it is always a 'critical' disease .

http://www.downlandvets.co.uk/Pages/.../Pyometra.html

on another note.... i have a spayed bitch that gets 'stump' pyos ,imo as a result of being spayed too early.

Thats understandable, as after all, we most often form our opinions on what we ourselves have experienced.

OK, here's a bit of a twist...we were asked a while back on this thread whether we can guarantee how our un-neutered dogs would react around a bitch in season.

I stated that I could 110% (I think I wrote), guarantee that Leon would try to mount her..and I was proved right last night.

There is this darling black lab bitch that goes over the park, she is only about a year old and she literally throws herself at Leon whenever she sees him, then lays on the floor in the submit position for him to have a sniff, then they charge around together...it's quite sweet to see them playing.

I hadn't seen her for a while then we saw her up ahead with the young lad that walks her, she was on a lead and kept straining to walk back towards us. The lad waited for us, both dogs were on the lead as we were outside the entrance to the graveyard and I don't agree with letting Leon loose in there, its a respect thing, I would hate it if he tiddled up someones gravestone. Anyway, they said hello, we walked into the graveyard and then into the park where I let Leon off.

He was just mooching when the young lad came running out of the graveyard, smiling and saying he forgot that he has to come this way to go home , Leon ran to greet the lab but I noticed her turning her tail...Leon also noticed this , I immediately hobbled over and put him on his lead, asking the boy if she was in season, to which he replied that she was just finishing.

I then had to keep Leon on the lead for the rest of the walk because he was doing the mouth twitching and looking behind him..I know that he would have followed them home given the chance.

Had I not been so close and bearing in mind we had already chatted to the lad and he didn't mention her season, whose fault would it be had Leon mated the bitch before I could get to him? I wonder whether that would have been my fault because Leon is un-neutered and off lead, or the lad with the bitch because she was in season and he had brought her over to us again.

I obviously would have taken full responsibility for Leons actions, but would it have been fair?

Personally, I'd have said it was his falt for not informing you from the start that his bitch was in season.

i find it interesting,it really depends on the country, in America and Australia very early neutering is standard and routine,but in countries like Germany the 'amputation of healthy bodyparts without medical reason' is forbidden ...you have to have a valid reason for wanting the surgery ,it is not done as 'routine'.

I find that as strange as making it mandantory to get your dog neutered or spayed.
I also believe Scandinavia has the same law, and also have medical contraceptives rather than the day after injection.

Also read some organisations are starting to be advocate neutering/spaying to be done at 8 weeks of age as routine.

Two totally different extremes