RIP Shmeaty pup (Meathead 2.0)

Redbull · 08-27-2009, 12:42 PM

I haven't posted on this forum for a very long time, but I thought I would come back to post some news and maybe stick around this time.

I just lost Meathead 2.0 this weekend due to what looks like a violent virus or some sort of systemic system failure. He was fine and playing, had crapped solid that day, no diarreah, had threw up water here and there throughout the day...and the next thing we knew he was desperately trying to hold down water, threw up everything he would drink, started vomiting blood, bleeding out of everywhere and could hardly breath, had a fever of 106.5 with a heart rate of 240 (double the normal limit) and eventually went into frontal seizures after he had stabilized for a short time but then had bounced back into shock. I am told that bringing the temps down from a fever that high can cause protein damage througout the body's organs, and then going back up into one is just even worse.

I'm posting all this info in detail so that people will know what happened, and could maybe give input to what may possibly have happened, since we did not do a necropsy and we were all confused as to what could take him down so fast as this...Although I have exhausted most options on another forum and have just accepted he is gone and nothing will bring him back.

We decided to put him down when we could not stabilize him after hours of trying, and he was suffering too much. Nothing they were trying was working for him.

They had immediately put him on an IV pump, gave him some shots (one to stop him from vomiting)... gave him oxygen, and telemetry for his hear rate. No problems were found with his heart except that he was racing.. I saw it go up to 240bpm when they allowed me to see him after over an hour of working on him...

The emergency clinic failed to stabilize him for long before his heart rate spiked back up and he started vomiting pools of blood and defecating thick blood on his medical platform. He started bleeding from both nostrils as well.

We are all in shock, and in disbelief that things can change so quickly in someone's life. There were no warning signs except for some vomited water earlier in the day which we thought was nothing serious..then in the evening he started to drink a ton of water and could not hold it down before he started to vomit blood and seemed to almost stop breething (really short spaced out breaths, stopping sometimes) so we brought him into the emergency clinic. Just before we left for the clinic, and on the way, he was vomiting and crapping blood and could hardly move.

Besides the bleeding, we had found that his lungs were filled with fluid, likely from aspirating his vomited water, making the problems so much worse and compounding the emergency. The vet wasn't sure if it was fluid from aspirating his vomit, or was pneumonia which was not visible to us (no coughing previously, no sneezing, etc). Just over a month ago he was on antibiotics for a bad cold he had, which he had recovered from, but it is possible he ended up with a lung infection which compounded this other problem with the bloody vomit, etc. But with the speed that this took him out, it seems almost like Parvo (but worse and faster) or some other serious virus that has been going around Brooklyn this year (leptospirosis has been on alert in my neighbourood this summer).

I don't take him to dog parks and keep him away from other dogs and he was pretty much up to date on his shots except for this new lepto strain.

X-rays taken were all clouded as well, they could not get a clear image. He seemed to be filled with fluid around his stomache / intestines area, but they could not see any blockage. A bone or something solid would have shown up they had said.

RIP Shmeaty pup... you were not the most perfect dog but you were loved by many and have been the most loving pet I've owned. You were gentle in your ways and did not deserve a violent death like this, in so much pain.

I had just taken some shots of him Saturday, the day this all started. He was feeling perfectly fine in these photos. I still can't believe all this.

He is 25 months old in these final shots of him:

Little did I know I would lose him shortly after taking these photos which were meant to post in an update about him

**bodazafa** · 08-27-2009, 12:45 PM

Wow I am very sorry to hear about this tragic loss

maryserratos · 08-27-2009, 12:48 PM

Is it possible he could have been poisoned with D-con? I had a pup that had alot of the same symptoms that you are describing and we later found out he had consumed a dead gopher that had been poisoned, and that of course poisoned the pup.

