Our boxer Rewdy passed away a few nights ago with no warning. He was absolutely normal the day before. 18 hours of throwing up and laying in the yard in unusual places routine. I had to bring him inside multiple times because he did not want in. It was cold this day and I had to bring him at night so he didn’t freeze at night. We set up his bed and he laid down and continued to throw up. I called the vet but they told me no appointments were available and to call in the morning . Maybe someone would cancel and I could get him in? He died later that night in my hands. His head laid over his dog bed and I tried to prop his head up, he gasped for air and seized up still, gasped for air again , and he became still and lifeless. Really hard to watch. He had some joint issues for years in his hip/ or rear left leg. Bumped in to things a lot, some days frequent trips outside, drank a lot of water on night he passed, some other days Too, He was 10 years old. He was cryptor-chid. Not sure if this caused any issues? Not fixed. Rapid heart beating and panting in the end. I originally thought he was poisoned. Are or drank something. I recently spotted him drinking water out of the buckets that hold up our gazebo in the backyard. The posts are sitting in sand buckets. He ate really good this week too as it was thanksgiving. He always ate good I gave him human food . I did not opt for necropsy as we have set to be cremated and his ashes will be with us. The man who came to pick up his body said he was not bloated but I thought he was and he has been in the past. I know without a necropsy not a lot can be told. I had his throw up analyzed it did not get hits on any types of impurities in his stomach. Not sure you can analyze dry paper towel vomit? Is it not normal to think foul play or am I not accepting old age ? Anyone give insight in this ?
Hello, Jimmy,
I wish I could give you more helpful information. When we look at vomitus (either a pile of stuff, or what someone has wiped up), we are just looking to see if it looks like normal stomach contents. To analyze for toxins, you have to send to a commercial laboratory and they don’t just “check for poison”. They check for virtually anything, but you have to specify what you are looking for. When those cop shows talk about “tox screens”, that means that they are checking for the most commonly encountered toxic substances. They are still looking to see if specific chemicals are there, not just “looking for anything there”.
The most common toxins that we see cause either neurological signs with lots of twitching and so forth, or free bleeding (might show up as bruising and swelling), or damage to liver or kidneys, which typically is a slow deterioration over a few days, rather than being so acute.
Cryptorchid individuals have a higher incidence of testicular cancer, and sometimes the testicle in the abdomen twists around and chokes off it’s blood supply, which is super painful. Neither of these conditions would be likely to cause what your dog experienced.
I am sorry that I cannot give you a good explanation for what happened.
My 14 year old Burnese Mountain Dog cross woke my up early morning last week to let me know something was wrong with her. She was extremely anxious, excessively drooling and lapping. I checked her mouth for a bone caught in her mouth but nothing to be seen. Within a couple of hours the symptoms stopped. She ate her breakfast but was a bit “flat”. That day she ate grass and vomited it up 4 times. Over the next 2 days she was less and less interested in food and still “flat”, although she did have periods of being quite alert and active. Took her to the vet 3rd day for multiple tests, blood test, exray, 2 ultra sounds and all day observation. Every test was normal. No blockages, no foreign body, no tumors, no organ failure. She seemed not to be in pain but did have a high heart rate. She passed away early the next day. The vet suggested perhaps histiocytic sarcoma or necrotic intestine. None of which explain how quickly she died. Of course I am heart broken and would value your opinion.
Hello, Joy,
I can appreciate your pain and frustration. When I have a case that we lose despite our best efforts, and all our tests have been unhelpful, and the client has been willing to go the extra mile no matter what, it just is devastating — and that’s not even my dog. My patient, yes, but not my pet, with all the additional emotion that entails.
If there is enough damage to cause death of tissue (necrosis), the byproducts of dying tissue getting into the bloodstream are quite toxic, and can put a patient into shock. We see puppies with Parvovirus where we have stopped the vomiting, restored hydration, treated for secondary infections, and they just die. You do a post-mortem and their intestines are the color of a pair of blue-jeans, just dead. The circulatory system can’t survive that level of toxin in the bloodstream.
Sometimes we can find the answers with a complete post-mortem and microscopic examination of the tissues, but even then we can be frustrated.
