My 1 year old Chihuahua died of unknown causes

[AnthonyWilson]

A lot of the symptoms showed signs of distemper, but she wasn't vomiting and she only defecated once in a week and a half. After about 3 days of not pooping and extreme lethargy we took her in and they gave her antibiotics. Four more days pass and no signs of improvement. She still peed regularly - but barely moved at all, started to look very skinny and was walking with a little wobble. Wouldn't get up to eat dog food, but ate some hand-fed lunch meat, chicken, etc. We take her back to the clinic, her fever at 105 and they up her antibiotics and do blood tests which shows nothing definitive, high white count - fighting whatever it is off, but no disease like symptoms. Vet questioned her vaccines, but couldn't diagnose. She died in my wife's and my arms two days later. We really have no clue what did this and we didn't have a necropsy done. She was one and looked like a wasted away old person at the end. They said that without pooping and vomiting it probably wasn't distemper. The times that she went outside to pee, I noticed she looked for grass to nibble on - this is not something she ever did prior to the onset of this sickness. We're just so shocked and saddened by her loss and just dumbfounded by the lack of diagnosis, and her rapid decline. Has anyone else seen or heard of anything like this?

[tonyb286]

Wow, what a fabulous vet. Don't let him out of your world, not ever. Although I am sure Bullet has a way to go yet, now that you have a diagnosis, you know what to treat. I think you have answered your own questions with regard to pesticides - when pesticides are used on common-use ground, the management company is obliged to inform all residents that ordinarily use and have a right to use the garden area. Obviously, had you known about it, you wouldn't have let Bullet out on the contaminated area. A strong letter to the management company is certaionly warrented, and possibly even take some legal advice as you may have the right to claim compensation for the vet fees at least.

I realise that this is all secondary to getting Bullet healthy again - and I really hope the little guy gets better with each passing day. He certainly deserves to. What a fabulous little fighter he is. Thank heavens for that vet of yours. He's one in a million. Tony

[lindapalm]

Hang on to that vet, he sounds awesome. Does he take human patients too?

[Mimi142009]

Thank you! Our little guy survived the night and at 635am we received a phone call from a wonderful vet (#6) in Carlsbad. He said he had woke up at 2am thinking about our case. He drove down to SD and picked up our Bullet and wanted to get him healthy enough for exploratory surgery. Later that night he called us and said it was the worst case of stomach ulcers he has ever seen in an animal. He cut an ulcer out and sent it to the lab for pesticide testing. We just moved into a new house 3 weeks ago! Our dog did eat grass in the backyard. Now I will contact the management company to see what was done prior to our move in. (my neighbors have complained about bug infestations) He has a stomach tube now for feeding. Our vet called him persnickety! Lol! That dog has so much fight in him. He is not out of the woods yet but at least we have an answer.  Thank you all for your post. They truly are comforting. We are blessed with a vet with a gracious heart, skillful hands and vast experience!

[tonyb286]

I'm hoping Bullet pulled through the night and is (fingers crossed) ready to fight another day. There are so many reasons for having high white blood cells including infections and some cancers, but your vet(s) seem to be doing pretty much all they can to try and find out what the cause might be. If he has any chance at all, it's crucial to make sure he stays strong and that means getting nutritional foods in him. Equally, he needs to be hydrated, which the IVs should help with. I fully understand you not wanting to put Bullet through another battery of tests, but the MRI would certainly help identify or discount some serious conditions. The spinal tap would need doing under anaesthetic, so maybe it's not appropriate just now as there would be a substantial risk of him not waking up.

