Brooke

Pyometra Uterine Infection

Followers of the blog will remember Rook and her kittens who came to the centre from Rookley Country Park. Since then we have re-named her Brooke. Her kittens have grown up so fast and are thriving. Brooke and her kittens have now been separated, Brooke has been quite poorly recently. 

We started to notice that Brooke's general condition was deteriorating, she was grumpy, very thin and she had lost coat condition. The vet suspected that Brooke had a conditon called Pyometra Uterine Infection. 

Pyometra is the medical term used to describe an infected uterus. This infection can be open (draining pus from the vagina) or closed (pus is contained in the uterus by a closed cervix).

Pyometra can be a life threatening infection and may even require emergency surgery. A closed pyometra is more of an emergency than an open pyometra, since there is no drainage of pus in a closed pyometra. If left untreated, cats become very ill and some may not survive. With early treatment, about 90 percent of affected cats recover.

Since pyometra is an infection of the uterus, all unspayed cats are susceptible.
 

Symptoms

• Vaginal discharge
• Lethargy
• Lack of appetite
• Depression
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Drinking excessive amounts of water and urinating often   

Treatment and recovery

The ideal treatment for pyometra is an ovariohysterectomy (spay). Brooke went to the vets this week to be neutered. She has been on a course of anti-biotics and seems to be recovering well. We were lucky that we caught the infection early. This case just proves how vital it is that you get your cats neutered. This infection could have been fatal for Brooke.