Friends dog sudden death. Info please.

[martybabe]

My mates dog was taken ill last night, it was found fitting in the middle of the night and rushed to the emergency Vets. Sadly it could not be saved.

This dog was about 2 years old and it was the biggest healthiest bounciest pain in the arse dog I've ever known.

Whilst I assume there will be an autopsy, initial opinion would suggest poisoning and the vet enquired where the dog was usually exercised and that brings me to my question.

This poor pooch is only ever walked in the park where I regularly exercise my old staffy. I've read a little about pest control in NZ, 1080? is it. Is it likely to be found in a public semi rural park. Is there anything else NZ florawise that could kill a big healthy dog in such a dramatic fashion?

I guess this is a bit knee jerky, the fact is the daft dog could have found itself a nice big slab of dark chocolate for all I know but I do keep coming across danger of death poison / hazardous area signs all over the place.

Shed some light on it for a NZ noob will ya guys. Cheers.

[Hitcher]

1080 can kill dogs, but its applicators are scrupulous in its application. Generally where it has killed dogs in suburban areas it is because mischievous persons with malice aforethought have deliberately placed baits where they can be consumed by dogs.

An autopsy will only reveal whether poison contributed to the dog's untimely death. I suspect that it is unlikely whether the Police will investigate further.

[Scouse]

Possibly the dog ate poisonous mushrooms or toadstools I see a lot of these around while I walk my Scotty. I make sure we take a wide berth around these.

[Badjelly]

This poor pooch is only ever walked in the park where I regularly exercise my old staffy. I've read a little about pest control in NZ, 1080? is it. Is it likely to be found in a public semi rural park. Is there anything else NZ florawise that could kill a big healthy dog in such a dramatic fashion?

I don't know whether you're likely to come across 1080 in that setting. Round here they use something called brodifacoum. Either way, there should be signs. The regional council should know and (paranoia aside) should be willing to tell you whether bait's been laid.

There certainly are poisonous plants. Tutu is the one that springs to mind. Sheep and cows have been killed by it, and bees make poisonous honey out of it. I don't know if a dog is likely to eat the leaves (our dogs seem to be willing to eat anything) but even brushing against the leaves can be harmful, though probably not fatal.

But as Hitcher says, everything dies, and sometimes animals & people die suddenly for no obvious reason.

[martybabe]

Generally where it has killed dogs in suburban areas it is because mischievous persons with malice aforethought have deliberately placed baits where they can be consumed by dogs.



I hadn't actually thought of that, as I said, it was a bit of a pain in the arse dog and I believe it had some 'persistent barking' complaints against it but irritating as that can be, I'd like to think poisoning someone's family pet would be a step too far for most reasonable folk. :eek5:

Anyroad up, I shall postulate no more,time may reveal the cause or maybe not. Thank you all for your input.

RIP Sam, the dog that totally submerged his head to drink, a nutter but a shame all the same.

[CookMySock]

RIP Sam, the dog that totally submerged his head to drink, a nutter but a shame all the same.Nutter pets are way cool. We have a cat that falls off chairs with a hell of a crash, and all sorts of crazy stunts.

Steve

[SDU]

There could be numerous things from ingesting poison direct or poisoned carcase, mycotoxins, brain tumour, clot ......only a vet can help with that & even then it is hard sometimes hard for them to tell.

Semi rural park means there could have been cynide & 1080 bait stations about, check with your local council on where & when there have been pest control in the area. Here in Chch most off Bays have just been baited including built up areas such as Governers bay & Diamond harbour- thankfully the council has prewarned vet clinics & hopefully the residents. Gives me the shits they still use 1080 wipes out the birdlife too!

This time off the year there is fallen berries fruit etc dropping on the ground which can be toxic due to the mycotoxins that are produced. so watch out for mouldy food too!
Toxic Algae is in some off our waterways especially where hot too.
I'm not a vet & suggest you talk to your vet, ring the clinic they may have heard off something in the area & can give you correct information on what to be aware off.

Hard time for your friend to come to grips with.

