I found my extremely active high strung 6 year old dog Rocky, that I've had for 5 years, dead yesterday morning when I got up. He was lying on the floor next to his bed. He had just begun rigor mortis. He was a Cocker Spaniel Chihuahua mix.
The afternoon before he died we had company stop by and my dog literally freaked out barking and literally screaming when the man walked into the room. I put my dog in the bathroom until they left. Later he went outside to potty and came in until his 10 pm potty break. Then we went to bed. He was quiet at 4:30 am when my husband normally potties him so he didn't check on him. I found him at 7;30 am dead.
He was a rescue who didn't like anyone, but my husband and I. He would bark furiously at anyone else and even in the car at people next to us. Could he have had a heart attack from the unexpected excitement of a stranger coming over earlier in the day?
I miss his happy morning greeting bark this morning.
There's nothing like the sadness that occurs when a pet dies. I am so sorry for the grief you're experiencing now.
It sounds like the dog had anxiety issues which could have caused this problem and led to a stroke in the middle of the night. I am so sorry this has happened and it is so sad when a dog dies so young.
I am so sorry. Losing a pet is a loss like no other. I cant even guess as to what went wrong for Rocky. It may have been a stroke or a heart attack. Like people pets often have hidden illnesses. I was struck by your description of your life with Rocky.
I am terribly sorry to hear of your loss.
The only way to know what happened to your precious doggie is to have an autopsy performed. The reason why could be all sorts of things unrelated to the stress of the visitors such as his mixed breed.
Do not blame yourself in any way. You gave him a loving home despite he was not friendly to strangers. Many would not take on such a dog.
Thank you for opening your heart and home to Rocky.
Take Care.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My dog was a Cane Corso mix; exactly 1 year old. One day she was barking at the construction workers next door as she always does, all of a sudden while running she wobbled a little bit hit the wall and dropped dead stretched out on the pavement.
I have a video, but only pictures are able to upload. I would really like to know what happened to her.Did some one give her something over the fence? A poison or tainted food? I dont know, but thats what happened to my poodle, they gave him anti freeze tainted food.
I hate to have to consider someone poisoning your dog. It has happened but I hope that is not what happened here. It sounds or like your dog had a heart attack or stroke. I am so sorry.
My daughter's 18 month old male brindle pitbull was suddenly found dead in the backyard laying on his side, tongue hanging out, jaw hard to pry open, legs straight and stiff as if it were stuffed by a taxidermist. There was nothing wrong with him before she left, playful and energetic as usual and within a couple hours he was gone. I strongly feel foul play was involved but how and what caused this tragic loss?
Situations like this are sad and, of course, everyone wants answers when there is a sudden death of a pet.
Is there any reason you would suspect foul play? Has someone made remarks or given you a reason to believe someone would do harm to her dog?
Everyone is correct in saying that an autopsy is the only sure way to provide the reason for this puppy's death and, it could very possibly have been from natural causes. If you have a regular vet perhaps they could provide some sort of explanation about this death.
An autopsy can be very expensive.
I do not know how old your daughter is or, how attached she might have been but I would suggest thinking about letting her talk to a counselor as sometimes a death like this can be very traumatic and difficult to accept.
If you are interested, there are some free pet counseling services but your vet may also offer this service.
I am so sorry for your loss.
Unfortunately, cases of sudden death of dogs and cats are not so rare. Sudden death is an unexpected death occurring in less than 1 hour with no observed or a clinical history of ongoing disease.
According to studies performed at Purdue ADDL for almost 5 years, about 8.3% of dogs died as a result of sudden death.
www.addl.purdue.edu/
The most common causes of sudden death in dogs were: Cardiac 24-31% and Neoplasia 28% www.addl.purdue.edu/
www.avma.org/
Gastrointestinal disease - 19.6%.
Only a veterinarian after an examination and, if necessary, a necropsy can determine the cause of sudden death of your dog. Although there are 5-21.8% where causes of sudden death have not been determined from the necropsy findings or additional laboratory testing. So there is no guarantee that after necropsy you will know for sure the cause of your dog's death.
