Why did our dog die suddenly?

[murphy7312]

I've been reading these discussions and gotten some comfort.  Our 7 yr old golden retriever just died suddenly, and it's driving us crazy, so I have to ask the same question.
  
Copper is a big (95lb) golden retriever, healthy except for a small tumor removed a year ago.  He got his routine vets checkup June 15, and had a clean bill of health (including palpating the abdomen, where the tumor was).  

4 days ago, we noticed in the morning he had not eaten his dinner.  He showed no other signs of discomfort, no vomiting etc., so we watched, but thought it might just be loss of appetite from the heat (It has been very hot here, and he seemed to be avoiding the outside).  So we let him rest, gave him lots of cold water, which he drank well.  I hosed him off that evening outside and noticed he did not shake the water off, something he usually does enthusiastically.  That evening, he sort of declined to go on a walk with our son, so he tried again in the morning when it was cooler, but the dog did not want to go then either.  I took him for a walk in the afternoon, hoping he was feeling better (this is the 2nd day since he didn't eat dinner), and he went very slowly around the block, but peed and had a bowel movement.  That night he started labored breathing, we took him to the ER, and he died in our arms.

We are all devastated, and were so shocked we buried him the next day and did not think to bring him to the vet for a necropsy.  So it's driving us crazy.  Can anybody put 2 and 2 together on this?  I thought it might be GDV (twisting of the gastric tract), but he was missing one symptom, bloated stomach.  But in retrospect, the failure to shake his fur coat after getting wet might have been significant.  Help us understand if you can.

[rajkamalmohanram]

My 1.5 year old German Shepherd died yesterday. My parents and my brother were out and when they came back, Tommy was found in a pool of blood. He was healthy and playing happily until morning and they came back in the evening to find his corpse in a pool of his own blood. They buried him in the front yard. I guess I am lucky because I am in a different part of the country and I did not have to go through the pain of watching his corpse. If anybody could give me an explanation as to why this could have happened, I would be very grateful. Thanks.

[catherynsh]

Our beautiful, loving husky died suddenly yesterday afternoon.  He just turned seven on Christmas Day.  When we left to attend a funeral in the early afternoon, he seemed a little tired and lethargic.  We have been so cooped up because of the weather here, we thought that he might have been sad we we leaving and not going for a walk.  We told him we would walk when we got back home.  Never, ever did we expect to find him lifeless on the living room floor.  He was a happy, loving dog with no obvious ills that we knew of.  The only thing we note is that he had two really big pees prior to his passing.  Usually, he just did a little here, little there. What could have happened?  What could we have done?  I miss him so much....I dread the day ahead without him.

[niki398]

Heart Cancer....my dog Shaggy was healthy..happy had a great appetite and zest for life.  He fell sick one day...I took him to the vet...4 days later my boy was gone.  hemangiosarcoma...it is a common cancer in large dogs not so much in my little Chinese Crested breed...


Terrible cancer.  You don't know they have it untill they are gone...or very sick.  



Miss my boy.  Hate the cancer.

[Crispuck65]

My 2 1/2 year old Siberian Husky just passed away suddenly. I heard him howling and then found him on my deck, motionless. He had passed and I have no idea why. He was fine all day. Playing and eating. Running around outside all day. I don't understand how this could have happened.

[jbanks1977]

I had a White English Pit mix that was roughly 1 1/2 years old that just died tonight very suddenly.  I fed her in the morning and everything was fine.  She was up playing and running around and everything.  She went in to the bedroom and laid down with our other dog and my wife.  An hour or so later, I went in to the bedroom and laid next to my wife.  We heard a crash against the wall, it was my dog Molly.  She was up against the wall acting weird and when I tried to get her out she didnt want to move.  I picked her up and laid her on the bed.  After a few mins, she threw up several times.  I brought her in to the living room to be with the family so we could watch her.  She had labored breathing and seemed really weak.  She could hardly open her eyes.  She felt cold to the touch so we put a blanket over her but every time we did, she would get up and walk away from it then lay back down.  Suddenly she went in to convulsions, stopped breathing and died.  No clue what caused it.  I thought perhaps she got bitten by a spider or something but not sure.  Anyone have any ideas?

[jangwithjetta]

My shepherd collie mix Moses died Wednesday evening. He was fine in the morning and than the doc prescribed Rimadyl and Tramadol for his back pain. Within 2 hours of giving him these new meds he puked a ton of dark blood. His breathing was labored and than he cried for a bit and puked a ton more blood and passed away.....I am in mourning of losing my best friend and the house is hauntingly quiet now. I don't know if he had a problem internally or the medicine caused something to happen as I've heard Rimadyl is a dog killing medicine and they are still prescribing it for pain....wish I would have known that taking the medicine home....Moses you will be missed.