A very sad story & input needed

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Hi,

I apologize in advance for the very sad and somewhat lengthy tale I'm about to tell. The reason I'm sharing it is to hopefully protect my & my family's remaining dogs :( 

About 2 weeks ago, my sister's friend's dog became very ill and suddenly died. The dog suddenly began vomiting and being very lethargic- she took her dog (about 5 years) to the vet and while there overnight, Lucky died in his sleep :( My sister was of course concerned about the safety of her schnoodle Odie, who had recently played with Lucky, and also my doodle (Reggie), my mom's dog, and my other sister's 2 doodles, Bentley and Oliver. She told us all what happened - that the vet was not able to determine what killed Lucky, but that we should all keep a close watch on our dogs, since they had all played with Odie recently. We were all so sad for Lucky and our friend. :(

About 3 days later (last Saturday), my sister's standard goldendoodle Bentley, 4 years old, vomited twice in the night. He was still acting playful and energetic, so she didn't get too worked up - our dogs all throw up at lease once every couple of weeks, eating grass, too much rawhide, etc. About 2 days after that, he began vomiting more, and acting lethargic, (though no fever or diarrhea) so she took him in. The vet performed a bunch of tests and xrays and couldn't figure out what was wrong, though his white blood cell count was really high and it showed a lot of gas in his GI system- they hooked him up to an IV and gave him an antibiotic, no improvement in 24 hours, so decided to do a surgery to see if there was something stuck in the intestines that could be causing the gas/infection. The results of the surgery were that nothing was IN the intestines, but the intestines and bowels were not moving/working. 24 hours more of IV and antibiotics... Bentley briefly got a little better, walked around and pooped outside, seemed very happy to see my sister, then a couple of hours later suddenly took a turn for the worst and passed away :( He really was the most wonderful dog and companion, and as I'm sure you all can imagine, our family is just devastated by his death.

While our hearts are broken over the loss of Bentley, we are also very concerned for the well-being of the other dogs :( Though most of the info above is what I was told by my sister, at one point she was too upset to call the vet so I called for her (the vet happens to be our very sweet uncle) and talked to him about what was happening. I asked about Parvo (the other dogs are all puppies and have recently been vaccinated) and he said no, Parvo symptom is low white blood cell and Bentley's was high. I asked what he thought was happening, and he said his best guess was that maybe Bentley ate something that was toxic to his system. He said that he thought if it was some kind of contagious disease, the other dogs would have fallen ill by now. My family and I have wracked our brains - we are all SO careful about what our dogs are around, so we cannot figure out what he could have ingested that would have poisoned him. The clinic is doing additional tests to try to figure out what happened, but my fear is that we'll never know.

I guess my reason for posting is this - has anyone experienced or heard about an illness like this? We are all stunned at how quick and serious it was - Bentley was SUCH an active and healthy young dog, and this appeared and killed within a span of a week. What could have poisoned him to affect his GI like that? Could it have been some kind of tick? (He has had lyme disease, though they are vigilant with the flea/tick treatment). Or was it some kind of virus/bacteria? Could he have gotten it from Lucky? (He didn't play with Lucky, but Odie did, and Bentley played with Odie... could Odie have carried the illness without getting sick?) Are all of our dogs at risk? They are all behaving as usual, although Bentley's brother Ollie has been crying a lot :( but they DO all, all of a sudden, have very runny noses and are sneezing/sniffing A LOT. Could that be allergies? Or indicate something more serious? My sister said Bentley wasn't sneezing/runny nose before he got sick. We are all trying not to panic, but are worried about our beloved dogs :(

Any advice or input would be very appreciated.

Best,
Stephanie

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am so sorry to hear of these sudden deaths. I have no idea what could have happened. Can you get the lab work and tell us specifically about the blood counts, kinds of white cells, and other abnormalities? Please let us know of any additional information you get. We do all need to try to find some answers for you and for all our dogs. Life can be so fragile.

