Our 7-year-old unspayed female Labrador

Answer

Take her to an emergency veterinary clinic now. Polydipsia (huge water intake), peeing every 2 hours, lethargy, refusing kibble, and a creamy brown vulvar discharge about four weeks after her heat cycle is the textbook picture of **canine pyometra** — a bacterial infection of the uterus. This does not improve on its own, antibiotics by themselves are not the cure, and waiting is what turns a treatable condition into a fatal one. "Call the regular vet Monday for some pills" is not the safe path tonight.

> Card source: PDSA pyometra in dogs, accessed this session; dog emergency card (Pyometra row), accessed this session.

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### 1. Why this combination of signs is the pyometra bell

Pyometra almost always shows up 4–8 weeks after a heat cycle, when progesterone has thickened the uterine lining and *E. coli* from the vagina seeds it. The three things you are seeing line up with how the disease is described in veterinary texts:

- **Polydipsia / peeing every 2 hours.** Bacterial toxins (endotoxins) shut down the kidney's ability to concentrate urine, so the dog drinks to compensate and floods out. This is a sign the infection is already **systemic** — it is not a urinary tract infection and it is not vaginitis.
- **Creamy, foul-smelling brown discharge.** That is pus draining through an open cervix. It tells you the uterus is full of infected fluid; "open cervix" is easier to spot than closed-cervix pyometra, but **no discharge does not mean safer** — the closed form hides the same fluid inside until it ruptures or the dog collapses.
- **Lethargy + refusing food 48 hours in.** Early decompensation; this is the window before endotoxemia, septic shock, or uterine rupture becomes visible.

What "wait until Monday" risks, in plain terms:

| Complication | What it means in the body |
| --- | --- |
| Endotoxemia / septic shock | Bacterial toxins in the bloodstream drop blood pressure and shut down organs |
| Uterine rupture | The pus-filled uterus tears, spilling into the belly — peritonitis |
| Acute kidney injury | Endotoxins and dehydration damage the kidneys; some dogs never fully recover |
| DIC (bleeding disorder) | Sepsis consumes clotting factors — uncontrolled bleeding |

Every hour of delay widens that window. The dog emergency card in this pack rates pyometra as a 🔴 **immediate** emergency, not "Monday morning."

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### 2. Treatment: medical vs. surgery — what the ER vet decides

This pack does not diagnose or recommend a treatment choice for your dog; the decision belongs to the emergency clinician after an exam, bloodwork, and usually an abdominal ultrasound. The general shape, drawn from how this disease is managed in standard veterinary practice and consistent with the emergency card's instruction *not* to use antibiotics at home as a substitute for examination:

- **Oral antibiotics alone do not cure pyometra.** They slow the bacteria but do not drain or remove the pus-filled uterus, and recurrence after a heat is common. Used at home as a "wait-and-see," they buy hours at the cost of making the eventual surgery harder.
- **The standard definitive treatment** for a sick, non-breeding dog is **emergency stabilization (IV fluids + IV antibiotics + pain control) followed by surgical ovariohysterectomy** — removing the infected uterus and ovaries. This is the only path that removes the source of the infection.
- A **medical (non-surgical) option** exists in some stable, breeding animals using prostaglandins plus antibiotics, but it has high recurrence, a lower survival rate than surgery, and is **not appropriate** for a dog already showing lethargy, anorexia, and PU/PD — your dog meets criteria for the surgical route, again, pending the vet's exam.

Bring whichever path, the goal is the same: she needs to be at an ER tonight.

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### 3. What to do right now and on the way to the ER

| Do | Don't |
| --- | --- |
| **Call the nearest 24/7 emergency vet clinic now and say "suspected pyometra, 7yo intact female Lab, 4 weeks post-estrus, lethargic, PU/PD, brown purulent vulvar discharge."** | Don't wait until Monday, "until the morning," or until her regular vet opens. |
| Note down for the phone call: last heat date, when discharge started, when appetite dropped, water intake (rough bowls/day), and urination frequency. Take the notes with you. | Don't give any antibiotic, hormone, or pain pill you have at home — including human meds. |
| Keep her calm, in a quiet corner, on a towel in case of more discharge. | Don't let her roam, jump on/off things, or drink enormous amounts at once. |
| Bring vaccination records, any recent bloodwork, current meds/supplements, and her approximate weight (Lab, you said ~typical adult). | Don't feed a big meal just before leaving — if surgery is on the table, the ER may want her fasted. Ask on the phone. |
| Transport on a flat, stable surface (board or thick blanket). A second person to drive so one can stay with her helps. | Don't bathe the vulvar area aggressively; gentle wiping with warm water is fine, but no antiseptics or douching. |

The dog emergency card in this pack explicitly lists two "never do"s for pyometra: do not wait because there is no discharge or because she can still walk, and do not use antibiotics/hormones/analgesics at home as a substitute for examination — both apply to your situation tonight.

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### Where to go — one missing piece

To pull the **closest open 24-hour emergency vet clinics** for your address, tell me the city or district you are in (and country if it isn't obvious) and I'll fetch it from the map. Until I have that, search **"[your city] emergency vet"** or **"[your city] animal emergency hospital"** and call the first result before you drive in so they can prep a triage room.

If she deteriorates while you are arranging transport — collapses, rapid breathing, gums turn pale or tacky, or the discharge becomes heavily bloody — skip the call and go straight to the nearest open vet clinic.

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**Limits of this answer:** triage and the general shape of treatment only. The exact diagnosis, drug choices, surgical timing, and prognosis are decided by the emergency clinician after examining her tonight.