My dog - gone

[Tigger&Tink]

Sorry for your loss and I am glad you thought enough of your DIS Family to share your saddness with us,,,I am sure he knew he was very loved,,.



Tink

 

[avdeane]

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[MsDisney23]

I am so sorry for your loss. aw:

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I am so sorry for your loss.

As a dog lover and dog owner, I know how you are feeling. aw:

 

[Serena]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Purrrrfecta]

Lorelei, Max, Pinky, and I send our thoughts and prayers. aw:

 

[Laurajean1014]

So sorry to hear of your loss.

We have a 15 year old and a 2 year old Golden Labs and we love them both so much. They are as much a part of our family as we are.

I am thankful for each day I have with my 15yo, Ginger. We feel that it could be anytime.

In memory of your lab:

 

[dvcfamily41801]

I am so sorry.

 

[grinningghost]

Whether you have one post or a million posts, it doesn't matter on the DIS - we're all here to listen. I hope your fur baby is playing and having a ball over the Rainbow Bridge.

 

[kendall]

Sorry for your loss. Perhaps you can bring another lucky dog into your family. I remember our kids growing with our springer, and how helpful it is to have a dog and young children! We had to put our almost-16 year old springer down, and a few months ago we adopted a 6 month old lab-pointer mix. Needless to say, our children (now teenagers) get a kick out of playing with a young dog and he has added a lot of life to our house!

 

[tevagirl]

Hugs being sent.

 

[ugadog99]

I'm so sorry to hear your news. Besides my children (obviously), my animals mean more to me than anything. Our household revolves around the cats and dogs. My thoughts are with you.

Melanie

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[VegasMonarch]

i am sorry for your loss. my pets are such a big part of my life. they are my fur children. time will heal the wounds to your heart.

There is a type of cancer called a hemangiosarcoma that can come on just like that. They have a tumor in their spleen that just starts bleeding. It's common in middle aged large breed dogs. I lost my beloved Golden Retriever to it. If it's any consolation, it's not a painful way to die.
*hugs*

i am a technician to a veterinary ultrasound specialist. the hemangiosarcoma (which can also be in the right side of the heart) is not that common in labs. but is in golden retrievers, huskies, and german shephards. the best dog to get as far as not getting too much in the way of illness is a lab.

 

[luvmydogs]

Oh, I am so very sorry for the loss of your beloved pet. It is heartbreaking to lose such a sweet member of your family--animals add so much love and comfort to our lives.

I hope that soon your sadness turns to joy as you remember the good times with your dear, dear friend. aw:

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am so sorry. How could you know? Don't beat yourself up too much. I know that is hard because I would feel guilty too. Us mom's are supposed to know everything, right?

{{HUGS}}

 

[Nana Annie]

I am so sorry for your loss.

It is so devastating to lose one of our beloved pets. The rainbow bridge poem that somebody posted earlier was always one of our favorites.

That said, even though you have ruled it out, it really does sound like a classic case of canine gastric dilatation (bloat) and volvulus (torsion). I just want to say that because if it was bloat (only a necropsy can tell for certain), you can take a small measure of comfort that there really is little you can do. It can happen so suddenly. And it has nothing to do with how healthy the dog is. It can happen to the healthiest dogs. And don't beat yourself up, there really is nothing you can do to prevent it, because even Purdue University - the leading researcher on Bloat is still out on what actually causes it. The only thing that seems to be consistent is that it seems to happen more to deep chested dogs.

And don't beat yourself up that you didn't get your dog to the vet that night. Even if a vet was very, very familiar at recognizing bloat (many aren't) and got the dog on the operating table within an hour after symptoms first start - it still might not have prevented it from happening. In my breed, bloat is so common that many people have preventative bloat surgery. (Staple to the stomach wall so things can't twist). Especially because even the saviest of dog breeders and the most informed vets often can't save a dog from bloat. So, take comfort that there was really nothing you could have done differently.

Our heart goes out to you in this time of loss. Our pets are like our children!

If anybody wants to read more about bloat - Purdue is the leading researcher on it:
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/bloat.htm

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

i am sorry for your loss. my pets are such a big part of my life. they are my fur children. time will heal the wounds to your heart.
i am a technician to a veterinary ultrasound specialist. the hemangiosarcoma (which can also be in the right side of the heart) is not that common in labs. but is in golden retrievers, huskies, and german shephards. the best dog to get as far as not getting too much in the way of illness is a lab.

Not to dispute you, but I'm a veterinarian and I have seen it in Labs as well. True, it's more common in Goldens and Shepherds, but I've seen Hemangiosarcs in Dobes, Beagles, Jack Russels, etc. as well as the more commonly affected breeds. Something that kills so fast without signs of respiratory distress is usually a hemangiosarc. Bloat, CHF, or even organ failure usually have an either longer period of illness or a more distressed animal than what was described by the OP. Granted, none of us actually examined the dog, so unless a necropsy is done, we'll never know what happened. Either way, my sympathies go out to the owner.

 

[drgnfly30]

As an animal lover, I only know too well what you are feeling... One morning, last summer my 10 yo Dobie Belle was her normal goofy self, at noon DH called to say she couldn't stand up & was disoriented.. she was fine one minute & ill to the point that we had to put her down the next... I was a mess... She was the third pet in as many years that we lost.. our 17 yo cat Tigger was by far one of the hardest...

 

[WOW]

I am so sorry for you----our pets become part of our family. Labs especially love their families very much, they are wonderful dogs. We have a yellow lab who is 3 years old who is loved as if she were one of the kids.

I am so sorry for your loss, but don't beat yourself up---as someone else wrote, dogs sometimes have a 6th sense and I would bet that she knew and wanted to be alone.