1360. Time is running out - closed pyometra in an old dog

When the vet said that the dog has very low chances of survival on the operating table and the medical costs are high as in this closed pyometra case, it is very difficult to justify paying for a probable anaesthetic death. The owners decided to bring the dog home to die. But there was this 12-year-old boy who cried his heart out. Usually vets don't follow up as the owners had decided but this little boy did love this 14-year-old dog very much and knew the outcome. I phoned the owner the next morning. The dog was still passing bloody vaginal discharge and was inactive. He decided to get her operated and I reduced the surgical costs to give this high anaesthetic risky canine a chance to live. Time is running out on her,

If she survived the anaesthesia and surgery, the little boy would be most happy to get his companion back to health and that was what mattered in this case.  "Don't wait till you have finished work this evening to bring the dog down," I advised the father. "Bring her down now while she still has a fighting chance to live."  Time is running out. Dr Daniel operated, removed a gigantic womb filled with brownish-red pus, about to burst if surgery is delayed.

The little boy was most happy to have his companion back home the next day.

This would surely be how a vet can make a difference if he makes time to follow up before time has run out for a little boy's best friend. Happiness in the boy's face when the dog went home the day after surgery would be hard to describe. "Are you happy now?" I asked him as he sat at the back of the car with this old dog. "Yes," he nodded vigorously. Time was running out but the father's decision to operate and the intensive IV drip and medication given prior to surgery stopped the time running out.