[FzerozeroT]

I would guess at natural causes first, unless it was cyanide (in which case the pup would be lying next to the poison) it would have been visibly ill before carking it, we had a 1 year old pup pass away earlier this year, we know she had a hole in the heart but didn't expect her to go so soon, if you suspect foul play a blood test for poisons might be worth the effort, then you could have a look for troponin T at the same time.

[FzerozeroT]

BTW, any tests will be rediculously dear, one of ours was $200 for a blood workup last time :o

edit, actually it's the one in my avatar - bloody expensive bastard

[cowpoos]

Besides what everyone else said...it could of had an allergic reaction to dam near anything...mould on bread gives my staffie an allergic reaction.
and yes tings like that can kill...and cause fits,etc...

[McDuck]

Antys dalmatian died like that after taking about a third of a chocolate cake.... check that..

[alanzs]

Our cat of 11 years died last month, after being sick for less than 24 hours. He was fine in the morning and when I returned home he looked horrible and was moaning. Long story short, he had cancer and was dead within a day. I had thought it was poison, but I was wrong. The vet said he could have had the cancer for a while and not shown any symptoms. Great sadness enveloped our lives after losing our friend....

[ynot slow]

Even a pissed off neighbour(not you)chucking a meat chunk laced with roundup or similar.

[hayd3n]

animals also get epilepsy and it can be fatal

[Dave Lobster]

Antys dalmatian died like that after taking about a third of a chocolate cake.... check that..

That's fucking unlucky. This fellow (in pic) ate a tin of Quality Street. Half with wrappers, half he opened. He survived.. with a runny arse for a few days.

[McDuck]

That's fucking unlucky. This fellow (in pic) ate a tin of Quality Street. Half with wrappers, half he opened. He survived.. with a runny arse for a few days.

Its a dalmation thing.

[wbks]

The thing about dogs dying over a choc bar is exadurated a lot. It's been proven that for the average sized dog, a nice rich packet of choco will give it a little more than a bad hair day, but it would have to either be a tiny old dog or eat a shit load more than a dog would normally help itself to to die... Edit: Just saw you said it's a dalmatian thing... Probably

[martybabe]

That's fucking unlucky. This fellow (in pic) ate a tin of Quality Street. Half with wrappers, half he opened. He survived.. with a runny arse for a few days.

:laugh:

great picture, poor fuggin wabbit. Cool look in his eyes too "yeah I killed the fluffy bunny whata you gonna do about it!"

[McDuck]

BTW the dog was young, only 4-5 months old...

[flame]

Sorry to hear about your mates pooch. Could be poisoning, as mentioned above, or epilepsy. But fitting and a quick death is common to both 1080 and Metaldehyde poisoning (garden slug bait). Though 90% of 1080 poison cases dont live long enough for a trip to the vets, where as Metaldehyde has a slower onset. Just a thought, people have cabbages in there gardens at the mo (I think). Worth checking.

[McDuck]

Sorry to hear about your mates pooch. Could be poisoning, as mentioned above, or epilepsy. But fitting and a quick death is common to both 1080 and Metaldehyde poisoning (garden slug bait). Though 90% of 1080 poison cases dont live long enough for a trip to the vets, where as Metaldehyde has a slower onset. Just a thought, people have cabbages in there gardens at the mo (I think). Worth checking.

Would not take a lot, about half a gram per kg is enough to run the risk....

[flame]

Would not take a lot, about half a gram per kg is enough to run the risk....
yep, thats about it. Its lethal stuff. A lot of people are unaware of the dangers of it. Iv seen many dogs come into the clinic that have actually sniffed it out in the garage, and scoffed a whole box!

[McDuck]

yep, thats about it. Its lethal stuff. A lot of people are unaware of the dangers of it. Iv seen many dogs come into the clinic that have actually sniffed it out in the garage, a scoffed a whole box!

Wouldnt be a lot of hope there, at least with a medium size dog by the time it is spread the dog would need to work for a lethal dose. This also shows why in large (read commercial) quantities they come in a (very) strong plastic bottle that i can damn near jump on with out braking.

