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Death of my Maltese
Hello,I am DEVASTATED at this time but had to find the time to post a message. I had a 5 year old male maltese and on christmas eve, I gave him a small piece of pork and let him chew on the large pork shoulder bone. On christmas morning when I woke up, it was apparent that my baby was sick the whole night as there was vomit all over the kitchem which is where he slept, his water bowl was empty and after filling it was apparent he was dehydrated as he drank all the water but then threw it up. After a few hours he seemed ok, not too happy but the vomiting had stopped. In the morning when we woke up we discovered my baby did not make it throught the night and now I am devastated. I have so many questions and no answers from his vet. Can someone please tell me what I did wrong. I know I should have rushed him to a hospital but I waited and then he seemed ok, I know I should have taken him to the hospital but since it was christmas morning and his vet was closed: I should have taken him to a hospital, but he looked fine and now I am suffering for what I should have done but didnt know. I have been suffering for days and cant get over my pain and suffrering. Can someone please tell me did the pork and the bone kill my baby, did he know he was dying and did he know how much we loved him before he passed on. Do dogs know they are loved? Do they they know they are dying and think of the people that cared for them and know we loved them????
I dont know how to put closure to my ordeal, All I know is that all I do is cry & suffer everyday and miss my baby every day. Can someone please give me answers???????
I dont know how to put closure to my ordeal, All I know is that all I do is cry & suffer everyday and miss my baby every day. Can someone please give me answers???????
What a terrible tragedy. I am so sorry for you both. It may make you feel less alone to know nearly the same thing happened to me with my first dog, Travis. He was over 13 years old and LOVED to chew on bones. I had smoked a rack of pork ribs and as usual, passed one over to him. That night and the next day he was vomiting up everything including water.
As it turned out, just the bit of fat left on the rib bone was enough to push his pancreas over the edge into full blown acute pancreatitis. We spent several thousand dollars and three weeks trying to save his life, but it was his time to go.
These things always tend to happen over holidays when dogs are either fed things that are outside their normal diet or help themselves by counter- and table-surfing. Our vet tells us that he can count on several cases of pancreatitis after every holiday - usually the ones in the summer months that involve barbecued meat with bones.
As with our dog Travis, just one bit of extra fat can be lethal. In older dogs, the organs may already be struggling to do their jobs with no particular symptoms until it's too late.
Please try not to destroy yourself with guilt. Most people aren't aware of the dangers of that "one little bit" of people food - particularly when their dogs appear to be perfectly healthy. Pork is particularly notorious due to the high fat content. Try to focus on the fact that you gave your dog a wonderful life for many years. He had so much more good time with you than the few bad hours at the end.
Like you, I couldn't stop crying when Travis died and I was consumed with guilt. I couldn't punish myself enough and felt like I deserved to feel horrible and couldn't let go of the fact that I killed my dog. Thanks to Travis, I finally saw my doctor and got on the antidepressants I had needed for years. He kept on giving even after he was gone. I pray that you will find peace soon and remember only the good times and not the end. :-)
As it turned out, just the bit of fat left on the rib bone was enough to push his pancreas over the edge into full blown acute pancreatitis. We spent several thousand dollars and three weeks trying to save his life, but it was his time to go.
These things always tend to happen over holidays when dogs are either fed things that are outside their normal diet or help themselves by counter- and table-surfing. Our vet tells us that he can count on several cases of pancreatitis after every holiday - usually the ones in the summer months that involve barbecued meat with bones.
As with our dog Travis, just one bit of extra fat can be lethal. In older dogs, the organs may already be struggling to do their jobs with no particular symptoms until it's too late.
Please try not to destroy yourself with guilt. Most people aren't aware of the dangers of that "one little bit" of people food - particularly when their dogs appear to be perfectly healthy. Pork is particularly notorious due to the high fat content. Try to focus on the fact that you gave your dog a wonderful life for many years. He had so much more good time with you than the few bad hours at the end.
Like you, I couldn't stop crying when Travis died and I was consumed with guilt. I couldn't punish myself enough and felt like I deserved to feel horrible and couldn't let go of the fact that I killed my dog. Thanks to Travis, I finally saw my doctor and got on the antidepressants I had needed for years. He kept on giving even after he was gone. I pray that you will find peace soon and remember only the good times and not the end. :-)
I would just like to say how sorry i am for the loss of your baby.It is so hard to lose a fur baby so suddenly like that.I lost my precious little girl a few months ago without any warning.The pain and grief can be really hard,I still cry everyday over her.I really dont see there being any direct cause between her and the pork.Just like Ginger said it could have upset her belly.I am sure she knew how much you loved her.The what if's can drive you crazy,So please do not beat yourself up over thinking that you are at fault.I will keep you in my prayers.May God Bless You and help you through this hard time.Chan
COMMUNITY LEADER
Oh I am so sorry you lost your dog. It all happened so suddenly too, and that is hard to understand. I don't think pork is bad for dogs. Too-fatty pork could cause pancreatitis, as could any food which is too fatty, but a little meat, and chewing on a shoulder bone....I can't see that causing his death...
