Help With Thoughts

[Rooo]

I wonder if anyone can help with an answer please. I own 2 cocker spaniels,2 years old. Have their regular heartworm injections,well looked after.Last friday, the male was playing on the terrace with my wife,in good spirits & fine.She goes out half hour later to put them to bed ,she found he passed away.Now the dogs don't venture out( Poisining),on the terrace a very slight chance of a snake, no puncture marks on him.Any suggestions or thoughts to what might have caused it?It has really affected us,as we are really fond of our animals & we are really worried about the girl.

Thank you in advance.

[sbk]

I had a very young cat die in my house, no marks def no poisoning. Only thing I could figure was she had some heart problem as she had often panted very hard after playing.

[Nienke]

I'm very sorry for your sudden and so unexpected loss.

It's very difficult to say what could have caused your dog's death. My first thoughts are, like sbk's, heartproblems?

Have you considered autopsy?

Nienke

[Rooo]

I thought it might be a heart attack.Too late for autopsy.I was overseas at the time & my wife buried the poor thing.Thanks anyway.

[bina]

dogs dont get heart attacks and dont suffer strokes.. but they do have heart problems that could cause the heart to stop suddenly....

sorry for your loss

bina

[elfe]

hi bina, dogs do have strokes, unfortunately.

sorry for your dog, rooo, i can imagine what shock this was and how worried you are about the other dog

dogs can have sudden heart failures, caused by viral disease like corona virus and others. the disease itself can sometimes go unnoticed, just some small signs which might have been overlooked. the virus however stays active in the body and can cause heart failure and other damage still after long time...

[Patsycat]

I am so sorry

[bina]

hi bina, dogs do have strokes, unfortunately.

sorry for your dog, rooo, i can imagine what shock this was and how worried you are about the other dog

dogs can have sudden heart failures, caused by viral disease like corona virus and others. the disease itself can sometimes go unnoticed, just some small signs which might have been overlooked. the virus however stays active in the body and can cause heart failure and other damage still after long time...

heart failure yes

strokes, no... i wont go in to the explanation i received from the national vet hospital here (beit dagen) cause it is complex and i had difficulty understanding the medical reasons (was in hebrew) let alone write it out but essentially, they physically dont suffer strokes like humans, their physiology is different. symptoms might resemble however....

but yes, heart failure and could have been non symptomatic...

if you are worried and your other dog is from same litter, u can always do some heart monitor /ekg, and general blood work to see if there is anything to alert to other problems. among boxers for instance, sudden heart failure at a young age is more common then most thing, not sure if cockers suffer from a greater risk of congenital heart problems or not.

i guess its like anything else in life. when a child falls ill or dies, parents become very very super sensitive about any small signs and illnesses in the other children . (i know that when my child was hospitalized very ill, it took me about a year or so to relax with her and the others, including my dogs, with every small sign i saw, i thought the worst.)

autopsies in animals , unless they are performed by a very good technician, u cant find anything. (no physical signs); i was at a few after deaths of dogs (and my alpaca and two goats), and we didnt know why they had died in spite of intensive care, Ultrasound, ekg, blood work, cultures, etc. In addition, two were sent off to national vet school /lab and came back non conclusive also. as for poisoning, that is also very hard lab work, not all labs are equipped for id of toxins.

so dont worry about that u didnt do an autopsy...

could also have been reaction to insect bite. rare but does happen to dogs (spider,scorpion, et al and anyphlactic reaction)

bina

israel

hi found info on "strokes" in dogs, not the same as for humans although may show as such:

Canine stroke, although rare in dogs, occurs when the blood flow is disrupted to the brain due to either a blocked artery or a hemorrhage.

There are two types of canine stroke.

1. Ischemic Strokes -- lack of blood flow to the brain due to a blocked artery. These strokes can be linked to the following conditions:

* Kidney disease

* Heart disease

* Cushing's disease

* Diabetes

* Hypertension

* Obstruction due to the fragment of a tumor, spinal cartilage, parasites or fat

* Under- or over-active thyroid glands

2. Hemorrhagic Strokes -- proper blood flow to the brain is disrupted by actual bleeding in the brain. These episodes can be prompted by the following conditions:

* Kidney, Heart, Cushing's and Thyroid diseases once more, since they can lead to high blood pressure

* A certain type of lung worm called angiostrongylosis

* Rodent poisons

* Arterial inflammation

* Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia

* Brain tumor

* Atypical blood vessel development in the brain

* Head trauma

Symptoms of canine stroke are not exclusive to this medical condition, which can complicate diagnosis. The following are common canine stroke symptoms.

1. Head tilt.stroke in dogs

2. Turning the wrong way when called.

3. Eating out of one side of food dish.

4. Blindness.

5. Loss of balance.

6. Lethargy.

7. Loss of bladder and bowel control.

8. Abrupt change in behavior.

and link for more: http://www.vetspecialists.co.uk/06_Animal_...cts/Stroke.html

so i was wrong and right , a problem in translation for what we call stroke... i stand corrected... bina

but death by 'stroke' seems even rarer then stroke itself in canines...

bina

israel

Edited September 13, 2008 by bina

[Rooo]

Thank you all for your input,lucky that the girl is from another litter.Fingers crossed nothing happens to her.