My dog declined quickly from suspected cancer. Was it normal?

First off, I'm so sorry you lost Ellie suddenly. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved animal, and it's such an upsetting time. Please accept my condolences for your loss. Yes, this can happen. It can be common that an elderly dog declines suddenly out of nowhere, and their loss is a shock to the owner. Sometimes dogs can be sick and won't show any signs until they are extremely sick and close to dying. I know this won't take away your pain, but I hope this helps.

I'm so sorry to hear about Luigi's passing! How awful. Hemangiosarcoma is unfortunately a common type of cancer in older, large-breed dogs, and the scenario you described with Luigi is also common - many dogs with this problem show no signs at all of illness until their abdominal tumor suddenly begins to bleed, at which point they become very weak and collapse, and may die within hours. Even with regular veterinary visits, there is often no way that the tumor could have been detected - most of the time, abdominal x-rays and ultrasound are required to diagnose this problem in its early stages, and unfortunately many dogs are not showing any symptoms at all to indicate a need for these tests. If the cancer was in his liver, then it's likely that this would not have been a treatable problem no matter how early it was found - surgery on the liver is extremely difficult and high-risk, even when performed by a specialist at a referral center. So try not to feel guilty - this is a terrible disease, but there's no way you could have known that Luigi had it, and very likely there is nothing that anyone could have done differently even if you had known. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

Hello, I am very sorry to hear about your dog Brewki's passing. Unfortunately, I do not have enough information to give you a good answer. I would have to know what type of white blood cells were elevated and how low the red blood cell count was to be of much help. Without all of the medical records it is extremely hard to give council. If you would like, you can chose to do a private consult with one of our vets. That way you can chat back and forth and if you have copies of the bloodwork you can upload those results. I agree with the previous veterinarian though, the Clavamox and Doxycycline administration together likely had nothing to do with his passing. Those two antibiotics are often given concurrently without incidence. When an animal passes away unexpectedly, the only real chance you have to know what may have caused the death is to have a necropsy (autopsy) done on the body but even with that, often times we don't get a definitive answer. Hope this helps somewhat. Best wishes.

Oh no, I'm so sorry that you suddenly lost Minnie Mae Pearl! How horrible for you, please accept my condolences for your loss. Please keep in mind I can't say for certain what caused her to pass away, but I can offer some guess. It is possible that she had cancer. It's common in senior dogs, and it can be festering for a while before the dog sudden becomes ill. They can't tell us when they are sick and are pretty stoic with pain, so oftentimes when we notice something is wrong, it's very late in the disease. That happened with my own dog last year. He seemed perfectly normal, and then one night he appeared to crashed. I rushed him into the clinic for treatment, and he had an abdomen full of fluid likely from a ruptured splenic tumor. He had shown no other signs of illness before then, and unfortunately I had to let him go, so I completely understand how hard it is to suddenly lose a beloved pet and feel devastated. Her death could have also been caused by liver disease, pancreatitis, or a number of other illnesses. I wish I could say for certain to give you some answers, but I can only offer my guesses and my sincerest condolences for your loss :-(

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so sorry for your loss. Lymphoma is a terrible cancer for people & animals. This is a very complicated question with no easy answer. Lymphoma is a rapidly growing malignancy that can go & grow anywhere there is lymph tissue. This is virtually every tissue in the body. Eventually, the cancer will infiltrate the tissue to such an extent that the organ fails (often this is bone marrow or the liver). As the patient loses appetite, begins to vomit, & develop diarrhea, he will continue to weaken, & eventually dies. Sometimes we can put a patient in remission for a while with chemotherapy, but then the tumor cells become resistant to the drugs, & death ensues. This is a bit simplistic, but it is actually the mechanism by which all cancers take over, kill normal cells eventually killing the host. It is a terrible disease.

Hello, I am incredibly sorry to hear about your loss of Daisy. Based on the information you provided it sounds like the veterinarian's primary concern was a cancer called hemangiosarcoma. This is a very aggressive form of cancer that causes bleeding tumors in the spleen and liver. Surgery and follow-up chemotherapy is the recommended treatment. You are correct in that the tumor is submitted for biopsy after removal to reach a definitive diagnosis. Prior to moving forward with surgery, your veterinarian performed chest x-rays to look for evidence of metastasis, or travel of the cancer to the lungs. Hemangiosarcoma almost always leads to metastasis. Based on what you say, I suspect that your veterinarian saw evidence of cancer within Daisy's lungs. This essentially proves (without biopsy of the tumor) that Daisy has cancer. Even if you moved forward with surgery,, she would likely only live a few weeks before the cancer in her lungs/body would cause her to become ill again. These situations are incredibly challenging and unexpected. I hope that my explanation can provide some clarity and help you to realize that you did the right thing for Daisy. Again, I am incredibly sorry for your loss.

I'm very sorry your friends lost their dog so suddenly! Without seeing him in person, I can't say for certain what caused him to pass away, but the symptoms you describe sound like he was extremely ill. He could have had a systemic illness not related to his hyperthyroidism that caused him to pass away. The only way to know for certain is to have a necropsy (an autopsy for animals) done on him to determine his cause of again. Again, I'm sorry for the sudden loss of your friend's dog.