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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Our gorgeous puppy died on Xmas day. Anyone able to help?

69 replies

Belgrano · 29/12/2010 19:18

Our beautiful 17 wk old lab puppy was unbelievably and incredibly sadly found (by me) dead on Christmas Day morning in her bed. She was asleep on her side in her usual sleeping position with legs stretched out. Has anyone got any ideas what it could be or similar stories?

There was no vomiting or blood in her stools. No frothing at the mouth. No fever or crying or anything beyond a slight listlessness at bedtime the night before which we put down to a very busy and fun packed (for her) Christmas eve - lots of dogs to play with, a nice country walk and a car journey to my mums and the whole family with her all day. Her fur looked good. There was no blueness to her gums which would indicate death by heart failure apparently. my brother (sleeping next door) heard a couple of whines about half an hour apart at about 5 or 6 am. He thought she needed to go out to the loo, so it wasn't by any means a yowl of agony. That was all.

The vet said she had seen this only 4 or 5 times in her working life (15 yrs) and said it was totally inexplicable. The only slight clue is that her growth had slown down in the couple of weeks before death. She was 7.6 kg at 11 wks, which is pretty big for a pup and then 8.8kg at 13 wks, 10.5kg at 15 wks and 11.05kg when she died at almost 17 wks. She was 38 cm to the shoulder the day she died. Could she die from not feeding her enough? I'm worried about that. I fed her a fair bit less than the packet (James Wellbeloved Junior, so quality stuff) said because she picked up what the kids dropped (a lot when you have a one year old) and also had some tidbits in training and I didn't want her to be a fat lab :(. I wish she was a fat and alive lab now.

They act starving all the time so its pretty hard to know. She wasn't particularly skinny looking at death, she just had a nice waist and a gloss to her fur, and heaps of energy. Surely there would be some mangy looking-ness and lethargy over a few days/weeks if she was actually starving wouldn't there? Or could it be that I had switched to 'Junior' food from 'Puppy' a few days before? Can that kill them?

If anyone can help I'd be so grateful.

Thank you

OP posts:

Ephiny · 30/12/2010 11:09

What a sad and awful thing to happen :( I agree it sounds like you did nothing wrong, in fact you gave your beautiful girl a happy loving home for the short time she had. It must be so hard not knowing exactly how or why it happened, but you mustn't blame yourself, I can't think of any way it could have been your fault, or any way you could have prevented it.

Wishing you luck in your search for the new pup, and for him/her to have a long happy life with you!

LotteryWinnersOnAcid · 01/01/2011 19:41

I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds as though she had a lovely life with you, and I just wanted to reiterate what everyone else has said - that it isn't your fault regarding food etc, and it sounds as though it was an underlying condition you could never have known about.

TheLittleRaccoon · 02/01/2011 15:59

Seriously, for a dog to die of starvation it would look like a toast rack. It's amazing how long they can go before actually dying - we've all seen the RSPCA cases on the telly. Nobody could confuse a healthy, on-the-lean-side (which is what vets advise) young dog with a starvation case. Honestly, it sounds as if you were a wonderful owner and have nothing to blame yourself for.

everlong · 02/01/2011 18:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JustKeepSnowing · 02/01/2011 18:19

So sorry to read about the loss of your lovely puppy :(

We rehomed a rescue kitten several years ago and she died suddenly, jumped down off the bed, collapsed, whimpered a couple of times and that was it.

This was abroad and the vet never offered an autopsy (not sure if we would have had one anyway) so we just accepted it as one of those things - perhaps she had a dodgy heart or as others have sad some kind of neuro condition.
We only had her for a few months but i've never forgotten her - we now have 2 healthy brother cats who are nearly 7 and they definitely helped (esp as we got them as kittens too) fill the gap.

Enjoy finding & getting to know your new dog :)

oxocube · 02/01/2011 18:35

So sorry. I lost my adult rescue dog last year to cancer and within a week, we had decided to look for another dog, a pup this time. After 5 years with our lovely lab cross, I just couldn't imagine our family without a dog. Now we have an 11 month golden retriever.

Justkeepsnowing, one of my cats has some kind of neuro disorder - he has random epileptic fits, a skin condition and is incredibly skinny

Most of the time though, he is very happy, doesn't seem to suffer and eats loads. He seems to be unaware of the fact that he is not 'healthy'

TigerseyeMum · 02/01/2011 19:35

I'm so sorry. I have heard of others who have lost dogs suddenly, no apparent cause but often there has turned out to be underlying heart or organ problems. There was nothing you did wrong, it was just a sad, terrible thing.

My heart goes out to you, we lost our elderly dog on Boxing Day morning and Christmas just ended there and then :(

Please do consider a rescue pup, there really are hundreds out there just waiting for a perfect home :)

JustKeepSnowing · 02/01/2011 20:10

oxocube - our cat was v skinny, we never really thought much of it, also had incredibly long limbs and i always wondered if they were a symptom of something. Never saw her have a fit but she was only young when she died so could have been the first one.

