Question:
Yesterday, my 14 year old toy poodle was fine in the morning, I noticed he had drank alot of water during the day. He is an indoor dog and I don't think he could have eaten any poisons etc.
Later in the day I noticed he had blood and/or diarhea under his tail area. I washed him off and noticed he would hardly move. I thought he might just be sick so I watched him closely and let him sleep. I let him outside to "go" and when he came back in, he had more blood near his tail. He was getting more lethargic, I rinsed him off again, and held him. He soon began convulsing, basically stopped all movement and just died.
There was no bloating, vomiting or anything like that. (There was also NOT ALOT of blood loss)
He was very active and playful for a 14 year old, I am just curious as to what could have happened so fast? He was up to date on his shots, vaccinations etc.
Any suggestions

Answer:
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It was probably just his time to go. I used to work in a nursing home and people go like that sometimes, too. They seem to be themselves, but tired, then they just die. Fourteen is fairly old. You did a good job with him that he stayed alive for so long.

Condolences to you.

Answer:
I'm so very sorry for your loss.

But unfortunately we can't say what could have been wrong.That would have been up to a vet.

Answer:
What did your vet say when he started bleeding, you did atleast call or take the dog in right??

Answer:
Sorry to hear the loss of you little one. I have one that is 14 too. They can go anytime-at that age. I certainly don't know what happened to your's but it sounds like you did about everything you had time to do. I would suspect an aortic aneurysm only because I had a dog die under similar conditions a few years ago. The vessels wear thin and can "blow out" anytime. I picked the dog up and was holding him when he convusled and died. He had been fine prior to that and the only other symptom was bleeding out the rectum as he died. Took him to the vet for autopsy.
:(

Answer:
The night my dog died, I honestly thought he was going to be okay. He was just lethargic and had a very small amount of blood on his rear end. (I even thought it was diarhea (black fur) Anyway, my vet said it could be a number of things. Including the dog swallowing a bone or poison. There is no poison around here, unless somebody tossed something over the fence (which I doubt) so my theory is he swallowed a large piece of bone, and somehow it either got lodged or it perforated his intestines. He was so healthy, I cannot believe any other illness could have taken him so quickly. So if it was the bone, I feel bad for giving it to him (porkchop bone)...so for all of you reading this, be careful of what you give your dogs.
Thanks

Answer:
Riley:
I am so sorry if that was the case because it is dangerous and can be painful to the dog although the stomach lining is not loaded with a lot of nerve endings. Hopefully he was not in too much discomfort. Some on this board may disagree with me however I never - NEVER feed my dogs bones, of any kind.
Bones can splinter and lodge in the throat, intestines and rectum. Pork and chicken bones are especially prone to this splintering.
I have had people yell at me that dogs were wild animals and ate bones for years. Well, in my humble opinion, this is Neanderthal thinking when talking about dogs like ours that are pampered and cuddled and ride on cusions in our motor vehicles. Wild dogs my rear...
As always our dogs teach us even when they sometimes die.
I hope you continue to take care of animals -love them and care for them-just don't feed them bones.

Answer:
To be honest,it may not have been caused by the bone.You did say he was drinking alot and became lethargic.And there was no vomiting.It could have been anything.At that age,maybe one of his organs could have been shutting down.Or some type of infection.

C J,my sister is a nurse in a Retierment Home.She has gone through alot of deaths.As you said,they seem fine and then all of a sudden they die.Pets are the same way at times.They can be healthy one minute,then tak a turn for the worse.It's just a part of life.

riley,it's a hard thing to go through.We have all been there.Your baby had a long and happy life with you.Just remember that.

As for the bones,my boys only get the knuckle,ham and soup bones.They have been for many years.They don't get the Pork Chop ones.But the odd time they get the big Steak ones.

Answer:
I'm new to this bulletin board, but after reading about your loss, I just had to register and suggest another possibility in case someone else's pet ever has these symptoms. My Den-Den (6 yr old miniature poodle) had bloody diarrhea a year ago. It was on a weekend and our regular vet had closed, so we took him to another vet nearby. That vet took blood tests and diagnosed him right away with Canine Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis. He faxed the results to the emergency vet clinic (where someone would be on duty 24 hours) and had us rush Den-Den there. I'm so glad we took him in immediately. HGE is a bacterial infection that causes a dog to become severely dehydrated from loss of fluids. The blood begins to thicken and a clotting action can set up that is irreversible and results in death. Symptoms include vomiting, bloody diarrhea, depression, and shock. It's unknown what causes HGE, possibly bacteria. Small breeds between 2-4 years of age, especially poodles and schnauzers, are affected most commonly. Most dogs recover completely with immediate emergency care. My Den-Den was on IV fluids and antiobiotics for 2 days and recovered completely. I'm extremely careful what he eats. Dogs can have a recurrence, but most don't. I've researched this a lot since on the net, but it's not even mentioned in my home veterinary book.

Answer:
I am so sorry about your lose. It sounds like he lead a good life and a happy one at that. It is hard when we lose a friend of the family. I am sorry I wish you the best and I am so sorry! :(

Answer: