What Might Cause a Young Dog to Become Gravely Ill?
I have a friend whose Kerry Blue (four years old) just
died from some unnamed ailment. Clio had a
“quiver” that would run across her body. It got
worse and worse and then she started panting.
After taking her to the emergency clinic she was
pronounced as very dehydrated and was put on IV
fluids. Tests revealed nothing although she seemd
to have a tender abdomen. She finally could not
stand up and was unresponsive . . . all this after
numerous tests and two days in the hospital. Any
ideas what could have caused this? Thanks for any help
unraveling this mystery.
K.T.
Albuquerque
Wow. What a terrible story. I am very sorry for your friend’s loss.
It is shocking when a healthy young pet suddenly falls ill and passes away. And it is incredibly sad and frustrating for all of the people involved when nobody can determine what happened.
If the vets who worked on Clio were not able to tell you what happened, then you should not take anything I say as a proven fact. However, based upon your description I am suspicious that Clio may have consumed something toxic.
There are millions of potential toxins in the world. Some, such as pesticides and household chemicals, are manmade. Others, such as certain mushrooms and molds, are natural.
Blood tests sometimes indicate that poisoning has occurred. For instance, pets poisoned by melamine during the massive pet food recall that occurred in 2007 tested positive for kidney failure. Pets that consume certain types of mushrooms may test positive for liver failure.
However, many toxins do not cause any changes in blood values. Many of these same toxins can cause vague and progressive symptoms that ultimately may be fatal.
There are, of course, other possible causes for Clio’s sudden illness. But I feel that toxin ingestion is a very likely culprit.
You have questions. 
I had a dog that had similar symptoms, but we live close to the river in oregon and our vet immediately named salmon poisioning and dr. him for that and within 3 days he had a complete turn around. Thank God our vet was right on the ball.
This SAME exact thing happened to our 7 year old husky about 4 months ago. My husband came home to find him twitching on the floor with no strength to move, with an overnight stay he was lucky he made the night and being unable to walk we had to make the right desicion for our beloved friend. We never did find out what was wrong but, he had all the same side affects you were speaking of. It’s weird you have a pic of a mushroom cause we think after the wet weather new hampshire had this year that’s what caused it. We miss our friend dearly…. :(
Did your Veterinarian talk to you about “Bloat”? This happens mostly to deep chested dogs and is fatal if not recognized. They will have a distended stomach because the aritery that supplies the stomach and pancreas (I believe) has twisted over. This can have many causes. The other thing I can think of is kidney failure takes their lives within a short time.
I’m not a Veterinarian but I used to be a Veterinary Assistant for 7 years. Hope to be of help and I’m so very sorry of your loss. You may email me anytime if your sorrow doesn’t get better.
M-
thank you:) The vet our dog went to checked everything that he could think of and contacted the other local vets for help because he had never seen something so grave so quick. unfortunately we could not spend thousands to figure out what was wrong. We miss our friend dearly but, if you have ever read the rainbow bridge poem I like to believe he will be there waiting for me! along with my mom that passed away from cancer a month to the day before chicko (our husky) passed away. They were both very close to each other and to me……