My dog is drinking lots of water a week after pyometra surgery. Is this normal?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The increased drinking and urinating could result from residual infection, and irritation to the bladder during surgery. The diarrhea can be due to stress, pain, or the antibiotics. All in all I would say that if she is eating and becoming more active, I would not panic yet. Give it a few more days. If no improvement in the urination problem in 2 days, or if worsening in any way, it’s time for a recheck with your vet. Best wishes to you and Chanel.

No, that is not normal. She should be put on broad spectrum antibiotics. There may be an infection in the uterine tissue that is remaining in the abdomen (stump pyometra). A second surgery may be needed to remove the infective tissue. The bloodwork shows a high white blood cell count indicating infection. Some of her liver enzymes are mildly elevated but I don't think they are significant at this time. She needs to be evaluated for a stump pyometra. ( https://healthtopics.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/health-topics/canine/stump-pyometra )

If she is drinking a lot of water and urinating a lot this can be a sign of an underlying disease - number one would be diabetes. Did your vet do any blood testing? If not, I suggest you have that done now. The other option, if she is not spayed, is a pyometra (uterine infection). Again, bloodwork would reveal this as she would have a very high white blood cell count. Please take her back to the vet for some blood testing.

Hi, sorry to hear about Daisy's troubles! Pyometra surgery in most cases is relatively uncomplicated. She should be on pain medication and antibiotics that your vet would have provided. many pain medications for dogs can make them sleepy. 60 hours post of she should be starting to feel back to herself within another day. If she is still lethargic and is having any problems like not eating diarrhea, a fever or acting dull, she should be rechecked by your vet. If she is not having any of these, she may just have hard a tough time with anesthesia. I would say by day 3 or 4 if she is not back to herself, call you vet and ask if it could be related to any medication she was sent home with. If she is on pain medication, you may also want to try to cut the dose in half to see if that helps. Good luck, wishing Daisy a speedy recovery!

I'm happy to hear that Lill's tumor was benign. There are a couple of possibilities going on, but having a splenectomy should not result in urinary incontinence. Sometimes we will see dogs have to urinate more after surgery due to the amount of fluids that we give them during surgery, but this commonly passes after a couple of days. Since Lill is also drinking more water, I would make sure that her bloodwork was normal after surgery (as well as before). If that is the case, then I would have your vet check a urine sample. If surgery was 3 weeks ago and this is continuing, I doubt it will pass on its own, so I would take her to the vet again to investigate the problem. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Skye. I recommend that she sees a veterinarian today. It doesn't sound like she is doing well after her surgery. I worry that she will become dehydrated from not eating properly. She may requires some fluids under her skin to help rehydrate her. Additional pain medication may also need to be prescribed. If she is nauseous and this is affecting her appetite, anti-nausea medication can be given. The initial doses of her antibiotics can be given by injection to get those medications started. Once she is feeling better, then it should be easier to give her these medications. In the meantime, do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hoep this information helps!

Yes, the discharge can be normal 10 days after surgery. As long as she is acting normally just monitor the discharge for now. If it persists for another week then you should take her back to the vet for a follow-up. Passing small amounts of stool can also be normal. This can be due from the anesthesia and/or medications she is taking which slow down the GI tract and disrupt the normal bacterial population in the intestines. This should resolve on it's own but you can give her a probiotic to help if you'd like. ( https://www.petsworld.in/areionvet-diarest-10-gm.html )