What caused my dog's sudden death after vomiting and body stiffness?

Allow me to first say that I am deeply sorry for your loss. Dixie bear was taken way too early and I offer you my deepest sympathies. Unfortunately, sudden and acute deaths can happen to dogs and cats just like in human beings. Dogs that are completely normal one moment can suddenly have heart attacks or brain aneurysms, etc. that can cause them to pass away the next. Usually the three main causes of sudden death in dogs of her age are massive heart attacks, brain or cardiac aneurysms, or toxicity of some kind. And yes, all three of these diseases can cause an animal to exhibit vomiting right before they pass away. Sadly, the only true way to find out what an animal has died from it is by having a post death autopsy performed by a specialized pathologist. if this is something you’re interested in doing, please contact your veterinarian as to whether or not they can refer you to someone that could help determine the cause of death. This could possibly still be done even though it has been a week. I hope this helps. Again, I’m 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.

I'm very sorry for the sudden loss of your dog. With his history I would be suspicious of an infection, heart disease, sudden bleeding or a toxin that could cause death. While Lyme disease can be serious his signs aren't specific for a Lyme infection. For a specific answer tissue and/or body fluid samples as well as a post mortem exam like an autopsy would be needed. However even with those we sometimes cannot pinpoint the exact cause of a sudden death.

I am so deeply sorry for your loss, my thoughts are with you in this difficult time. It is of course difficult to know precisely what happened to Daisy without examining her, however, I would be concerned about two possible conditions. Bloat which is when the stomach becomes englarged and may rotate. This causes the blood vessels to constrict and affects blood flow to and from the heart. It is common in large barrel chested dogs. Another possibility is A foreign body obstruction, which occurs when something becomes lodged and Blocks the gastrointestinal tract, the bloackage can be complete and cause a rupture. Again it is difficult for me to know what could have caused Daisy to pass. If you need to know definitively, a local veterinarian may be able to perform an autopsy. Sending my deepest sympathies to you.

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 :-(

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem! Unfortunately, it's really not possible to know what's causing this without more information, since acting lethargic and not eating are very vague symptoms that could be caused by almost any kind of illness. If any of the dogs have had lab work, x-rays, or other testing done, it would be helpful to know what the results were in order to give some possibilities. For a definitive diagnosis, the best option would be to have an autopsy (called a necropsy in animals) performed on one of the dogs who passed away.

I am so sorry about Elsa. If Elsa was a puppy and just had on vaccine she was not fully protected. I would be concerned about Parvovirus at that point. Other then that it could be hemorrhagic gastroenteritis or even a foreign boy obstruction. It could also had been a type of cancer. Without more information it is hard to say definitively what caused this without more information. You can always ask for a necropsy and your veterinarian can send sample out to the lab to try to get an answer. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.