Why did my dog pass away with head tilt, seizures, and no appetite?

Hello. I am so sorry for your loss. You must be heartbroken. There are so many things that could have lead to Fifi's death, including infection, inflammation, organ failure ( kidneys, heart ), heartworm disease, & cancer. It does not sound like she was in any pain or discomfort, so it sounds like she passed quietly. Without a necropsy, an exact cause will never be known, just be glad she did not suffer. Please accept my condolences on your loss & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Peter! How old is Peter? The most common condition that causes trouble walking, falling over, head tilt and trembling is Vestibular disease. This is a problem with the balance center in either the brain or the inner ear. Possible causes are an ear infection, stroke, low thyroid, a brain tumor or if he is just old it can be idiopathic (meaning we don't know why). I have seen dogs become Vestibular and then be normal that quickly, though usually the signs can persist for up to 2 weeks. I am not sure about the relation to the food you are feeding. If he shows the symptoms again I would immediately take him to your Vet for an exam. Consider video taping it so you can show them in case it goes away quickly again. I hope this helps and I wish you and Peter the best!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry to hear about your pup. These are very general signs that could have happened due to many different conditions such as ones affecting the heart or it could have possibly been due to internal bleeding. It is hard to know with just a brief description provided but those are some things that can affect a dog suddenly. So sorry to hear this again.

What you are describing with Shasta may be something called vestibular disease. I am attaching a handout with more information about it below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=564 If Shasta has a history of ear infections, she may have a middle ear infection that is causing her signs. That is discussed in the handout above. I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Shasta and determine what might be causing her signs and the appropriate way to treat them. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hello. I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved pet. He, unfortunately, suffered a severe cardio-pulmonary event, either from the presence of heartworms, cancer, or severe cardiomyopathy. He was probably sicker than you realized, & also sicker longer than just the past 6 weeks. We all try to do the best we can for ourselves & our pets & sometimes we just run out of time to do anything. I know you feel bad, but you have to be honest with yourself & know that even if you had the money, he may have been too sick to do much for him. If you loved him with all your heart up to that last day, then he had a very good life. Please accept my condolences on your loss. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. It's possible that he may have had a stroke or blood clot secondary to his heart disease that traveled to his brain. Or, if he was regularly having collapsing episodes due to his heart (syncope), what you saw may have been one of these that was especially severe, as this is a common cause of sudden death in dogs with severe heart problems. If you want to try to get a more definite answer on what the cause of death may have been, you would need to have an autopsy done, called a necropsy in animals. Your veterinarian should be able to let you know where you can have this done, if it's something you want to pursue. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry to hear of your loss of sweet Tilly. It is never easy to lose a part of the family. It is definitely hard to say for sure as to why she passed away without knowing the whole story, any tests that were run and what happened when she passed. From what you described above, my biggest concerns would be the cough and wheezing. This could have been from heart disease, heart worms, asthma, or even lung cancer. Since she was eating and drinking normally, it makes me more concerned that something acute happened like that ruptured chordae tendineae in her heart or a pulmonary embolism. If you would like to discuss her whole history with me, then I would be glad to do a consult with you and give you my best educated guess as to what happened. Unfortunately, no one will be able to tell you for sure without an necropsy and sometimes those even come back inconclusive. I am again so deeply sorry for your loss. Stay strong Tilly would have wanted that. Hugs!