Once again, I'm so sorry. Please take the time to read these tips on how to cope with the loss of your beloved pet:
www.healthline.com/
www.helpguide.org/
7 Self-Care Essentials While Grieving the Death of a Pet
www.psychologytoday.com/
My Frenchi passed away yesterday afternoon. He had a nice big meal the night before and was playful. He was 11 years old. I woke up and fed him and then put him and his brothers in their room as I left the house. When I got back a couple hours later he was laying there sideways dead and already starting to get hard.
He had drool on his mouth and the area where his mouth was and he had also popped...no pee. The poop was normal poop nothing odd about it. What could be the cause? He was definitely slower as he got up in age, but he still showed lots of love and signs of youth. Especially his last week.
I am so sorry about the death of your much-loved Frenchi. Unfortunately, you'll probably never know the precise cause of death. Stroke or heart attack are two possibilities. Grieving is a natural emotion when a pet dies, regardless of the cause of death. Please try to focus on the good memories you have and enjoy the brothers. Keep in mind that pets also grieve the loss of a companion so be especially aware of any chances in the other dog's demeanor. They may need some extra tender loving care and reassurance at this time.
I feel for your loss. Though it sounds ghoulish, the fact you were not there to experience his passing on makes it even hard to pinpoint cause of death. For instance, if you were there you would ahve known whether
1) there was paralysis
2) there was wheezing
3) there were symptoms of fever
There was no vomiting or urine, so that tells you something
Bulldogs are subject to hosts of diseases due to inbreeding, and some that sound lethal are
Degenerative Myelopathy - This is a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs, between 8 and 14 years of age. The pressure can be so great that the blood supply to the spinal cord can be damaged also, leading to actual death of spinal cord tissue (myelomalacia). Once this starts there is no treatment, and these dogs will become paralyzed and die of respiratory failure.
Laryngeal Collapse and Tracheal Collapse - these 2 could eventually lead to respiratory failure
Heat Stress - like heat stroke, can lead to death
you might research more congenital bulldog diseases and see if they sound like what happened here
My mom's dog passed away today in the morning and my family and I had gone to my cousin's yesterday. We got home like around 1. When we got home her dog (Aries) was fine and jumping around like he normally would. I even played with him for a little while before I went inside.
Today in the morning around 9 I went to take my dog that lives inside to go to the restroom. When I was about to go inside a car beeped at me. It was my neighbor's son. He asked me if the white dog with spots was our dog. I said yes and he said that when he woke up to release his dogs he saw my dog lying down in his lawn. He called him, but he didn't get up so when he checked he noticed that he had passed away.
My sister asked if it was one of his dogs, because before we had a big dog attack my Chihuahua that caused him to get big cut in his stomach, but he said that he didn't have any scratches or any sign that he had gotten hurt. When we went to pick him up, he had no scratches nor did it look like he was run over. He had his tongue out, so I think he might have eaten something because he really liked to get into anything he finds. Every week there was always someonea shoe or toy in our lawn and he always liked to eat everything. I really don't know how he could have died. He was really young. He didn't even have a year with us. I also think that it might have been that he didn't have his vaccinations. Whenever we get a dog they would always die so young because they didn't have their vaccines, but usually they would look sick. However he actually seemed fine the last time I saw him.
From what you are saying the dog was outside and running around if he died on the neighbor's lawn. There are so many reasons he could have died. Like you said he could have eaten something that harmed him, he could have gotten scared and had a heart attack, or he could have been sick because you did not get him his shots. In some cases you will never know the exact reason the dog died.
Check under your car see if it's leaking antifreeze. Dogs will lick anything that is on the ground especially if you leave the dog outside, without water like if the water gets spilled and runs into a spot of antifreeze. Antifreeze has a sweet taste and smell to hit. He could have gotten a hold of something in the trash.
My baby Skittles, a 3 year old Chihuahua/Shih Tzu mix, passed away yesterday afternoon. On Saturday, my mother-in-law called him and he came out from lying under the barbecue grill. But, he was limping and even yelped. We thought it was his leg.
Then, on Saturday evening when we came home, I called him and he came and stood up on my legs, front paws by my knees, ears up, letting me pet him. Happy. He was walking around and acting fine, but walking a tiny bit crooked, barely a limp.
