The optimum treatment of pyothorax is not known. It was classically taught that in dogs treatment should be surgical and cats should be treated medically. However, research and clinical practice have shown that this doctrine is at best an over-simplification. This lecture will use case examples to help consider the evidence available about the optimal treatment for pyothorax in dogs and cats and help practitioners determine how they can best treat these patients.

• - Recognition of the different causes of pyothorax
• - Clinical identification of pyothorax
• - Evaluation of the available literature on treatment of pyothorax
• - Recognition of indicators for surgical management of pyothorax