, icky, sticky, no smell and belly is huge, female lethargic at some point, a lot of fever and yes this did happen to one of my girls after her first heat cycle... and first discharge appeared 30 days from last day of cycle.

Best of luck

Pyometra means pus in the uterus, I believe. You need an ultrasound for sure.

I was just at a Dr. Hutchinson seminar today. According to him Pyo is one of the most incorrectly diagnosed conditions. A bitch with Pyo will not need to be spayed and will respond medically if treated properly as well as go on to have normal seasons and litters.

What your girl has does not sound like Pyo to me, sounds more like a split heat.

Thanks for the responses.

At the time of my first post, the discharge was thin and bloody, and the bitch was a little bit down with a slight temperature. The vet diagnosed pyo so we treated with hormone injections and antibotics. After 24 hours the bitch was really down, vomiting, not eating, with a painful belly, and the discharged began to get really dark. I elected to spay her and lose a uterus instead of her.

It's too bad as she was my pick puppy and growing out beautifully.

Chris