What the heck happened?!

Redneck

Arachnoprince
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Okay, I have to talk to someone about this. I dont know what happened.

Ringo, my 14 week old Rottie. Just died. Now, when I say "just died", I mean it.

I went outside this morning at 3:30, he ran to my feet and was licking and chewing on my toes like he normally does. At 10:30 this morning, my sister comes in my RV and tells me he is dead.

He was showing ZERO signs of being sick. He was eating & drinking like normal. Going poo and pee like normal.
He was up to date on his shots...

Wasnt poisoned. No physical trama to his body. (No one could even get close enough to him for these to even be a cause. But I looked signs anyways.)

Wasnt an issue with heat. If its to hot outside, the dogs come in.

We took all the dogs to the vet to have them checked out. They all have a clean bill of health. Even Ringo's brother is perfectly fine.

Its so strange! I cant even think of what caused it.

I want to get a Necropsy done but cant afford to after taking the other dogs in for a check up to make sure they were okay.

It sucks... I was really getting attached to him. :( No more dogs for me, I guess. First Kamira, now Ringo.
 

pitbulllady

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That IS a major downer. Isn't there a university-affiliated animal lab near you that performs necropsies? Clemson University has one located in the center of the state, and they perform necropsies on all sorts of animals, free of charge. You just have to get the animal's corpse to them. I've taken puppies, ferrets and even snakes in for necropsies when it wasn't clear as to why they died.

Certain breeds of dogs are prone to congenital heart defects, which can and sometimes do result in sudden death, and Rotts, unfortunately, are among those breeds. A dog can be fine one second and drop dead the next, comparable to those athletes you hear of suddenly dropping dead in the middle of a game. As bad as it sounds, I would HOPE that is the case here, and not some toxin or something else in the environment around your place that can affect your other dogs or animals. There are some commonly-used agricultural products which can be extremely deadly and fast-acting in their concentrated form, among them the pesticide "Temik"(Aldicarb), which kills extremely quickly and can be absorbed through the skin in its concentrated form. It's widely used on a variety of crops when diluted properly, but more than a few accidental spills have killed pets AND people, and more than one evil-minded individual has deliberately poisoned animals with it.

pitbulllady
 

AudreyElizabeth

Arachnodemon
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That is awful! I'm so sorry. Couldn't hurt to check into what pitbulllady said; definitely worth a shot. Sorry for your loss.
 

bugmankeith

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Could it have been a heart attack or he ate something or got bit/stung by something with venom?
 

Redneck

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That IS a major downer. Isn't there a university-affiliated animal lab near you that performs necropsies? Clemson University has one located in the center of the state, and they perform necropsies on all sorts of animals, free of charge. You just have to get the animal's corpse to them. I've taken puppies, ferrets and even snakes in for necropsies when it wasn't clear as to why they died.

Certain breeds of dogs are prone to congenital heart defects, which can and sometimes do result in sudden death, and Rotts, unfortunately, are among those breeds. A dog can be fine one second and drop dead the next, comparable to those athletes you hear of suddenly dropping dead in the middle of a game. As bad as it sounds, I would HOPE that is the case here, and not some toxin or something else in the environment around your place that can affect your other dogs or animals. There are some commonly-used agricultural products which can be extremely deadly and fast-acting in their concentrated form, among them the pesticide "Temik"(Aldicarb), which kills extremely quickly and can be absorbed through the skin in its concentrated form. It's widely used on a variety of crops when diluted properly, but more than a few accidental spills have killed pets AND people, and more than one evil-minded individual has deliberately poisoned animals with it.

pitbulllady
I dont know of any University near me that would do what you have suggested. Im sure there are some in Texas. But none that are close enough for me to get to at the moment.

I knew Rotts were prone to hip problems. But didnt know they where prone to heart problems. That has to be what happened to Ringo. He was perfectly fine. Then, not. He had a perfect visit the last time at the vet. Was eating like a horse. Between him and his brother, they were going through almost 60 pounds of food a week. They both were growing like weeds. Both would run around chewing on each other, and playing just fine.

When we took all the dogs to get checked out after we found Ringo, Mario (his brother), had a clean bill of health. He weighed in at 31 pounds. Two days later, we are having problems with Mario. He was vomiting yesterday, and had soft stool. First thought was parvo. Well, we took him in today to get that checked out. Again, the test was negative. The vet said he still has hook worms. He threw up the worming meds last time. So, we gave him more today. The vet said Mario's temps were fine, said he was good. Minus the worms.