Our boxer Rewdy passed away a few nights ago with no warning. He was absolutely normal the day before. 18 hours of throwing up and laying in the yard in unusual places routine. I had to bring him inside multiple times because he did not want in. It was cold this day and I had to bring him at night so he didn’t freeze at night. We set up his bed and he laid down and continued to throw up. I called the vet but they told me no appointments were available and to call in the morning . Maybe someone would cancel and I could get him in? He died later that night in my hands. His head laid over his dog bed and I tried to prop his head up, he gasped for air and seized up still, gasped for air again , and he became still and lifeless. Really hard to watch. He had some joint issues for years in his hip/ or rear left leg. Bumped in to things a lot, some days frequent trips outside, drank a lot of water on night he passed, some other days Too, He was 10 years old. He was cryptor-chid. Not sure if this caused any issues? Not fixed. Rapid heart beating and panting in the end. I originally thought he was poisoned. Are or drank something. I recently spotted him drinking water out of the buckets that hold up our gazebo in the backyard. The posts are sitting in sand buckets. He ate really good this week too as it was thanksgiving. He always ate good I gave him human food . I did not opt for necropsy as we have set to be cremated and his ashes will be with us. The man who came to pick up his body said he was not bloated but I thought he was and he has been in the past. I know without a necropsy not a lot can be told. I had his throw up analyzed it did not get hits on any types of impurities in his stomach. Not sure you can analyze dry paper towel vomit? Is it not normal to think foul play or am I not accepting old age ? Anyone give insight in this ?
Hello, Jimmy,
I wish I could give you more helpful information. When we look at vomitus (either a pile of stuff, or what someone has wiped up), we are just looking to see if it looks like normal stomach contents. To analyze for toxins, you have to send to a commercial laboratory and they don’t just “check for poison”. They check for virtually anything, but you have to specify what you are looking for. When those cop shows talk about “tox screens”, that means that they are checking for the most commonly encountered toxic substances. They are still looking to see if specific chemicals are there, not just “looking for anything there”.
The most common toxins that we see cause either neurological signs with lots of twitching and so forth, or free bleeding (might show up as bruising and swelling), or damage to liver or kidneys, which typically is a slow deterioration over a few days, rather than being so acute.
Cryptorchid individuals have a higher incidence of testicular cancer, and sometimes the testicle in the abdomen twists around and chokes off it’s blood supply, which is super painful. Neither of these conditions would be likely to cause what your dog experienced.
I am sorry that I cannot give you a good explanation for what happened.
My 14 year old Burnese Mountain Dog cross woke my up early morning last week to let me know something was wrong with her. She was extremely anxious, excessively drooling and lapping. I checked her mouth for a bone caught in her mouth but nothing to be seen. Within a couple of hours the symptoms stopped. She ate her breakfast but was a bit “flat”. That day she ate grass and vomited it up 4 times. Over the next 2 days she was less and less interested in food and still “flat”, although she did have periods of being quite alert and active. Took her to the vet 3rd day for multiple tests, blood test, exray, 2 ultra sounds and all day observation. Every test was normal. No blockages, no foreign body, no tumors, no organ failure. She seemed not to be in pain but did have a high heart rate. She passed away early the next day. The vet suggested perhaps histiocytic sarcoma or necrotic intestine. None of which explain how quickly she died. Of course I am heart broken and would value your opinion.
Hello, Joy,
I can appreciate your pain and frustration. When I have a case that we lose despite our best efforts, and all our tests have been unhelpful, and the client has been willing to go the extra mile no matter what, it just is devastating — and that’s not even my dog. My patient, yes, but not my pet, with all the additional emotion that entails.
If there is enough damage to cause death of tissue (necrosis), the byproducts of dying tissue getting into the bloodstream are quite toxic, and can put a patient into shock. We see puppies with Parvovirus where we have stopped the vomiting, restored hydration, treated for secondary infections, and they just die. You do a post-mortem and their intestines are the color of a pair of blue-jeans, just dead. The circulatory system can’t survive that level of toxin in the bloodstream.
Sometimes we can find the answers with a complete post-mortem and microscopic examination of the tissues, but even then we can be frustrated.
I am sorry for your loss.
My dog threw up a few times and hasn’t ate now his eyes are swollen. Not going poop much, no diarrhea help!
Hello, Russ,
Sorry I didn’t see this earlier, but I wouldn’t have been able to help you much. That’s a case for seeing the doctor in person.