Sudden death of lab - help

[MissuNemo]

My 5 year old black lab passed away last night . I am trying to understand how this happened so fast . He was OK until Friday evening , playful and healthy . On Saturday morning we noticed that he was not eating and also vomited . We took him to the vet immediately and the hospital told us he was having a mild fever from some sort of a bug or tick bite . He was given a shot and antibiotics , then he was also given glucose as he was weak by then . He looked better when he got home , on Saturday night he drank water , he dint still eat . Sunday morning , his urine was dark yellowish red and he had vomited . He was not eating , we took him to the hospital again and he was admitted there . They started a new medication and he was moved to emergency care where he was given more fluids . Few hours later he had a seizure followed by massive heart attack  , and he started fading away slowly . He is no more , I do not know how this happened in 2 days time..what could we have done to help him .. We loved him dearly and miss him .. I felt so helpless , what sort of bug bite could cause death , he was a healthy dog and just 5 years old. The only medical history he had was occasional coughs  which was treated by the vet , he also got skin rashes sometimes which were all looked after  . Did we miss a sign on his health , he was the sweetest dog ever and we loved him so much.

[nycamberlady]

You gave your dog the very best you could. Many people don't have the love you showed him. I lost my 13 year old in the middle of the night with no warning.. I was also devastated, and understand how you feel.  

the only recommendation I have is to 'celebrate his life' as you are mourning, try to focus on how lucky you were to have had each other.  all the positives.
I am sure it is too early for you
but as time goes on, try to make a point of' smiling' as you remember the good times. at first, it will make you cry. but then change that. you will heal faster.
good luck.

[rdt3]

I am very sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did every thing that you could do. Be comforted in the fact that you gave him a good life and loved him.

Best Robert

[tonyb286]

Hi. You are very welcome. I think you seem like a very caring and very positive person, and I can only think that your dog had some wonderful times with you as a friend, companion and guardian. Don't beat yourself up over what happened, sometimes that's just how it is and there's nothing you could have done, because you may not have seen anything out of the ordinary. We do our very best for our pets, but sometimes nature takes it's own course.

You are in my thoughts today.

Tony

[MissuNemo]

Hi Tony , it certainly is tough not knowing what happened to him that too at a young age . Thanks a ton for your support and the inputs , we find it highly consoling when someone can relate to our sadness.  We are still puzzled over the cause of his passing away and probably will never know with certainty what happened. We have another lab and want to look out for anything that might affect her the same way .  It is hurting to think he might have suffered and I feel guilty for not being able to help him with the pain or having failed to recognize how severe the situation was. We will always love him dearly and remember him for the good memories we had with him.  
Thanks again ..

[tonyb286]

Hi. I am so very sorry for your loss. Things happened so very quickly, it must have left you in severe shock and total confusion. I also think this is doubly sad due to your best friend's young age and having no knowledge about how or why it happened. I can't think of an insect bite (except for very unusual circumstances) that would cause this. In terms of speed and rapid decline, and the color of the urine, I can only think of something like leptospirosis, though this too would be quite a rare thing to have contracted.

If the blood work was normal, it really is a puzzle. Of course, it may just as easily have been an ongoing but unknown heart condition that suddenly reached crisis point.

I'm sorry I don't have a more useful suggestion. I hope you can get through your grieving without second-guessing what happened too much. Please come back to chat here, if you want to talk more about things or if you just want support. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.

Tony

[MissuNemo]

Thank you Margot for your support , At this time we are unable to accept this sudden loss  . They tested his blood and liver and found everything to be normal except for a mild fever . I am still in disbelief and cant understand what happened ..he was so young and a cheerful dog . We took him to the hospital and they indicated how hard it was to spot a bite on him because of the black fur .. but after the blood work results they indicated it was a bug bite .  I wish we could do more for him , felt so helpless loosing him to something unknown so fast..Will always be part of our lives .

[Margot49]

I am so sorry to read about the loss if your dog and at such a young age.
I am no expert but would think, if it were a bite, there may have been other symptoms such as pain, rash, swelling, etc.  Also, usually a bite site will hurt and the dog might be experiencing pain and you would notice that.  Was the dog gone over thoroughly by the Vet to check for a bite site?  I would think that a reaction to a tick bite may take some time to develop.  A bite from a Black Widow spider might cause those symptoms.

The color of the urine could have been due to the liver being affected.  You don't mention any previous signs that there may have been any urinary or kidney infections going on.

Was any blood work ever done?

I would be suspicious of some type of poisoning (plants, anti-freeze, cleaning products, rat poisons or the possibility he ingested a poisoned animal).

Wish I could be of more help.  
Again, so sorry. :-(