Novice, Please help - Page 2

I had a young bitch successfully treated for open pyo. As Molly said, it is very expensive and painful for the dog as the hormones cause contractions that expel the pus from the horns of the uterus. This bitch pyo'd on her 2nd season, was treated and successfully bred on her 3rd season producing a healthy litter. We did not try to breed her again; after finshing her AKC and Canadian titles, she was spayed. Given your bitch is already 5 years old, I don't think I would risk treating her for several reasons. She is not a proven brood bitch, so may never conceive and 5, 6 years old is a bit late for a first litter. As Sunsilver said, there is always a danger of the uterus rupturing leaking pus into the abdominal cavity causing peritonitis. I once saw an infected uterus weighing over 8 lbs removed from a bullmastiff. If the uterus is already engorged with pus it may already be compromised and the contractions caused by the hormones could rupture it. If this were my bitch, I'd have her spayed and buy another if I wanted to breed.