The next day, Sunday morning, he yelped with certain movements and arched his back, tilted his head to the side, upward. He did not want to eat or drink. He was walking with more of curved body, stumbling.
Monday morning, he refused to eat or drink, and had the same symptoms, a little more yelping time to time, not consistent. He would not look at me, keeping head to the side. He stayed in his kennel most of day, refused food and water. My son got him out of the kennel in the afternoon and he walked down the hall, but kept his back arched and to the side, like curved. He pooped 2 medium size balls in his kennel, but did it lying down. He couldn't poop standing up. He yelped every now and then, like 45 minutes apart.
I took him to the vet at 2:45 (soonest they could see him from calling Monday). The vet took him out of the kennel, he seemed to have a left teary, watery eye. He let the vet hold him. He weighed 5.3 pounds. The vet felt him, listened to his heart, touched his back paws, lifted them up, to make sure he knew what his feet were for, looked in his ears, eyes, and mouth. Everything looked OK. He walked around, not in circles, just from one door to the other, by me, for a minute off so, but yelped once while doing so. The vet turned Skittles head from side to side, and he yelped. The vet said it was a disc disease and sent him home with anti-inflammatory oral meds. He gave him fluids, meloxicam injection. (Sent him home with same antibiotic.)
Skittles remained the same that evening. The next morning, Skittles just laid in his kennel. I dipped my finger on water and touched his little mouth. He licked his snout, but his eyes opened and closed quickly for about 30 seconds (almost looked like he was having a slight seizure), his leg moved back and forth more than it had been. His tongue came out a tiny bit, he'd peed on himself.
I went to ask my in-laws for help, because I wanted to wash him with his dry shampoo and give him clean bedding. Skittles let my father-in-law get him out of the kennel and we washed him. I gave him like 3 small pieces of canned dog food, he ate it! He even licked the napkin, but couldn't stand up hardly at all. After he ate, his tongue again came out a little. But then went back to normal. My father-in-law gave him his antibiotic and put him back in his kennel, as he didn't look well at all. I wanted to think he was getting a tiny better, only since he ate!
Two and a half hours later he passed away. He was never throwing up or having diarrhea. I looked on his body thoroughly and did not see signs of blood, cuts, nothing. I called the vet's office to let them know he had passed. But, unfortunately they said it costs a lot of money to find out what caused his passing away. I am just hoping that someone out there has experienced something similar with their little guy and could give thoughts so I'll at least know what I could have done differently, other than taking him to a different vet on Saturday when he started limping and not waiting till Tuesday. He was up to date on all vaccinations.
He was normally a happy, little dog, that would run down the street slipping under the gate, playing feisty with his best buddy Scooby, never bit anyone, never aggressive, just excited, and loved to be pet behind his ears and under his chin.
Oh my, oh my. So sad. You have my deepest and most heartfelt condolences on the loss of your beloved Skittles, May his memory always be a blessing.
It sounds like you did the right thing getting him vet care. I am sorry the vet can't give you any more explanation.
Sadly, dogs are like people and can pass at very young ages. Sometimes you know the cause, sometimes you don't. To me it sounds like he was having mini strokes and then a big stroke, but that is just based on my losing a dog to a series of strokes.
Please be easy on yourself and if you need to, find a good grief counseling program. Our local animal shelter offers free programs and so does one of our local funeral homes. It can really help!!
Blessings and prayers!
My dog seemed fine in the morning when we let her out and back in. We ran some errands and when we got home she was stumbling, her tongue was hanging out and was really blue, and her gums were blue as well and she couldn't breathe. My husband carried her to the car and I rushed her to the vet, but she died when I got there.
We are devastated. We are beating our self in the head trying to figure out what happen and the only thing we can come up with is she snapped at a bee and got stung in the mouth and had a allergic reaction. What else has these symptoms do you know?unfortunately it sounds like poison. Possibly rat poison - strichnine causing seizures and muscle spasm, or warfarin that causes internal hemorrhaging, due to the black tongue and trouble breathing.
I am very sorry this happened to you
I found my dog outside dead. She was a healthy 9 year old cairn terrier. Her eyes were open and tongue hanging out. Everything was so shocking that I let my brother bury her.