Dogs do know we love them. Dogs are intelligent creatures. They don't think exactly the way we think, but they have very deep feelings, and bonds they make with us run VERY deep. When we show them affection -even silently -they know exactly what is going on.
The hardest thing is I think you kind of blame yourself, but how were you to know he would die? He seemed to be a little better during Christmas Day, then how were you to know he would die in the night? You weren't to know it was so desperate a situation, especially as he seemed to improve. Dogs do vomit sometimes, then get better and are fine. It could have been that way.
I don't know what it could have been that killed him. Unless he was not well, you didn't know, and all the other things were just co-incidental.
I am very sorry for your loss.
Dogs do know we love them. Dogs are intelligent creatures. They don't think exactly the way we think, but they have very deep feelings, and bonds they make with us run VERY deep. When we show them affection -even silently -they know exactly what is going on.
The hardest thing is I think you kind of blame yourself, but how were you to know he would die? He seemed to be a little better during Christmas Day, then how were you to know he would die in the night? You weren't to know it was so desperate a situation, especially as he seemed to improve. Dogs do vomit sometimes, then get better and are fine. It could have been that way.
I don't know what it could have been that killed him. Unless he was not well, you didn't know, and all the other things were just co-incidental.
I am very sorry for your loss.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I don't know if I can add anything substantial to Ghilly's kind words, but I wanted to express my sympathies to you as well.
Sadly, these tiny toy dogs are often at big risk when they get sick because they simply don't have the reserves to fight a prolonged battle against injury or illness like a bigger dog would. Holidays are hard for pets and pet owners because there are so many potential problems (fatty foods, chocolates, ornaments, mistletoe, etc) and, as you mentioned, many veterinarians are closed for the holiday. AND...it's scary to think about going to an emergency hospital with your pet because they don't know you and your pup.
If your pup's body has been kept cool, you might ask your veterinarian to consider a necropsy (animal autopsy) for your pet. It sure sounds like you need some closure and this could be one way to get it.
I have no doubt that your Maltese knew that you loved him, throughout everything. These wonderful creatures have such a capacity for love and affection.
I am so sorry for your loss...I hope that you can find peace soon. I don't know if it will help, but there is a nice article about grieving pet owners at petdocsoncall.com/page.asp?id=85
Sadly, these tiny toy dogs are often at big risk when they get sick because they simply don't have the reserves to fight a prolonged battle against injury or illness like a bigger dog would. Holidays are hard for pets and pet owners because there are so many potential problems (fatty foods, chocolates, ornaments, mistletoe, etc) and, as you mentioned, many veterinarians are closed for the holiday. AND...it's scary to think about going to an emergency hospital with your pet because they don't know you and your pup.
If your pup's body has been kept cool, you might ask your veterinarian to consider a necropsy (animal autopsy) for your pet. It sure sounds like you need some closure and this could be one way to get it.
I have no doubt that your Maltese knew that you loved him, throughout everything. These wonderful creatures have such a capacity for love and affection.
I am so sorry for your loss...I hope that you can find peace soon. I don't know if it will help, but there is a nice article about grieving pet owners at petdocsoncall.com/page.asp?id=85
I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, the only way to tell what it was that killed your Maltese is to have the vet perform a necropsy. That will tell you why he died. I am sure that he knew that he was very loved. To the best of our knowledge, animals don't think about their own mortality the way that people do. If an animal is ill and it hides, it's not hiding because it's going to die, it's hiding because its instinct tells it that if it is hurt or sick, it becomes a target for other animals, so it's hiding to keep out of sight of other animals. That's why, when an animal is terminally ill, it is kinder to put it to sleep. The animal can't reason that it might live a little longer if it has treatment, it only knows how it feels at that moment, and that at that moment it feels sick. It might not have been the pork or the bone that killed your dog. It might have been purely coincidental that he got sick the night he ate that. As I said, the only way to know what it was is to have a necropsy performed by your vet.
Ghilly
Ghilly
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