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

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Hi Tina,

Will do. Question: how would the water get tainted? Trying to explore every option. :(

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Update:

I just talked to my mom, who said that one of our extended family members just arrived home to find her 5 year old dog dead on the kitchen floor :( Something horrible is going on in Wisconsin.

[Teresa]

Oh my goodness.  This is just horrible.  I am so sorry and absolutely horrified about what could be happening. I have no idea; other than some kind of poisoning if all of these dogs have been in the same place or go to a same area.  Please keep us all updated and I would just suggest trying to find some commonality between all of the dogs.

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Thanks Teresa. The third dog to die wasn't in contact with any of our dogs, so it's either a really horrible coincidence, or maybe it's some kind of poisoning? I'll keep everyone updated.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Contrary to your vet's opinion, this sounds like a virus or flu of some kind, and not like something that was eaten. 

[Stephanie & Reggie]

I made an appointment with my vet (a different one - we live in different cities) and am going to ask her what she thinks about it all. I'm hoping this respiratory thing they've all got isn't the onset of something far worse.

[Leslie and Halas]

This is terrible!  It just keeps getting worse.  I'm so sorry you're going through this.

[Kyoko]

Oh, No!!

[charlotte bednarsh]

I'm wondering if you have a veterinary school within your area that you might reach out to. Teaching hospitals (veterinary schools) often have a greater range of experience in handling more complicated cases, as well as an array of specialists who function as teams when treating complex cases. Given the fact that you have access to the dogs' medical records, tests and so forth, it might be worth seeing if a teaching hospital is interested in looking at the records, and would offer a different perspective I am so saddened by your story, and hopefully there will be some answers.

[Stephanie & Reggie]

That's a great idea, Charlotte. I live in Madison, WI, and from what I understand, we have a pretty great veterinary school at the university. I'll get in touch with them this week. Thanks for the response.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I am so very sorry to hear about the tragic loss of so many loved companions. My heart goes out to you. It just sounds so scary and surreal. I hope the cause can be found quickly and the other dogs saved.

[Stephanie & Reggie]

Thank you, Diane. I hope so too. I'll let everyone know what we find out. Poor Bentley :(