I am looking for some help - has anything like this ever happened to anyone? Tues I had my 6 year old girl out in the yard with a few of her friends - She had breakfast and treats and was acting just fine. Put her in a crate to go to work at about 12:40. A little after 3 my sister went to the house to let her out and she was a very sick girl - she was dying. Rushed her to the vet and her temp was 107. Not long after she started having seizures. After bringing down her temp we rushed off to a 24 hour emergency clinic. Once at the clinic they determined that she had a tumor on her kidney that grew just enough and with the right movement would spurt an excessive amount of insulin into her system. Due to that her blood sugar dropped to 18 which caused her to have seizures. Then the seizures caused her body temp to rise to the 107 degrees. I am just at a loss of how this could have all happened in less than 3 hours without any other signs or symptoms. Which the vets said there should have been.

Hi Katie:

So sorry to hear about what your girl went through. I don't have exactly that kind of experience, but can add that many years ago, my Dad's field lab had a cancerous growth on the pancreas and went through similar symptoms, including hypoglycemic convulsions followed by brief periods of extreme aggression, then extreme lethargy, which who knows, may have involved a high fever, because his eyelids would be red and droopy and he would shiver and shake. In those days there were no emerg clinics and by the time we could get hold of the farm vet and get him in, the dog would be on the mend. There weren't a lot of fancy tests either. They did remove the cancerous growth and he was fine for a while but then the symptoms returned with a vengeance and it was necessary to help him to the bridge. My dad was heartbroken, that dog was impeccably trained for hunting and was dad's constant companion.

Please let us know the outcome of your girl's situation.

Yes just recently. The tumor was incapsulated, ruptured and the poor old thing died in a matter of hours.

Wow, Katie, what a terrible shock to have a seemingly healthy dog go south so quickly. Looks like your sister's and your quick response saved her life, though.
I think in many cases that Labradors hide their illness or symptoms for us, I really do. They love to please us and don't like to show us that something is going on inside. So don't feel like you missed something important, she probably didn't show you anything to hang your hat on. And Labradors will eat until their last breath...!
Please let us know how she is doing so we can be there for you and learn from this unusual case.
I wish her the best, and will think positively for her and you.