But you can look at him and see he is feeling bad. Today, he has diarrhea, not eating, drinking very little.

Maybe its becayse he got in some of Hooch's food? Mario is on Purina Puppy Chow. Hooch is on some other cheap dog food. The only food he can eat without breaking out, and getting dry skin.

I dont know what to say or do about Mario right now. The vet also said to give him Gatorade. So, thats what he has been sipping on today.

Could it have been a heart attack or he ate something or got bit/stung by something with venom?
Seems like a heart attack. Couldnt have ate anything. Not sure what would affect him if he was bit or stung. I did check for any trama to his body... Didnt look for bites, but didnt feel anything out of the ordinary.
 

Terry D

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Tommy, I'm sorry to hear about Ringo! This is bad!! I hope you find a solution to Mario's condition soon. I'm very sorry to hear about this, my friend..

Terry
 

Redneck

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Tommy, I'm sorry to hear about Ringo! This is bad!! I hope you find a solution to Mario's condition soon. I'm very sorry to hear about this, my friend..

Terry
Thanks, Terry.

How you been bro? Still got my number? We need to catch up. As soon as I get my truck registered and inspected Ima have to come up that way.
 

Formerphobe

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An anaphylactic reaction to an insect bite or sting can drop a dog, or human, in seconds without any outward sign. Though, doesn't explain why the litter mate is now sick.
 

Redneck

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Mario finally ate.

I tried hard puppy & dog food. Then I softened them both up. I mixxed them. I added gatorade. Nothing was working.

So, I googled "My puppy wont eat and has diarrhea". I read a few things saying rush it to the vet blah blah blah. Well, I done that already. I kept looking. Finally, someone said they can get their puppy to eat chicken and rice. I dont have any rice, but I had chicken. So, I cooked it up.

Mario start sniffing it, licking it, and chewing on it. Then, BAM! He ate his first bite all day. He ate a total of 4.5-5 strips of chicken.

He is still a bit lathargic. But has more energy than he did earlier. Not his normal energy. But its an improvement.

There is one thing I find funny. When I take him outside, he wants to try and eat sand. Its the play sand for sand boxes. I dont let him. But he tries to. When I shoo him from that. He walks over to the house and licks the brick skirting on the house. I dont even know why he would do that. Lack of a certain nutrition? Opinions on that are welcome.

On to Ringo. We do have velvet ants around here. Could that be something that is harmful to dogs? I know their common name is the "Cow Killer". Surely that wouldnt affect the dogs, right? I know when I was younger I would always take my Chihuahua to the creek, he got bit by a venomous snake and he was fine. I noticed the bite on his leg when we got home. But he didnt appear to be affected by it.

I know a snake is different from something that is called a cow killer. But we are talking about a Chihuahua being bit by a snake and a 30+ pound dog being stung by an ant.

Anyways. Thats the only thing I can think of that might have stung Ringo. That or some random wolf spider.
 

Redneck

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Got up this morning at 8:30 to Mario moving around. Still a bit lathargic. But he has alot more energy than he did yesterday. His poo looks almost the same, but its got some bits of stiffness to it. Not alot, but a little is a sign of improvement.

I got some rice this morning, too. I mixxed the rice and some chicken with a Pro-Pet puppy & small breed daily vitamin. Added a bit of checken broth to it. He ate a good bit of it up. Not all of it, but enough to make me feel better.

Sad thing.... I dont cook this good for me! LoL!

Anyways, I will update later on him.

Thank you all for the kind words.
 

Amoeba

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Jun 13, 2011
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Man I'm sorry for your loss, I had a pug do the same thing was perfectly fine in the morning she went out in the back yard to bask in the sun I went to check on her a little while later and mi perro es muerto.

Good luck with Mario, it sounds like things are improving already.
 

Terry D

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Tommy, I'm glad to hear Mario is improving. Here's hoping things continue to go in the positive. Looking forward to a fishing trip or board-flipping safari once fall planting season is mostly finished. I lost your #. I'll p.m. you mine. Cheers,
T
 

pitbulllady

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Mario finally ate.

I tried hard puppy & dog food. Then I softened them both up. I mixxed them. I added gatorade. Nothing was working.