R.I.P Big Guy

Redbull · 08-27-2009, 12:55 PM

What is Dcon? I am always careful when walking him that he doesn't eat anything off the ground or stop when he is in grass. I live in Brooklyn as well and it is concrete everywhere, so it is usually very obvious if something is on the ground, but there normally never is anything like a dead animal. I don't let him run around dog parks either, normally just lots of walks and sometimes in a football field by my house which is cleaned everyday.

I thought of this as well, rat poison or something like that, but the vet said a dog his size would have to eat a lot of it to become that ill.

The only thing that really makes sense is a bad strain of leptospirosis that has been on alert this summer in my area, which has already killed 3 dogs. That or something genetic or poison...but I never let him stop too long in one spot when walking so I don't see how it could be that. The only thing that has changed in the week before his death was that I had a visitor who was staying with me, and she took him for walks a couple times during the day each day when I was out all week at work. She says she was careful with him, but I will never know, and it's not fair of me to think like that either.

I wish I had done a necropsy but I was too upset by what I saw and didn't want him to get cut up after all of that. I left the clinic pretty much in shock and disbelief and in

as to what had just happened to what seemed like a perfectly healthy boy who was thriving and just getting into his prime.

Bones088 · 08-27-2009, 01:14 PM

I am so sorry for your tragic loss.

RIP Smeaty Boy. say hi to all our beloveds that have gone before.

Our sincere condolences

Deborah and Bones

Redbull · 08-27-2009, 01:23 PM

Thanks for the kind words Deb (& Bones), Mary and Bodafaza

RIP shmeatypup

forever_pit · 08-27-2009, 01:29 PM

I am so sorry for your loss.

RIP Shmeaty.

Bustersmommy · 08-27-2009, 01:39 PM

I am so sorry for your loss

tt557 · 08-27-2009, 02:00 PM

That is just outright devastating. My heart goes out to you.

Laredo · 08-27-2009, 02:01 PM

RIP im sorry for your loss

08-27-2009, 12:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Redbull Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 2,882	RIP Shmeaty pup (Meathead 2.0) I haven't posted on this forum for a very long time, but I thought I would come back to post some news and maybe stick around this time. I just lost Meathead 2.0 this weekend due to what looks like a violent virus or some sort of systemic system failure. He was fine and playing, had crapped solid that day, no diarreah, had threw up water here and there throughout the day...and the next thing we knew he was desperately trying to hold down water, threw up everything he would drink, started vomiting blood, bleeding out of everywhere and could hardly breath, had a fever of 106.5 with a heart rate of 240 (double the normal limit) and eventually went into frontal seizures after he had stabilized for a short time but then had bounced back into shock. I am told that bringing the temps down from a fever that high can cause protein damage througout the body's organs, and then going back up into one is just even worse. I'm posting all this info in detail so that people will know what happened, and could maybe give input to what may possibly have happened, since we did not do a necropsy and we were all confused as to what could take him down so fast as this...Although I have exhausted most options on another forum and have just accepted he is gone and nothing will bring him back. We decided to put him down when we could not stabilize him after hours of trying, and he was suffering too much. Nothing they were trying was working for him. They had immediately put him on an IV pump, gave him some shots (one to stop him from vomiting)... gave him oxygen, and telemetry for his hear rate. No problems were found with his heart except that he was racing.. I saw it go up to 240bpm when they allowed me to see him after over an hour of working on him... The emergency clinic failed to stabilize him for long before his heart rate spiked back up and he started vomiting pools of blood and defecating thick blood on his medical platform. He started bleeding from both nostrils as well. We are all in shock, and in disbelief that things can change so quickly in someone's life. There were no warning signs except for some vomited water earlier in the day which we thought was nothing serious..then in the evening he started to drink a ton of water and could not hold it down before he started to vomit blood and seemed to almost stop breething (really short spaced out breaths, stopping sometimes) so we brought him into the emergency clinic. Just before we left for the clinic, and on the way, he was vomiting and crapping blood and could hardly move. Besides the bleeding, we had found that his lungs were filled with fluid, likely from aspirating his vomited water, making the problems so much worse and compounding the emergency. The vet wasn't sure if it was fluid from aspirating his vomit, or was pneumonia which was not visible to us (no coughing previously, no sneezing, etc). Just over a month ago he was on antibiotics for a bad cold he had, which he had recovered from, but it is possible he ended up with a lung infection which compounded this other problem with the bloody vomit, etc. But with the speed that this took him out, it seems almost like Parvo (but worse and faster) or some other serious virus that has been going around Brooklyn this year (leptospirosis has been on alert in my neighbourood this summer). I don't take him to dog parks and keep him away from other dogs and he was pretty much up to date on his shots except for this new lepto strain. X-rays taken were all clouded as well, they could not get a clear image. He seemed to be filled with fluid around his stomache / intestines area, but they could not see any blockage. A bone or something solid would have shown up they had said. RIP Shmeaty pup... you were not the most perfect dog but you were loved by many and have been the most loving pet I've owned. You were gentle in your ways and did not deserve a violent death like this, in so much pain. I had just taken some shots of him Saturday, the day this all started. He was feeling perfectly fine in these photos. I still can't believe all this. He is 25 months old in these final shots of him: Little did I know I would lose him shortly after taking these photos which were meant to post in an update about him

