Three Words That Strike Fear in Vets and Owners

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Dr. Marty Greer talking about the three words that strike fear in both veterinarians and owners.

“These three things are what can take a normal, easy, lovely day at the veterinary clinic and turn it upside down and cause clients to have to wait and then swear at their veterinary team because they don’t understand why they have to wait because they had an appointment,” Greer said.

Those three words, according to Greer, are GDV (bloat), Pyo (pyometra) and HBC (hit by car).

Refresher on these three critical care situations:

Pyometra is a uterine infection.

“Fevers are almost never seen with pyometras,” Greer said. “And it’s a hard thing to understand how you can have a uterus full of pus and not run a fever. But apparently the uterus is a privileged organ and it allows for foreign things to happen in it. That could be a pyometra. That could be a puppy.

“So unfortunately, they almost never run a fever, so don’t rely on that to be a symptom. If you were waiting for a fever to happen, it means that the uterus probably just ruptured and the dog now has a belly full of puss instead of just a uterus full of puss. And when your belly is full of puss, you’re in big trouble. And so, if you’re waiting for a temperature, you’re decreasing your dog’s odds of survival.

“If your dog was recently in heat, they aren’t feeling well, they’re not eating well, they’re perhaps drinking buckets and buckets of water, maybe vomiting, maybe have a vaginal discharge, maybe not. Do not wait for a fever (to take the dog to the vet).”

GDV (gastric dilatation and volvulus) is bloat, where a dog’s stomach fills with air and may twist, causing a very rapid cascade of life-threatening events in the dog’s system.

HBC (hit by car) and other trauma is covered in our K9 911 First Aid seminar series linked here.