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Will do. Yes, just a week ago everyone was playing together, happy as can be :( So fragile, indeed.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am terribly sorry to hear all this, and i agree with F, you need more information.

One question; had the dogs who died been eating chicken jerky or other treats purchased at a place like Walmart, K-mart, Walgreen's, Target, or the grocery store? Many of the dogs who have died from treats imported from China had GI symptoms like vomiting and became very ill very quickly. 

The runny noses and sniffling/sneezing are not typical signs of allergies in dogs. The allergens that cause those kinds of symptoms in people, typically pollen allergies, cause dogs to itch intensely. Those of us whose dogs do have allergies have not seen those kinds of symptoms. It sounds more like a virus or upper respiratory infection. 

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Thanks Karen,

I'll ask Anna what type of treats B had? I know we are all really careful with our treat choices, but she did mention he had a bone of some kind my aunt gave to him while my mom was dogsitting... We'll try to figure out where it was from. If it WAS that, SHAME on those places for selling treats that are known to cause such terminal illness in dogs! Precisely why we buy our treats at locally owned pet stores and do oodles of research, but still, how horrible :( My aunt/mom live in a very small town with limited options for pet supplies (and are less vigilant than we are about food research), so there is a chance that could be it. Is there a list of dangerous brands we could look at?

I'll get Reggie in Monday to figure out the sneezing. I don't want any infections taking residence.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are three brands of treats believed to have caused serious and fatal illness in dogs: Milo's Kitchen, Waggin' Train, and Canyon Creek, but anything that is imported from China could conceivably cause the same thing. The stores I listed do not sell anything that is fit for your dogs to ingest. But there are bad treats even at PetCo & Petsmart. 

The only other thing I can think of is mushrooms. We have heard of dogs eating poisonous mushrooms and becoming very ill. 

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Thanks Karen,

I just found those results too - how awful! We all recently switched to Fromm food for our dogs after hearing about so many horror stories... I'll ask my sister ASAP if B would have gotten any of those treats anywhere. 

I guess mushrooms are a possibility - my parents do live in the country, though the dogs don't run around in the yard unsupervised, if some weird mushroom was growing in the grass, I guess he could've gotten into it? I will look into which mushrooms are toxic and whether there's a chance they grow in Wisconsin...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Regarding the treats, those are only the ones we know about. Any treats that are purchased from the stores I listed above could be suspect. 

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Gotcha, thanks. We'll get a list together of all of the treats he's had recently and go from there. The scary thing is, whatever treats he has had, they've probably all had...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm really thinking this might be some type of flu or bacterial infection. Back in 2008, there was a particularly deadly strain of strep bacteria that killed a number of dogs in a Waukesha animal shelter as well as in Las Vegas and Miami. Over a thousand dogs in all died. Have any of your family's dogs been to dog parks or boarding facilities within the past couple of weeks?

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Yikes, that's horrible. Reggie goes to dog parks often, but the other dogs don't. However, my sister did say that Lucky was boarded sometimes. Lucky's owner was worried maybe it was an illness he got at the boarding facility. Though when she contacted them, they said they didn't know of any sick dogs who had been there. But who knows?

If Reggie did get something at the park, do you think he could have passed it on to Bentley without getting sick himself? Likewise with Lucky - could Odie have passed it to Bentley without Odie getting sick? Reggie & Ollie are puppies, so they've had recent vaccinations. Not sure if that would make a difference, though.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wish I knew. I know that flus and viruses affect different people differently and can range from something very mild to something requiring hospitalization, and I think it's the same with dogs. There is also an outbreak of dog flu in various parts of the country right now, and in some dogs, it can go to pneumonia if not treated early. And a runny nose can be a symptom of dog flu, so I would make sure that all of the other dogs see the vet.  

It can't be just a coincidence that three dogs among your extended family and friends all died of mysterious causes within a week of each other.

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

Hi Stephanie...I'm so sorry to hear about Bentley and understand why you would be concerned. I would suggest adding this discussion to the main forum too. The only thing I can think of would be parainfluenza or tainted water. Hope everyone will be okay.