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Old August 30th, 2009, 12:15 AM
Stoffel Stoffel is offline
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Sudden death of dog...

Hi,

Yesterday afternoon my dog was fine, playing with my other dog, and running around, behaving completely normal. My girlfriend bathed him in the afternoon, at about 5pm. He was still fine then.

We went out for supper, and when we came back he came to greet us, but he was walking very slowly, and not really enthusiastic like usual. I let him in the house, and had a good look at him. his gums were very light (white) and along his gumline(between gums and teeth) it was red, as if if wanted to start bleeding. he also had a lump on his one side, not very big, and soft, like a fat gland that dogs sometimes get. he did not have any external pain when i felt and pressed him. this was about 11:30pm.

i gave him fresh water, and he then drank quite a lot. witch i thought was good, at least he was drinking. So we decided to take him to the vet first thing the next moring (sunday, today). I made him a bed next to my bed.

He came to lay down, but was a bit restless, and every now and then he was moaning. i gave him 1/4 of a asprin, didnt know if he maybe had pain? this was about 12:30 i would guess?

he settled down, and went to lay down on the bed in the other room.
When i got up this morning at 5am, i went to the other room, and he was dead. he was stiff already, but not completely cold. his mouth was open a bit, but other than that didnt vomit or had diarea or anything. i rolled him over, and on his stomach he had red patches, like blood "staines".

I dont know if i should go to the vet to figure out what caused this? i am scared it might me something infectious that my other dog can get? i have never seen a dog get so sick within hours, and die!!

the only other thing is that i threw fertalizer on the lawn in the afternoon. it is normal fertalizer i bought from the nursary, and there is now animal warning on the bag. i used it lots of times before. and it is small grained pallets, and i watered the grass afterwards, so dont know if that may have caused something? he was laying in the sun on the stoep when i threw it, so wasnt even near me. and why is the other dog fine?

Do anybody have any idea what this can be?
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  #2  
Old August 30th, 2009, 05:05 AM
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MyBirdIsEvil MyBirdIsEvil is offline
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Why did you give him aspirin when you didn't know what he had? Aspirin is a blood thinner, it could have exacerbated whatever was wrong with him. If your animal is mysteriously ill you should always take him to the vet, emergency vet if necessary, and never blindly give them meds.

The only way you can know what it was is to take him to the vet and get a necropsy. Do that as soon as possible so they have a better chance of figuring out what it was. If it was a poison you will have to figure out how he got into it and eliminate it from your property so your other dog doesn't get sick.
I would also get your other dog a checkup and full bloodwork to make sure nothing is going on, he may just not be showing symptoms. If it's something that can kill that quickly I would take it seriously. I would also check into testing the food you're feeding considering all the recalls there were before. In the case of bad food it can effect one animal and not another.

I'm sorry for your loss, and hope you figure something out. :sad:
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Old August 30th, 2009, 07:39 AM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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So sorry for your loss .

I doubt the fertilizer would kill a dog so quickly. Do you know if there was any toxins that he could have gotten into? Rat poison perhaps?

Your vet may be able to give you some ideas on the cause of death, so if it is important (especially if you have other dogs in your home), I would take the body in.
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Old August 30th, 2009, 10:27 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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I'm so sorry for your loss, Stoffel.

Cape Town is in South Africa, isn't it? Did you check the area of the lump for snake bite? Could your dog have been bitten? Not sure what kinds of snakes are in your area, but snake venom often causes abnormal bleeding and swelling. Some spider venom might cause similar symptoms.

I do think that a vet should at least look at the dog that died and check over your other dog. Even a cursory exam might rule out some possibilities and get you looking in the right places for answers to how you can keep your other dog safe.

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Old August 31st, 2009, 08:56 PM
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satchelp satchelp is offline
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How old is your dog, because if he is middle-aged or older, the symptoms you described sound a lot like what happens to dogs who have a type of tumour called hemangiosarcoma. These are tumours that often have no symptoms until they rupture, and the dog loses blood rapidly (internally). The sudden pale gums and the soft lump that came up on his side around the same time would suggest something like this. The only way you will find out, however, is to have a necropsy done as someone already suggested.
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Old September 1st, 2009, 04:41 PM
Milly Milly is offline
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I don't have any insight, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for your loss
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Old September 2nd, 2009, 11:26 AM
Stoffel Stoffel is offline
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We took him the the vet. He drew some blood and tested it. he said there are no red blood cells in his blood. it is the same simtoms as rat poison. but is very difficult to tell exactly what caused it, because he is already dead.

The vet said even if we could have taken him to a vet at 1am there was probably nothing he could have done.

he also said if it was rat poison, that he needed to get in quite a lot of poison to kill him. and we dont even have any poison at home. he said its defenitely not the fertilizer or the shampoo he was washed with. it also isn't any disease.

He also said it might be that he had some infection in his intestines for a while, and that that suddenly worsened.

So we are not entirely sure what happened.
He was 5 years old.

Our other dog is fine though. but i can see he misses his little friend. :sad:
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Old September 2nd, 2009, 11:30 AM
Stoffel Stoffel is offline
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oh, Cape Town is in South Africa yes
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Old September 2nd, 2009, 11:51 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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How are you doing? It's so hard to lose a pal so suddenly

If someone poisoned rats nearby and a rodent sickened by the poison made it to your yard, was your dog small enough to have gotten a lethal dose from the carcass?

Give your other dog some extra loving from hazel... It will take him a while to adjust, too. :sad:
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Old September 3rd, 2009, 12:49 AM
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Tundra_Queen Tundra_Queen is offline
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I am so sorry for your loss. :sad:

Could your dog have gotten into antifreeze?

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Old September 3rd, 2009, 07:04 AM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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Thanks for the update .

Yes pets do miss their companions when they pass, please give your other dog lots of love to help him through this.
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Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014)
Puddles RIP (1996-2014)
Snowball RIP (1991-2005)

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey
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