Topa Emergency Vet

Topa is now back to normal

During their morning feeding, Topa was observed making some strange facial expressions as though she was having trouble with her mouth. We quickly checked for a foreign object such as a stick that could have been lodged inside, but nothing. Tuloon, Topa's nurturing mom, also began to lick Topa's mouth over and over again. At this point, since she was otherwise behaving normally, we decided to observe her for the day and see if he issue progressed.

Topa spend a few hours in play groups and seemed a bit more quiet than normal and then at feeding she looked plain uncomfortable. We took her temperature which is normally no higher than 102 degrees F for a dog and it was 103.1. Topa had just finished her first heat cycle at 11 months old and I thought I noticed a light colored discharge from her vaginal area. This could indicate a pyometra which is a building up of puss in the uterus and can be deadly if not caught in time. If it was a closed pyometra, the remedy would be an emergency spay. If it was an open pyometra, the remedy has a much better outlook for her ability to have a litter down the road and since Topa is a rare deep Hedlund Husky line female, this would be most desirable. Either way, her health is the most important and as we rushed her to the emergency vet that evening, we just hoped she would be alright.

The vet did numerous blood tests that all came back within a normal range. She indicated that although possible, a pyometra at Topa's young age is not typical. When examining her mouth, Topa's gums began to bleed. This is something we hadn't noticed earlier in the day and would account for why Tuloon was licking her mouth. There were no signs of gum trauma from chewing a bone or some other object. Alright, so no pyometra but what then? The vet had no idea. Topa was prescribed antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medication and now three days later, she is back to normal with no temperature or bleeding gums.

It's frustrating to not know. At the same time, we can just be thankful that she is back to normal and we'll keep a close eye on her for any signs of a re occurrence.