It's driving me crazy not knowing what happened to her.This type of tragedy can be devastating and, sadly, even more so when there seems to be no answer.
Since I have been through a similar happening, I'm hoping you can find some comfort in reading what vets have to say about happenings like this.
Although reading may seem like a waste of time, I did find doing research and getting online counseling, really did help.
Please consider reading some of the comments in these articles.
www.thriftyfun.com/
www.avma.org/
www.avma.org/
resources.bestfriends.org/
My little man, a healthy 6 year old Jack Russell moved on to a better place last week. It was sudden & unexpected. He was barking at the door as he heard someone coming, once he knew who it was he turned and walked away, then suddenly his legs went from underneath him and he fell to the floor, he jolted a couple of times and then nothing. I gave him mouth to mouth and tried everything I could think of to bring him back home, nothing worked, The journey to the vet's seemed to last forever, to see the light drain from his eyes will haunt me till I die, the tip of his tongue just slightly hanging out, no foam or drool.
The vet had no compassion at all. He couldn't bring our baby back and couldn't answer our questions as to why and what. He just stood there as if to say 'what do you want me to do'. The vet was shocked we wanted our baby back after he was cremated. I couldn't get my head around it, and still can't. I don't understand how a healthy 6 year old dog can fall to the floor and move on. Please can someone help, why did he go so soon?
On the 17th June 2020, after 9 and a half years my beloved Jack Russell/English Toy Terrier, Coco, sadly and shockingly passed away. Except for being overweight (it is common in the English toy breed) and a small dog, she was in perfect health. She had no major medical conditions that I had knowledge of. It was my mother who found her. She said her tongue was hanging out and she was very stiff. Her stomach was slightly hard and she wasn't overly cold.
My question though is could she have died because of her weight causing her to have a heart attack? Or some unknown health condition of her heart or other organs? Could she have chocked? Every evening my mother or I would give her a little treat. We have other dogs as well. (Her mum & daughter: both Mum's dogs). So we know she could be very greedy and with being an English Toy she tended to just swallow before chewing. She had choked in the past before and we had to help her. Now with her sudden death I'm quite distraught and confused.
Can anyone help me out please?
Thank You Xx
I am so sorry for the loss of your dog. It sounds like the dog had a heart attack that could have been caused by the weight of the dog. I have several small dogs and the vet is always warning me about how much they weight and to keep them fit and trim. I know after a dog has been fixed it is a lot easier for them to gain weight. In small dogs too much grease or fat can get around the muscles of the heart and this can cause a siezier or heart attack.
On Sunday I had to make the hard decision of getting my 15yr old Jack Russell Terrier put down. He seemed to be fine that day, he came up to me looking for his usual cuddles and then headed upstairs to lay down.
He then came downstairs and my dad had noticed that he had peed on the living room floor. The door was closed so he could not get out; he would usually only pee in doors if he couldn't get outside. My dad let him out into the back yard and about 10 minutes later rushed in to tell me that something was wrong with him.
I went outside to find him laying on the wet concrete looking like he was finding it difficult to breathe, it also looked like he was straining, and trying to push out a bowel movement with no joy. He then vomited a very tiny amount of chicken that he had earlier that day. I tried to get him to move, but he would not and when I did eventually get him to stand he would stagger and then fall back down as if he had no power at all, especially in his back end. I tried getting him to eat or drink something, but he was not interested and continued having these symptoms for a while. I rubbed his tummy and he continued to look like he was contracting his tummy and eventually a tiny bit of diarrhoea came out, but he did not even have the energy/power to stand up.
We had to call the vet out of hours and met her at the practice, when we were in the car he was looking around him and eventually buried his head into my chest. When we got to the vet she examined him and said he was really unwell, his temperature was low, he was in pain when she examined his abdomen, his blood flow was bad as his mouth and eyes and colour was very pale and it took her forever to get a heartbeat and when she did she said it was very faint. By this stage he had worsened, he tried to stand a few times, but couldn't and eventually he was just laying there. When my dad asked her about tests she said that he is an older dog (15years) and the outcome would more than likely be very poor.
