Sunday, July 3, 2011

486. A rare case of pyometra in a very young Silkie Terrier

CASE 1. PYOMETRA IN A 10-MONTH-OLD SILKIE
I advise 2-3 months after the end of heat as the best and safest time to spay the female dog. There will be less bleeding as the blood vessels are not enlarged as shown in the two cases below. The Silkie Terrier has an infection of the womb, medically known as pyometra. Pyometra is rare in female dogs at 10 months of age and is usually present when the female dog is over 5 years old.


CASE 2. OWNER'S INSPECTION BEFORE HER CHOW CHOW IS SPAYED BY THE VET
In the Chow Chow, I have taken pictures of the inside of the Toa Payoh Vets' operation room in 2010 as some of the younger owners, such as the Chow Chow owner, are interested as to where their dog is spayed. The young lady came one late evening in July 2010 when I was still around and asked to see the Operation Room and the Hospitalisation Area. I showed her and she brought her Chow Chow in for the spay later.

The room is essentially the same in 2011 except that I have replaced with brand new sets - the isoflurane gas machine, the oxygen regulators and a new veterinary operation table. The Operation Room has a glass partition to bring in natural light. So, there is an incorrect impression that hospitalised cats and dogs are inside the Operation Room! I got the glass partition from a pet shop owner who was wanted to dispose of it as he was renovating his shopping mall pet shop at the time I was re-modelling my Operation Room.
I wanted the glass partition for my front door but it was not fitting. Then I thought of having it as part of the Operation Room instead of a gypsum wall partition which would make the room claustrophobic. This glass partition made veterinary surgery much more pleasant as I could see the natural daylight from the back door which is open during the daytime.

As regards closure of the skin wound, each veterinary surgeon has his own favourite method. Mine is just one or two horizontal mattress using 2/0 or 3/0 absorbable sutures so that the dog owner does NOT need to come back 14 days later for stitch removal. I find that one packet os suture has sufficient length to spay a female dog of a large breed such as the Golden Retriever. The suture is used to ligate the two ovaries and the uterine body. Then 3 or 4 interrupted sutures to close the linea alba. After that 1 or 2 horizontal mattress sutures to close the skin. I don't use subcuticular sutures. With this method used over the last 20 years of practice, I find that there are no post-operation itchiness and licking in 90% of my spay cases.

Pictures are at:
http://www.sinpets.com/F6/201006261spaying-dogs-toapayohvets-Singapore-ToaPayohVets.htm

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