This female has acted fine and healthy, pooh normal, no signs of illness. She was still acting fine with plenty of energy but suddenly got picky with her food, she ate it all but just slower. That night she spiked a fever of 103 and next morning temp was normal but she became very ill with stomach starting to extend which we thought was due to her just drinking alot of water, and was rushed to the vet. X-rays were taken with nothing out of the ordinry showing up, a full blood panel showed normal levels and tox screen was normal. Gums became very white just after arriving at the vets.The vet put her on IV and was just going to do an exploratory surgery on her when she suddenly died. Atopsy showed numerous ulcers on intestines,liver, and stomach. Apparently one of the ulcers ruptured causing fluid and blood to fill her stomach which then started into gastic torsion. A biopsy has been sent for further testing. The vet said he has never seen ulcers like this in a dog but has seen it in other animals and was caused by prolonged use of drugs like Remadyl. This dog was always healthy, no illness, normal pooh, no throwing up,no signs of illness till the night before she died, was on no medications and other then normal wormings and frontline hadn't been on any other meds, there was nothing that she could have gotten into or injested. The vet doesn't have a clue as to what may have cause this. Has any one else experienced anything like this ?

Sorry but it sounds like toxins and although you say she couldn't have gotten into anything, unless you had her on a leash 24/7, you just may never know.

Could be as simple as Tylenol or as horrible as rat poison.

We do the best we can to keep them safe but it seems they find ways to get into stuff they shouldn't occasionally.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

How awful. I am so sorry.

No ideas. But back in 1986 my vet told me that they had started to suspect that dogs can get ulcers. He did surgery on my 10 year old suspecting a bleeding ulcer.

Turned out to be a tumor on her liver and I had to let her go on the table.

Again, I am sorry for your loss. I hope you get some answers.

Wouldn't the tox screen show if she has injested anything ? There was nothing in her area that she could have gotten into. The vet also said it didn't look like anything toxic that had been injested. He did say he'd never seen this type ulcers in a dog. And that it had the looks of long time use of anti inflamatory drugs. She's never been on any meds. This is such a mystery as to what caused this. This has been so upsetting.

I am sorry to hear of your loss, how terrible.
I worked at a vets office until this past year. About two years ago, We saw an irish Setter on a regular basis. This dog had been in our office two days before his last visit for his yearly routine checkup. The owner had been out for several hours running errands. I remember the dog was fine prior to her leaving. When she arrived home he was laying down and wouldnt get up. She quickly brought him in. All his tests were fine and ultrasound showed swelling in the abdomen. He was rushed into emergency surgery and was suffering from internal bleeding that was coming from a huge ulcer in his intestines or stomach or possibly both im just not sure. The setter died during surgery as he had already lost so much blood in just a few hours. I know my veterinarian was unable to pin point the cause of the ulcers. I recall how sad this was for us and the owner to have a healthy and happy dog one minute and gone in a matter of hours.

Yes it would show up on a blood test and also the vet would have seen it inside the stomach in that short period of time. Levels of certain things raise in the blood with toxins,rat poison, anything foreign. One of my girls found a bottle of baby asprin once and chewed into it and ate all the pills. She was sick and treated but was fine. That showed on her screen.
I'm sorry you are going thru this.

May be another victim of tainted dog food if you were feeding him any food or snacks that were recalled. you can find a complete list online. It is causing many problems still in alot of dogs and cats.

Yes she was on one of the recalled dog foods, and that was one thought we had as to cause. That particular dog food was recalled a couple years ago but was out of a different manufacturing plant than from where ours was manufactured from.

What if a dog was never on a recalled food, but has indications(elevated liver enzymes) that maybe a toxin was ingested? Maybe some food slipped by as O.K., but it wasn't. It's so hard to have any faith in the companies.

Rat Poison

Perhaps someone in your house dropprd medication on the floor by accident and you didn't know? Sure sounds like something toxic. So sorry...

vaccinations??

sorry for your loss.

She hadn't had any recent vaccinations. There were numerous ulcer/lesions on her intestines/stomach/and liver but yet tox screen did come back negative and blood panel came back normal. I read that mass cell cancer can cause ulcers but I would think something would have shown up in the blood work, and no tumors found.

Any type of poison or toxins would show on on the toxo screen. Also poison make several things go bonkers in blood work. There would have been something in one report or the other.
I read somewhere that ulcers were found in some of the dog food victims but not sure where. I looked in my fav's but didnt save it. May be a good look-up for you.
I hope you find the answer you are searching for.

What was the food she was on?

An old girl of mine died of cancer last year. Her white blood cells were low when blood work was done for something else. She was showing no signs of cancer then. For this dog to have cancer in her body, even in early stages, her count would be low. That is what my vet told me with Maggie. I dont think cancer was your problem if the blood work was normal. They show you there is a problem such as cancer and able to diagnose and help them, way before it consumes them. Im certain there would have been some signs if she were that close to death with cancer, signs a few years ago would be my guess.

Breeder...not necessarily. Tox screens look for common toxins, there is a specific protocol and only the toxins in that specific (frequently regional) protocol are part of the testing. If the owner has deadly nightshade growing in a far corner of the yard(unknown to them) but it's not on the list of toxins screened...it would be missed. Blood values indicating liver or renal toxicity may not have had time to elevate since ingestion of the toxin. It does not rule out a toxin, only rules out those toxins in the testing protocol.
OP, I'm so sorry for your loss. Keep searching, the answer is there.
LM

I looked up the symptoms of the Aflatoxin from the recalled dog food and the symptoms didn't match. There was no vomiting or diarhea, no signs of kidney or liver failure.

She was on Diamond Premium.

Up until the night before she died she had been a healthy happy girl. She was 4yrs old.

I have nothing to offer in terms of identifying what happened to your girl. I did want to take a moment, however, and acknowledge your loss! I am so sorry! I do hope you can find some answers to your questions as it will give you some sense of peace. My deepest sympathy as her sudden passing must cut deep. Godspeed sweet girl!

sounds like acute toxicity...perhaps NSAIDs (naproxen, ibuprofen) ?
I had a mentor whose dog knocked off her uncapped bottle from the counter and she ingested some of the tablets (not a full bottle). She went to bed and was found dead 4 hours later on the floor. Only then did she put two and two together, since there were juveniles running loose upstairs with the 4 yr old bitch. She suspected the pups, but it was the older bitch who ingested.
Warfarin toxicity could also be part of the differential, but the tox screen would have picked that up.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Lost a dog in December to this. Upon autopsy they discovered the intestines were very ulcerated liver and heart were fine. Tests later revealed hemangiosarcoma.

I had a cat three years ago that died within 7 hours of becoming ill, tummy swollen, became nearly lifeless, during surgery my vet found intestines full of ulcers and was bleeding into her abdomen. We never knew what caused it. Even if the ulcers werent bleeding, her intestines were so bad that it would have been a matter of time until they did. I think it was her cat food at that time and my thinks the same thing but no way of proving it.

So sorry for your loss. It doesnt sound like hemangiosarcoma- but I just wanted to mention there can be absolutly no outward sign of illness & a dog can have hemangiosarcoma, and die from it in 24hrs.Routine bloodwork within hours can be normal as well. That is why Vets refer to it a "silent killer".

Years ago had a girl blow up like that- everyone thought she was pregnant. It was the liver pouring fluid into the gut (ascites). It was either a toxin or strange strain of lepto that did it. Her liver was all mottled at necropsy. It came on suddenly too. Good luck.