My heart goes out to you. This is truly heartwrenching in a dog so young. Please let us know how Bullet responds - and I'm hoping he rallies and picks up. Big hugs from the UK, Tony

[Mimi142009]

My heart is heavy because we are going through the same exact thing with out beloved chihuahua, Bullet. It has been 11 days of in and out of the vet with the same exact symptoms you described. It started one morning when I woke up to take him out and he did not want to leave his kennel. I took him into the vet that morning and he had a fever of 104.5. They prescribed him antibiotics and said his white blood cells were high so he was fighting an infection. We brought him back to the vet just about everyday because he would not eat and we could not get him to take his medication. We had blood test, urine test, fecal test, and X-rays done. His organs were functioning and they did not have any idea where the infection was. He had a BM only twice in 11days. He was urinating just fine. We are giving him IVs at home. He is on 5 different medications. He has taken a turn for the worst and we believe he will not survive the night. We have seen 6 different vets in the last 11 days! (our vet is truly wonderful) I stumbled across your post as I searched the web for answers. The vets suggested we see an internal medicine specialist, have an MRI done, and a spinal tap. I just could not do that to him anymore. He has had a battery of test with no answers. The vets said they have never seen this in such a young chihuahua...he is 11 months old.
I am so sorry you all went through this because I know how heartbreaking and frustrating its not to have any answers.  The best guess we have from vet #6 is that it could be something with his brain. Our bullet is fighting a good fight but he looks exactly like an old man....skin and bones after 11 days. The only comfort I find is in the memories we have of him as a healthy rambunctious guy! If we find out the cause after a necropsy, I will post an update. I'm sorry for your loss.

[tonyb286]

You are very welcome. The words of other doggy folk here are always genuine and heartfelt, because most of us have been where you are right now. Feel free to talk about your little girl and what a wonderful life she has had with you, albeit all too short. Big hugs, Tony

[AnthonyWilson]

All of you, thank you so very much for your kind words and thoughts. I really appreicate it.

[AnthonyWilson]

Thank you so much for the condolences, I very much appreciate you taking the time to reply. It was very comforting reading your words. And even though I never met you, they brought tears to my eyes. Thank you again.

[marksme]

I had a dog who was sick on and off for 5 years. He has surgery for Kidney stones and found to have liver shunt. He suffered from time to time. I cannot say for sure what brought on your dogs death? Not sure who your Vet was, but for a dog being that sick without normal bm's is wrong. It
sounds like she was very dyhrydrated. I hope you will recover from this
shock, but speaking from my experience it's hard to deal with the loss
of your little friend. Jack was my best friend. I miss him everyday.

[littlebit667]

I just wanted to say that I am so very sorry at the loss of your pet.  I have a chi and I can relate to the pain you are going through.  Again, I am so sorry.

[ginger899]

I'm so sorry, I really am. Poor little thing. At least she had the love and care from her family around her when she most needed it. And you tried your level best to help her.

Not eating food regularly would cause her not to want to poop. That figures. But of course the reason for her loss of appetite, it doesn't explain.

Distemper (caused by a virus) does often present with very sore eyes, runny nose very often, coughing, and can cause thickening of the pads of the feet and skin of the nose. Vomiting and diarrhea are quite common. But there is usually a REDUCTION of the number of white blood cells.
Distemper can cause different symptoms with different dogs, as some only have a mild illness, where others are in real danger from it.

However,  a virus wouldn't be killed by antibiotics, but only anti-viral medications. Antibiotics would only have been effective against any secondary bacterial infection. So that does kind of make me wonder about whether it could have been distemper, or even another virus of some kind.
I don't know.
But I am so sorry your little dog died, and she was so young. Hugs to you from me too.

[tonyb286]

Hi Anthony. I am so very sorry for your loss. My first thoughts were certainly distemper, parvo or kidney failure - but your other comments have discounted these as a possible cause. The only thing to perhaps think about is that the original vaccinations failed (it can happen, but it is rare) and so your little dog contracted something that proved fatal.

Others may have additional comments, which may help identify what it was, so check back from time to time. You must be devastated by this happening, but be reassured that you did all you could do under the circumstances. Again, I am very sorry - at least your little girl isn't suffering anymore. Big hugs, Tony