You wouldn't think it possible for veterinary conditions, totally unaffected by the weather or the seasons, to occur in several dogs or cats at the same time and then not be seen for ages. There's a longrunning joke in veterinary practice that things always come in threes (jokes in veterinary practice can be pretty weak, but any excuse!), and over the last couple of weeks we've seen our three pyometras. Pyometra is a condition of bitches where the womb fills up with pus. It sits there like the big internal abscess it is, and makes its host very sick; either gradually if it discharges, or suddenly if it doesn't. It can be a rapidly fatal condition and the symptoms include drinking a lot roughly 2 months after the last season.

An operation to remove womb and ovaries, accompanied by intravenous fluids, antibiotics and other support, will generally save the animal's life as long as the condition wasn't too advanced to start with. It is, however, another good reason to get bitches spayed young.