So, I googled "My puppy wont eat and has diarrhea". I read a few things saying rush it to the vet blah blah blah. Well, I done that already. I kept looking. Finally, someone said they can get their puppy to eat chicken and rice. I dont have any rice, but I had chicken. So, I cooked it up.

Mario start sniffing it, licking it, and chewing on it. Then, BAM! He ate his first bite all day. He ate a total of 4.5-5 strips of chicken.

He is still a bit lathargic. But has more energy than he did earlier. Not his normal energy. But its an improvement.

There is one thing I find funny. When I take him outside, he wants to try and eat sand. Its the play sand for sand boxes. I dont let him. But he tries to. When I shoo him from that. He walks over to the house and licks the brick skirting on the house. I dont even know why he would do that. Lack of a certain nutrition? Opinions on that are welcome.

On to Ringo. We do have velvet ants around here. Could that be something that is harmful to dogs? I know their common name is the "Cow Killer". Surely that wouldnt affect the dogs, right? I know when I was younger I would always take my Chihuahua to the creek, he got bit by a venomous snake and he was fine. I noticed the bite on his leg when we got home. But he didnt appear to be affected by it.

I know a snake is different from something that is called a cow killer. But we are talking about a Chihuahua being bit by a snake and a 30+ pound dog being stung by an ant.

Anyways. Thats the only thing I can think of that might have stung Ringo. That or some random wolf spider.
"Cow Killer" is a local name for the Red Velvet "Ant"(Dasymutilla sp.), which is not an ant at all, but a wingless wasp, one that specializes in hunting ground-nesting bees like Bumble Bees. They do not actually kill cows, but a sting IS painful and cows often unintentionally munch one while grazing, and will go all "drama queen" and act like they are dying. Like any wasp, there is a potential for anaphylactic reactions to their venom in both dogs and humans. I'm figuring though, that the one pup's illness and the other's death aren't related, and that death of the Rott pup was either due to a congenital heart defect, or a poison.
I hate it happened nonetheless.

pitbulllady
 

Redneck

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Update... Not much of a change. Still lathargic, barely eat & drink.

Went to the vet again today to get more meds.... This time we got something called Panacur, and some Vitamin K.

We also pick up some soft can puppy food. Just to see if he will eat that. He did, a little bit.

Now we wait and see how he turns out over the next couple days... Hopefully something starts to change.
 

GregorSamsa

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Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. That is very sad.
Glad that your other pup is doing better.
 

Redneck

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Just a tiny update. Mario is getting a little more energy. He has ate almost two full cans of the puppy food. He has got enough energy to try and play for a little bit. But he wears out quick.

His stool is slowly getting thicker. Still not normal poo. But it's getting there.

He drinks a little here and there. Not a lot, though. So, I am using the tube the medicine came in to force water & Gatorade in him.

If he is not better when we run out of the meds. we have for him, we are taking him to a different vet for blood work and a second opinion. We have been trying to find a good one & I think we found one.

Hopefully, we won't need a second opinion.

Again, thank you all for the kind words.
 

Entomancer

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Panacur is a general anti-parasite treatment...

Well, I wouldn't really consider myself a "dog person", but I'm sorry nonetheless.
 

Redneck

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Good news!

Panacur is a general anti-parasite treatment...

Well, I wouldn't really consider myself a "dog person", but I'm sorry nonetheless.
Thanks for the info. about Panacur... My vet just told me it was a more potent deworming medicine.


Update time... Mario is doing great! His stool is now soft logs. He is almost eating like before. Not quite, as much. We are trying to not over feed him. But he is hungry!

His energy level as gone up tremendously! We have one dose of Panacur, and five days worth of the vitamin K left.

We went to the vet this morning so I could talk to him about the meds. we are giving Mario... He said the vitamin K is a rat poison treatment. I don't think he was poisoned, but, one of the meds is working! So, in case he was poisoned, we no longer leave any of the pooches outside alone...

Anyways, I just wanted to update y'all. Again, thanks for the kind words.

I'll put up some picture of the ogre in a bit. :biggrin:
 

Redneck

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Sorry I have not got any pictures up... Been a bit on the busy side. But, some good news, Mario has been back to his normal seld for the past few days.

He plays like nothing ever happened. He eats like a champ, too! Though, he has taken to being a bit food aggressive. We have been working on that with him. When we started, he bit the far out of my hand without any hesitation. He is learning, though. We got him to sit before he eat and if we say mine he stops eating and lays down.
 
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