What happened to my dog?

[Slack Jaw Yokel]

I am still struggling to try to figure out what happened to my dog and wondering if it could possibly be related to Nexguard.

My lab was 7 years old and appeared perfectly healthy to both myself and my family. He was at the vet a few months ago and checked out in good health. He was a hunting dog and we worked in the field every day so he was used to working hard.

On the day that he died he completely broke down and died instantly in the field. He was out retrieving a decoy, picked it up turned around and started to bring it back as usual. All of a sudden he stopped and fell over. I ran out to him and he was already gone. No outward signs of injury, not acting strange up to that point and was full of energy. I honestly do not even think he knew he was dying. He probably only made 2 short retrieves prior to this happening. (We were still warming up to more difficult decoys)

I immediately took him to the closest animal hospital but I pretty much knew the outcome. I was a mess when I was there, and did not really want to answer all the questions they were asking. I just wanted to take my dog home and bury him. I got myself together and called them back once I got home. I answered all of the questions that they were asking. They did not know what happened but offered to do an autopsy which I declined.

I know that it is probably coincidence but 2 days prior to his death a changed our normal routine from frontline to nextguard. That is the the only change that was made. So that leads to my questions.......

1. What happened to my dog (stroke, heart attack)?
2. Has anyone seen something similar to this happen before?
3. Could the Nexguard have been a contributing factor?

Any insight is much appreciated, this happened a few months ago but I still think about it alot.

[kimbersmom]

I'm so sorry. That sounds like a terrible day and it's natural that it still haunts you.

Without an autopsy- and maybe even with one- you'll probably never know for sure. That's hard. I share Kimber's story in the hopes that it gives you a little more information. When Kimber was 7, she was in great shape. We competed in agility and went on hikes and long walks with her every day. She got a ton of exercise and just ate it up. She was in perfect health. And then one day we were playing fetch and she just collapsed. I was luckier than you- she didn't die- but she was suddenly completely paralyzed in the back end. The local emergency vets were stumped and referred us to Virginia Tech which has a veterinary school. The neurologist said it was a spinal bruise or spinal stroke (also known as an FCE). Since both have the same prescription (palliative care + rehab) we never pursued a final diagnosis. I'm now pretty sure it was the former but I learned a lot about FCE's. Labrador retrievers are one of the breeds susceptible to FCEs. I'm not sure if they are fatal- I was focused on the rehab literature- but it seems likely if labs can have spinal strokes they may also have other types of strokes.

The board is a little quiet on weekends but I hope others will chime in with their experiences soon.

[Meeps83]

I am so sorry. I don't have any words of wisdom, but I want to express my condolences for your loss.

[Snowshoe]

I'm so sorry, what a terrible experience. You were overwhelmed when that happened but it does feel better to see you think your dog was not aware of what was going on and thus did not suffer. It sounds like some accounts I've read of collapse due to EIC or maybe heat stroke. Without a necropsy you can only guess. I'm sorry, it's a horrible thing to wonder.

[dxboon]

A similar thing happened to someone I know. In that case the dog had hemangiosarcoma. Since this type of disease often attacks internal organs, there may be little to no outward symptoms. Without a necropsy, there is no way for anyone to tell you for certain. Sorry about your dog.

[barry581]

I am so very sorry for your loss. So young and being very unexpected makes it even more difficult. Without the necropsy there is no way to know for sure what happened. In the end, it doesn't really matter, as it won't bring him back. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[POPTOP]

I am so very sorry. So sudden and so young. I too agree, without a necropsy, there's no way to know. With it being that sudden, maybe a stroke? So hard on you and your family. May the memories he blessed you with during his short time help you through the grief.

Rest In Peace Sweet Boy

[JenC]

I'm so sorry, what a terrible experience. You were overwhelmed when that happened but it does feel better to see you think your dog was not aware of what was going on and thus did not suffer. It sounds like some accounts I've read of collapse due to EIC or maybe heat stroke. Without a necropsy you can only guess. I'm sorry, it's a horrible thing to wonder.

Doesn't sound like EIC to me at all. But you never know. There are heart problems that run in lines of labs, and if you don't ever think to test (and honestly, unless you are into breeding, you probably would never test your dog)...they can just keel over. The guy I co-own Jagger with, his chocolate from hunting lines just never woke up one morning. He wasn't even 4 years old yet. They didn't do a necropsy either.

It's very hard to deal with, but it's one of those crappy parts of life. We lost our 11 year old to some kind of brain tumor. We only had 6 weeks from diagnosis to death. I know that's 6 more weeks than other get but she was super healthy and active, we didn't expect it.

Sorry for your loss.

[OHfemail]

They're never with us long enough, but how heart-breaking to experience. I hope that you can find some comfort knowing that he was doing what labs love to do when he passed...

[Slack Jaw Yokel]

Thanks everyone who commented, I appreciate the thoughts. I have come to terms with it. In some ways I wish that I had done the autopsy but it would not bring him back so I did not. I just wanted to see if anyone had experienced/heard of anything like this before because I did not. I do not think that it was EIC as he showed no prior signs of it and he worked very hard in goose season. Again I appreciate the thoughts and take comfort that he passed doing what he loved quickly.