For weeks now he had been sleeping most of the day, laying in places he wouldn't usually lay. He slept in my bed with me and every night/early AM he would look to go downstairs for a drink and he would spend ages getting a drink then go outside for a pee. He seemed to walk about the house and not know what to do with himself, go up and down the stairs and at times kept out of sight, but other days he seemed to have more energy. We thought this behaviour was just because he was an old dog. I just don't know what happened and I'm finding it very hard to get passed this, I feel that I have failed him in some way. If anyone has been through a similar situation and has some insight into what may have happened it would be much appreciated and might help to put my mind at ease. The vet said we were very lucky to have had 15yrs with him, which I know is true, but he was my best friend.
This past weekend my healthy, sweet, 5 year old Boxer suddenly passed away. I came home from work that morning, took her out and she did her business, ran around, ate, and played with my kids. She was her normal happy self. No vomiting. Nothing. We took a nap together like normal. That evening we got up and like her normal self (she was always my shadow) she followed me into the bathroom to watch me give my kids a bath.
After about 2 minutes I turned around and noticed she was squatting down and was peeing or just got done peeing, but looked stuck. She was in the same position and just laid down, but then went to lay on her side so I knew something was wrong when she couldn't fix her back legs/hips herself and gently fixed them for her. I noticed she was as red as a cherry tomato (she was an all white Boxer). From the tips of her paws, her stomach to her whole face, it was red. I felt her stomach to feel her breathing. It wasn't fast, but it wasn't normal either. It was more of a slow breathing, but coming in as doublebreaths if that makes sense. She wouldn't blink when I was rubbing her or even look up at me. She then pooped and took her last breath. Like I said, she was happy. Healthy. And her normal self all day long. She ate. Slept. She didn't get into any trash or anything she wasn't supposed too. I couldn't afford an autopsy to find out answers and I'm just curious if anyone has gone through anything similar and could maybe provide some sort of insight as to what might have happened to my sweet girl. I'm heartbroken and devastated at the loss of my beloved baby. I appreciate any and all answers. Thank you.
One of my little dogs died he was about 3 months old. He didn't come to eat for a day and that evening we found him at a place they usually hide and rest.
We called his name, but he only showed his head. He was so friendly and docile. We put food beside him, but he didn't even get up to eat. The next morning we found his body. Is this a sign of rabies? My little brother used to play with them.
I had an 11 year old Chihuahua. She was old, but never ill. She was eating well and she was strong. Yesterday however I noticed she was breathing heavily and deeply, very laboured. I took her inside and tried to make her comfortable and calm. Sometimes she would "snort" if she was upset or worked up. I assumed it was something similar. I tried everything, but an hour later her condition had not improved. I then called the emergency vet and was on the phone for about 3 minutes and when I left her on my couch to make the call she was still relatively alright (and alive).
As I came back to her she was limp and foaming at the mouth, but still alive. I held her and tried to help, but she gasped for about 2 very long minutes and then she passed on. I considered poisoning, but she was old, not adventurous and picky when it came to food and we keep any poison out of reach of pets. I've also read it may be a seizure, but that doesn't explain the laboured breathing for about an hour and then the sudden death. Her death has really hurt me and I'd like to know what happened and if I could have saved her. Please help.I don't think anyone could determine with absolute certainty what caused your dog's death just by reading a description of her symptoms. I'm sure the possible causes could be narrowed down by a vet or someone who has had the same thing happen with their dog. However, nothing can change the fact that your dog died. The best thing to do is treasure the memories you have of her and find comfort in knowing she was loved and cared for during the time she lived with you. I am sorry for your loss and as someone who has loved and lost (through death) dogs I've shared many years with, I know what a void a pet's death leaves in your heart and home.
I hope you guys will be able to clear my doubts. I had a Labrador, he was 4 years old and he passed away. He was a normal healthy dog, but for last 15 days he had dry cough. I consulted a vet who gave him a tablet and syrup and he was okay. Then suddenly he was not able to breathe or bark. He kept his head straight. I immediately rushed him to the vet. They checked his temperature it was around 103.5 degrees. The vet gave him two injections and he was better also had little wiggles. In the evening he was sleeping and I went for dinner. When I came back he was no more. He was in the same position with a little foam around his mouth.