[martybabe]

Sorry to hear about your mates pooch. Could be poisoning, as mentioned above, or epilepsy. But fitting and a quick death is common to both 1080 and Metaldehyde poisoning (garden slug bait). Though 90% of 1080 poison cases dont live long enough for a trip to the vets, where as Metaldehyde has a slower onset. Just a thought, people have cabbages in there gardens at the mo (I think). Worth checking.

Hey thanks for the pointer Flame.

Sadly we won't ever find the cause now, my friend didn't wan't her dog autopsied so she's taken it home and buried it under a Tamarillo? bush which is now called a Samarillo bush after the poor dog.

It's a sad thing but worse things happen I guess, thank you all for your contributions, give your pets a bit of fuss, you never know how long they're gonna be our pals. Cheers.

[Shadows]

Would not take a lot, about half a gram per kg is enough to run the risk....

So.... 15 grams for a 30kg mutt?

Excellent. That will save me the otherwise inevitable firearms charge.

[Mom]

yep, thats about it. Its lethal stuff. A lot of people are unaware of the dangers of it. Iv seen many dogs come into the clinic that have actually sniffed it out in the garage, and scoffed a whole box!

I used to grow flowers commercially and we used mesurol in large quantities. If I recall we used to buy it in 5kg boxes. One day, one of the chicks working for us was baiting the beds and had an open box on the floor of the pack house. She came back to refill her scoop to find the neighbours friggen dog, snout down chomping like mad in the box. She grabbed the dog and ran to the neighbours place pounding on the door. Neighbour rings the vet who says bring the dog in right away. Less than 5 mins after being caught eating this shit the poor dog was fitting in the back of her car.

The dog survived, but was very sick for a couple of days. We felt terrible, but the dog should not have been in our pack house at 8am in the morning. Slug bait is extremely toxic, but a dog would have to eat a reasonable amount to get really sick. This dumb mutt would never have been able to eat enough if she had attempted to hoover up what we scattered in the beds in the greenhouse. Leaving boxes/bags of it lying around is receipe for disaster for sure.

[McDuck]

So.... 15 grams for a 30kg mutt?

Excellent. That will save me the otherwise inevitable firearms charge.

If fully ingested that dose will have a 50% chance of killing a rat, so best make it 25-50.

Ofton the animal has a survival reflex of vomiting the posien which can save the animal but ofton they will need the help of a vet.

[McDuck]

Hey thanks for the pointer Flame.

Sadly we won't ever find the cause now, my friend didn't wan't her dog autopsied so she's taken it home and buried it under a Tamarillo? bush which is now called a Samarillo bush after the poor dog.

It's a sad thing but worse things happen I guess, thank you all for your contributions, give your pets a bit of fuss, you never know how long they're gonna be our pals. Cheers.

Have a look around the shed et for anything that has been bitten etc. And be carefull with yours lol

[Lias]

Sorry to hear about your mates pooch. Could be poisoning, as mentioned above, or epilepsy. But fitting and a quick death is common to both 1080 and Metaldehyde poisoning (garden slug bait). Though 90% of 1080 poison cases dont live long enough for a trip to the vets, where as Metaldehyde has a slower onset. Just a thought, people have cabbages in there gardens at the mo (I think). Worth checking.

Daughters ex boyfriends dog got into our snail pellets one day.. Was fine for a few hours then carked it in the space of 5 minutes.

[MyGSXF]

RIP Sam.... :bye:

Extra big :hug: for his owners please MB.. we lost 3 pets within 4 months.. tis heartbreaking..:weep:

[martybabe]

RIP Sam.... :bye:

Extra big :hug: for his owners please MB.. we lost 3 pets within 4 months.. tis heartbreaking..:weep:

Well the mom is upset as you would expect but there are two young lads in the Family, it was the young ones best pal and from what you've written above sweets you know just how devastating it can be for the kids eh.

Such is life.

[cynna]

could be as something as innocent as grapes. there was a story in the chch press a few days ago about a dog dying after eating grapes. and another died a while ago when it licked algae or something

my dog got pretty sick from eating pears off our tree