Pyometra resulting from a persistent hymen in a pygmy goat doe

An 18-year-old intact female pygmy goat was presented to the Auburn University Large Animal Teaching Hospital (Auburn, Alabama, USA) for evaluation of purulent vaginal discharge of unknown origin. Following physical and ultrasonic examination, pyometra secondary to vaginal obstruction caused by a persistent hymen was diagnosed. The hymen is composed of tissue remnants at the site of the junction of the caudal portion of the paramesonephric ducts (which form the vagina) and the urogenital sinus (which forms the vestibule). Failure of the normal canalization of the hymen may completely obstruct normal vaginal drainage of fluids produced by the female reproductive tract. Persistent hymen with retention of reproductive secretions in the vaginal vault has been described as a developmental defect in several domestic animal species. Hymenotomy and repeated luteolytic doses of prostaglandin F2α resulted in establishment of normal vaginal drainage and resolution of the pyometra. Diagnosis in an 18-year-old pygmy goat doe as described in this case report is unusual because the defect is most often diagnosed when a female is presented for attempted breeding following puberty. Key clinical message: We report a case of an 18-year-old pygmy goat doe diagnosed with pyometra secondary to vaginal obstruction caused by a persistent hymen. This case serves as an alert for clinicians to consider uncommon reproductive etiologies in older goats kept as pets.