I recently arrived at the vets with two bitches to be spayed. One I had picked up that morning from a home and was coming into rescue. The other was from a potential fosterer who I had spent months persuading to have her dog spayed.

When I went to book them in only one dog was expected (I had mucked up) and as they had a very full operation list they could only do one with the other being done 7 days later. Not spaying the rescue would cause major problems as this would affect her going to her foster home a few days later. Not spaying the other would not have been a major problem but just inconvenient for her owner.

I decided to go with the potential foster home dog and rearrange the op for the rescue. After badgering the owner to have her bitch spayed I really did not want to put her out.

I had a call later in the morning to say that her womb had the beginnnings of a pyometra and contained horrid gunk. There are two types of pyo, an open where the discharge drains and a closed where it just collects in the womb often not noticed until it is too late. Both are potentially fatal but the closed especially so because the damage is done before the owner realises thaere is something seriously wrong. A week later may have been too late and that operation on that day may well have saved her life.

I don't know what made me chose one over the over. The second had her op a week later and all was fine and she is fully recovered. The fosterers dog has now had the all clear after a course of antibiotics.

Just a lucky call I guess

Gosh eileen. It seems like the doggie angels were in the right place at the time.Glad they are both fine now. Mags

Some would say you had a 50/50 chance of picking the right dog but i think us women have a spooky natural instinct for these kind of things. Thank goodness.

Wow that was a lucky call....for a very lucky to be still here doglet....
Now Eileen how about the 6 numbers for tonights lotto Share with you honest, half for rescues and a quarter each for me and thee

Wow . I do hope your potential fosterer never forgets this result, and tells all her friends as well.

When I do remember to do it Jean it's always a lucky dip. Not been that lucky yet but perhaps one day

Well done Eileen, good call. What did her owner say?

She was in shock I think and just so glade that her girl had been caught in time. She is now a firm believer in spaying and has promised to tell anyone with an un-neutered bitch about her close call.

I did get a big box of chocs which I shared with my fellow playworkers

Well done, what a lucky choice - and a brilliant outcome re: her owner who will now spread the word I'm so glad this girl was caught in time

What a fantastic result!

I have never been through this with a dog but both of my cats developed this. Again, we didn't know. We had taken them in for spaying to stop cancer creeping in and the vet discovered this in each of them when he opened them up (separately six months apart!). We just felt so lucky!

it must have been fate, what a lucky doggie

She's one lucky girl to have met you

The same happened with my dog, She was booked for a routine spay that I had to bring forward 2 weeks due to work. The vet rang me to say she had a closed pyometra (Id never heard of it before). She had shown no signs of illness but he said within a week or so she would have been dead.