Sorry OP.

Original poster

Belgrano · 03/01/2011 19:13

thanks everyone.

Carbon monoxide - I wondered about that too but there was another dog in there who was fine. He is an adult dog though, about 9 yrs old and a big collie dog. Surely he would have been affected a bit though? And he slept there the following two nights too with no ill effect... So I am hoping that rules out CO poisoning.

I will feel a bit worried about crating future pup though as I do feel bad that she was in her crate and probably tried to get out but couldn't :-(

OP posts:

daisydotandgertie · 03/01/2011 20:52

I'm also so very sorry that you have had such a heartbreaking loss. I can't begin to imagine how you must be feeling.

There's a labrador specific forum which has a fabulous number of deeply knowledgeable labrador specialists - especially about breeding/health and genetics. I wondered if it might set your mind at rest a little to post about the loss of your puppy there? It's here - there may be someone there who can cast some light on what's happened.

QuintMissesChristmasesPast · 03/01/2011 20:59

Sorry for the loss of your puppy.

I read an article about anti freeze poisoning being the biggest killer of pets in winter in our local paper, written by a toxicologist. I have googled in English and it comes up with the following. Do you think it could apply to your pet? here

ChippingIn · 03/01/2011 21:10

Bel - so, so sorry :( She sounds beautiful and it sounds like she had a wonderful life with you x

Have you looked around in the garden & where you walked her to see if there is anything poisonous to dogs?

When I was a child one of my guinea pigs died - we had moved his cage (as we often did for fresh grass ) and the neighbours plant/tree was over hanging we think that some of the berries must have fallen off and been poisonous to GP's :()

When you get your new puppy - don't pity feed him/her OK :)

Original poster

Belgrano · 11/01/2011 22:46

Arrgh, ok so I'm confused! It's a couple of weeks on now. We've looked into lots of things, including rescue and we found a beautiful puppy last weekend (have seen 3 litters which weren't right). But having secured her and going to pick her up this weekend I am now having the wobbles. Life without a puppy is much easier!

I have two DCs, aged 1 and 3 and I am finding it is nice not having to corral people into the kitchen and separate dogs and toddlers and watch them all the time and get them out of the playroom to stop chewing toys, and pick up poo and plan short outings only so that they don't get fed up in the car, and fight with the lead and pushchair etc etc. etc. Oh and of course it might die again too although that weirdly is not my main concern - I think I have taken on board how rare it was. It's more the surprising easy-ness of life sans dog...

But then I see someone walk down the street with a dog and am jealous and sad.

So now I am conflicted about this. Do I just jump back in? Daughter is dead keen and DH is keen too but they are not the chief dog-carers and poo-pickeruppers! Any advice out there?

OP posts:

WoodRose · 11/01/2011 23:06

We got a new puppy last week and I thank God every day that my children are at an age (6&8)where they can be a help rather than a hindrance. I seem to be monitoring her 24/7 for toileting signals, chewing, bite inhibition as well as devoting a significant part of my day to training and playing with her. I can't imagine being able to train a puppy with children as young as yours! It must be very tough and you get HUGE respect from me for having managed to do all that with your lab puppy. Do you think you could hold out for a few years until at least one of your children was older?

Scuttlebutter · 11/01/2011 23:11

Belgrano, am puzzled why you are set on a puppy? Rescues have lots of dogs who are young, often barely a year old. I do a lot with greyhounds for instance and it's quite common for dogs to be booted off the track at eighteen months or so, and rescues often have them even younger. As they routinely live till 15 or so, that's many happy years with your dog, but you won't have all the puppy hassle. A young adult seems like much less work.

overthemill · 11/01/2011 23:13

puppies are fab but hard work. Getting a rescue can also be hard work esp if you don't know the history and you have kids so need to think about their welfare first and foremost. Why not visit rescue centre, one with good experience - and see what they say?

ClaireDeLoon · 11/01/2011 23:16

Belgrano only just seen this, so sorry for your loss, such an awful thing for you all, on Christmas Day too.

I think if you're unsure don't rush into it. There is no urgency, you have time to consider it carefully. If you choose not to get this pup you aren't saying no to getting a pup in the future, just saying not now.

BellaMagnificat · 12/01/2011 18:44

Oh my goodness. How awful. I'm so very sorry.

I haven't had time to read the other responses ans I'm not a vet so the only thing that occurred to me was could she have ingested something such as tinsel from the christmas tree? That can obviously be seriously bad news for the bowels.

It is nothing you've done. A lean dog is a healthy dog. And at that age they tend to go pretty skinny anyway. Please please don't blame yourself.

maxybrown · 16/01/2011 21:26

I have a just 3 year old and lab pup - it IS hard work, but def worth it.

For whoever said about rescue - it can be hard to get somewhere to agree to allowing a rescue dog into a home with an under 5. We had the same problem.

We have him walking him as much as he can and he even offered to pick the poo up - bless him bet he's not so eager in 7 years time lol

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