Poor Kiri  − 4 March, 2008

For those of you following my blog, you know that I have dogs. My youngest dog right now is Kiri – a beautiful European-bred German Shepherd Dog female. She is young and, unfortunately, she just came down with “Pyometra” – a uterine infection.
She went through her first “heat” a couple of months ago, and about a month ago, she unexpectedly leaped into my friend’s algae-ridden pool. That set up a situation whereby she developed Pyo. Thankfully, we have caught it early, but it’s still a tough ride for poor Kiri.
The treatment for a breeding bitch (if you aren’t planning on breeding your bitch, the usual treatment for Pyo is a spay) is hormones and antibiotics. It is pretty expensive, even with my vet discount (my vets – Dr. Cindi Bossart & Dr. Suzy Sarna at Animal Hospital of Fort Lauderdale are great and I send everyone I know there) but I am planning on breeding her once she is titled, as she has an excellent show rating and all her health certifications are clear.
The hormones are injected and basically cause the uterus to expel the infection, so she is nauseated and cramping due to the treatment. Poor baby. She is restless and uncomfortable, and there really isn’t anything I can do for her. I feel terrible about it. If only I had started prophylactic antibiotics after her fateful algae-bacteria soup swim…
She is grouchy and chews her squeaky toy football obsessively. I have tried various pressure-point and massage techniques and she seems to like them, but there is no long-term pain relief for her.
My vet also tells me I MUST breed her on her next heat cycle to normalize her reproductive tract. I hadn’t planned on breeding her so soon.
I spoke with the owner of the stud dog I am planning to use – a wonderful man named Andrew Masia who is “Jagenstadt” German Shepherds, he is also my “mentor” in the breed – and he was very supportive, knowledgeable and helpful. He is not concerned about breeding sooner than planned – he knows Kiri, her quality, temperament, pedigree – and was not so worried about breeding her untitled. He feels she will eventually be titled, and with her health at stake, we should go with the vet’s advice. I am hoping to at least get some legs towards her title before she is bred. Titling her was one of my personal “requirements” before breeding her, and I would much prefer to have a titled bitch producing puppies than an untitled one. Just one of my preferences. She will have all her health clearances though (mandatory for me) and I will make sure she is monitored closely throughout her pregnancy.
I already have a couple of girlfriends who I have drafted to come and stay with me to help raise the pups the first month. I plan to make the pup’s environment enriched and social.
I expect she and the male (the dog’s name is “Leri Unesco” and is also European-bred with high show ratings and lots of titles and health clearances) will produce puppies with excellent structure, super temperaments and BIG heads.  Kiri is known for her huge, masculine head. I think she is attractive (as did the German Judge who she showed under), but she DOES look like a boy.  I bet she wishes she WERE a boy with all this Pyometra stuff…