08-27-2009, 12:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
bodazafa Agent Squint Distinguished Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Wisconsin - The Great Cheese State Posts: 3,005	Wow I am very sorry to hear about this tragic loss __________________

08-27-2009, 12:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
maryserratos Senior Member Advanced Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northern Cali Posts: 1,034	Is it possible he could have been poisoned with D-con? I had a pup that had alot of the same symptoms that you are describing and we later found out he had consumed a dead gopher that had been poisoned, and that of course poisoned the pup. R.I.P Big Guy __________________ RIP Lily. You will be missed.

08-27-2009, 01:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
Bones088 Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Western Slope Colorado Posts: 4,577	I am so sorry for your tragic loss. RIP Smeaty Boy. say hi to all our beloveds that have gone before. Our sincere condolences Deborah and Bones __________________

08-27-2009, 01:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
Bustersmommy Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philly Girl Posts: 5,279	I am so sorry for your loss __________________

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08-27-2009, 12:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Redbull Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 2,882	What is Dcon? I am always careful when walking him that he doesn't eat anything off the ground or stop when he is in grass. I live in Brooklyn as well and it is concrete everywhere, so it is usually very obvious if something is on the ground, but there normally never is anything like a dead animal. I don't let him run around dog parks either, normally just lots of walks and sometimes in a football field by my house which is cleaned everyday. I thought of this as well, rat poison or something like that, but the vet said a dog his size would have to eat a lot of it to become that ill. The only thing that really makes sense is a bad strain of leptospirosis that has been on alert this summer in my area, which has already killed 3 dogs. That or something genetic or poison...but I never let him stop too long in one spot when walking so I don't see how it could be that. The only thing that has changed in the week before his death was that I had a visitor who was staying with me, and she took him for walks a couple times during the day each day when I was out all week at work. She says she was careful with him, but I will never know, and it's not fair of me to think like that either. I wish I had done a necropsy but I was too upset by what I saw and didn't want him to get cut up after all of that. I left the clinic pretty much in shock and disbelief and in as to what had just happened to what seemed like a perfectly healthy boy who was thriving and just getting into his prime.

08-27-2009, 01:23 PM	#6 (permalink)
Redbull Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 2,882	Thanks for the kind words Deb (& Bones), Mary and Bodafaza RIP shmeatypup

08-27-2009, 01:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
forever_pit Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: SE FL Posts: 5,440	I am so sorry for your loss. RIP Shmeaty.

08-27-2009, 02:00 PM	#9 (permalink)
tt557 Senior Member Distinguished Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Harrison, NY Posts: 2,058	That is just outright devastating. My heart goes out to you. __________________ Save the Earth....It's the only planet with chocolate.

08-27-2009, 02:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
Laredo Familiar Face Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Laredo Tx Posts: 234	RIP im sorry for your loss