Has anyone encountered a sudden very high body temperature in a dog that is not due to heat stroke? A 2 yr old male, healthy, recently neutered (3 months ago) suddenly began panting heavily and belly and face felt hot to the touch. He was immediately taken to an emergency vet who thought heat stroke, went through cooling treatment for that and his temp went down to 101.3. After a couple of hours, though, it spiked again. The vet sedated him and began to prepare him for a transfusion, but his temperature spiked to 109.5 and he had a highly elevated heart rate and began to show signs of crashing. The vet encouraged the dog's owner to euthanize him because of the stress of the extended time with the elevated temperature and other stresses on organs and systems. A necropsy is being conducted but we won't have the results for several days.
The dog had been alone in a fenced yard for an hour or so in the morning during a drizzly rain and when brought inside was panting heavily. There was something that resembled compost in the dog's stool and there is a compost bin in the backyard that the dog might have had access to. Beyond that, nothing has been found that could have caused the symptoms. Initial bloodwork didn't indicate what the problem was, but cultures had not had time to produce results.
The family has another dog, an Australian Shepherd, who has not shown any symptoms, but they are understandably concerned about her safety in the yard.
I would appreciate any insight any of you might have about the causes of this dog's sudden death, and will follow up myself with information about the necropsy results.
I'm very sorry for your friend's loss. I know of a chocolate lab who had similar symptoms. Fortunately, it happened when he was at the vet for a heart clinic and they got him through it. His episode was blamed on apple seeds. He apparently ate a bunch of apples from a tree in his yard and had a severe reaction.
