My Bulldog died suddenly. Was fine and then within a minute, dead.

[adam2101]

Of course, a million things run through your mind when something like this happens.  For me, it helps to understand what may have happened.  I hope someone has the answers but, understand that they can only be speculation.  

My 6 year old Bulldog Francis, was in excellent condition.  I've always feared him growing over weight as bulldogs often do so, kept him on a very healthy diet.  He has always been in the best health.  He was not subjected to any trauma that I'm aware of.  

After a night of sleeping he was laying on the floor near the couch doing more of what bulldogs do, sleeping, when he got up took a few steps lost his balance and fell.  He appeared to still be groggy from waking up.  He then peed on the floor (which he never did).  This was certainly a loss of function.  My girlfriend then ran to see that he was having some labored breething and fading fast.  She held him did a few finger sweeps thinking maybe he had something lodged in his throat.  His tongue turn VERY PALE and WHITE.  He kept looking at her like he was scared and kept fading out then would come to for a second then fade out again.  He then defficated and took his last breath, or vice versa.  

Of course my girlfriend did everything she could think of at that point including CPR and RB.  His tongue then turned very blue.  The tongue streched far out hanging to the floor was the only indication (or biggest noticeable indication) that he was no longer with us.

I know bulldogs often die young but, he really was in great shape and well taken care of.  He gave no prior signs of anything wrong.  Very sudden and unexpected.

Current theories:  Heart Attack (didn't seem in pain)-----  Aneurysm (could this account for the white tounge?)-----  Pulmonary Embolism ( mayabe why he stood up and quickly lost his balance in a dizzy-like fashion)

Could any of these be correct and why?  Is there another theory that fits better?

Please Help me find the answers.  Thank you so very much!

[BullyMom2]

My 7.5 year old bulldog just died suddenly as well. He was fed very good food, got a lot of exercise and had recently visited the vet ..
he collapsed suddenly while walking and playing at the dog park.  The vet suggested an embolism or heart attack...he had no heart murmur and nothing had indicated there was an issue.  Even an autopsy will not be helpful...this is heartbreaking but I understand that Boxers, and Bulldogs and other larger breeds are known to have this happen..heartbreaking.

[BullyMom]

My 8-year old bulldog, who was the picture of health, died suddenly yesterday.  He was fed a very healthy diet, no people food except for carrots and a little bit of yogurt in his food to help keep the dry food moist.  Anyway, he got very, very sick very fast and we don't know what happened to him.  We did request a necropsy be done (that's an autopsy for an animal) so that we can better understand what happened.  Ivanhoe was our 4th bulldog and we still have two that remain alive with us right now, so knowing what happened to him is very important to us. I'll join this blog and keep all of you posted as to what happened to our very sweet boy.  It's a sin!!

[Dalanah]

Please do.  Ours died so suddenly.  Went to sleep and found him dead.  He was 8 1/2  with no known health issues, other then allergies.

[Vdlucas]

My bulldog just passed. He was fine when we went to bed but when we got up at 4 in the morning, he was gone. He was laying peacefully like he was sleeping. No defecation or urine.  No health problem, went to the vet every 6 months.

[Dalanah]

We just lost our bulldog very similarly.  I found him on the kitchen floor by his water bowl.  He was stretched on his side like he was sleeping.  Just took him to the vet and his blood work was good.   He seemed healthy.  He was 8 1/2.  It's just devastating.   I understand your pain.

[ginger899]

It's very sad. You did the utmost best you could do for your dog, and gave him the best life. Then you and your girlfriend worked so hard to save his life at the end. You could not have done better! But fate is like that. It gives us sudden devastating things without obvious reason sometimes, outside of our control, and snatches those we love away without warning. And that is very hard. We can't see what we did or did not do that was wrong or right. Well it seems you did everything right for this dog. If you really do need to know what happened, the vet will perform an autopsy, then you will understand.

[Ghilly]

I am SO sorry to hear of your loss.  Everything that you have mentioned could be a possibility.  The only way to tell for sure would be to have a necropsy done.  With the tongue being white, I would think there was some type of massive bleed that happened.  Blood loss would be the only reason I could think of for a complete and sudden loss of color like that.  Although it can't change anything, I would contact his vet about a necropsy, because at least it will give you some closure.  Again, my condolences,

Ghilly

[dominosarah]

I am so sorry for the loss of your pet........sara