Sky's story

When Sky's owners noticed her stomach begin to swell, they knew that something wasn't right.

Sky the Staffie, from Manchester, is lucky to be alive after she developed a potentially fatal womb infection.

Sky was rushed to PDSA at death's door and needed urgent life-saving surgery after the charity's vets found her infected womb weighed 2.5kg (5.5lb) equivalent to nearly three bags of sugar.

Sky’s owner, Kirsty, recalled: “She started showing strange signs and wasn’t acting herself. Within a day her stomach had swollen like I’ve never seen. There was liquid all over the sofa and sitting room so I knew something was seriously wrong.”

In fact, Sky had developed a pyometra, which if left untreated, would have killed her. Pyometra, the 'creeping killer' can strike without warning in unneutered female dogs and unfortunately many pet owners are completely unaware of the danger. But it can easily be prevented by a routine neutering operation

With Sky in critical condition, Kirsty rushed her to the closest out-of-hours vet who stabilised her. She was then transferred to Manchester PDSA Pet Hospital where vets carried out emergency surgery to save her life.

PDSA Vet Nurse, Claire, said: “Sky’s critical condition meant we had to act fast. Her womb had ballooned in size and we knew time was of the essence. Even some of our most experienced vets hadn’t seen an infection of this size in such a little dog.

“It was touch-and-go for a while. Her heart rate dropped dangerously low twice during surgery and she required adrenaline to keep her alive. There was a real threat she wasn’t going to make it.”

After intricate surgery and very close monitoring from our dedicated vets and vet nurses, Sky was stable enough to recover at home.

Kirsty added: “The team at PDSA were absolutely fantastic and I cannot thank them enough for saving Sky’s life. If it wasn’t for them, I dread to think what the outcome would have been."