Sudden Death

[Guest nellins]

Our almost 6 year old greyhound was fine Tuesday morning. He is never off lead. I took him out in the backyard, he peed & pooped normally, then started running around in circles on his leash as he has done almost every day for the last 4 years since we adopted him. All of a sudden he lay down or collapsed and whined oddly, then had what appeared to be a seizure lasting maybe 30 seconds. As soon as he collapsed his eyes became unfocused and he appeared to stop breathing. The vet says heart attacks are rare in greyhounds, but I don't know what else could cause an apparently healthy dog to die so suddenly. He tested negative for Heartworm a couple of months ago, and has been on Heartgard since. I've found a few accounts of irregular heartbeats and aneurysms causing sudden death, but very little information on the rate of incidence of these in greyhounds. Are there other likely possibilities that I have not come across yet?

 

Our greyhound was only in one race before we adopted him. He apparently finished in the middle of the pack, and got "tangled in the far turn." I can't tell from the database why he was retired after one race. We always thought he was retired so young because he didn't have much interest in chasing anything - he always ignored the wild rabbits in our yard. Perhaps he didn't have the stamina required to race. Is there a way to tell from the pedigree or other information on the greyhound-data.com database whether any of his close relatives died suddenly?

[djsgreys]

I am so sorry for your loss. A very similar incident took our Maxi from us and we will never know for sure what it was.

 

Treasure your memories.

[Yamaha_gurl]

I'm very sorry to hear. As for relatives, what was your greyhounds racing name?

[Valencia]

I am so sorry, I cannot even imagine. It may have been a stroke.

[Guest nellins]

Thank you both for your kinds words.

Our greyhounds racing name was DK's Heats On. His sire was Clappin Thunder and his Dam was Krypton.

[KF_in_Georgia]

It isn't common. Greyhounds are bred to be healthy runners.

 

But it does happen. Sometimes a dog will have a defective heart and will die unexpectedly--much the way young high school or college athletes may collapse and die and the authorities will discover an unexpected heart defect.

 

I'm so sorry it has happened to your boy. Some of us will take a look and the database and see if anything strange shows up.

[Guest nellins]

Thank you - we are heartbroken, and miss him so much. Are strokes common in greyhounds?

[Batmom]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

Those things aren't common in greyhounds but they do happen. I know there are some others on this board who have had similar experiences . Perhaps some of them will post here over the next few days. I know it won't help, exactly, to know there have been others, but still.

 

Godspeed, sweet boy.

[sarabz]

My heart breaks for you with so sudden a loss. I have no insight to offer, and really not much else other than good thoughts and hugs. I've only been a grey owner for a couple of years, but with the retired racers (or bred to be racers but never started or didn't do much group), they generally are so healthy that deaths at an early age, and suddenly, are rare. And so hard to cope with.

 

I hope you can find peace and perhaps one day open your home to another pup.

 

As for answers, it may be a stroke - not common as far as I'm aware.

 

hugs.

[Guest RMarie]

So sorry for your loss!!!

[4My2Greys]

I'm so sorry

I've know of something similar happening to a greyhound someone I knew was fostering. He too was young like your boy.

[Houndtime]

My daughter's grey had a stroke but was a much older dog. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

I have lost two dogs in one day. Apparently, they both had hemangio sarcoma, either, on the spleen or liver or both. Our tiny girl, American Idol, was only 7 years old and our healthiest dog. What I am trying to tell you, is, sometimes things are just out of our hands. We can't know or suspect when tragedy will occur.

 

And, no matter how long they stay, they never stay long enough. G-d bless.

[Guest AngelPup]

I'm very sorry for your loss!

[robinw]

I'm so sorry. A similar thing happened to my friend's greyhound. He wa also young.

[GreyPoopon]

I'm so sorry.

[Fiona3]

My heart goes out to you on your loss. We recently lost our healthy 12 year old greyhound to cardiac arrest. It happened suddenly, she was coming inside from her normal morning routine when she staggered and fell. Although she recovered enough for us to rush her to the e-vet, she had another event a few hours later and she was gone. Our vet felt she had a congenital defect that caused the cardiac event.

 

I know the feeling of unreality that your healthy pup has suddenly and all too soon passed away. Please know I am thinking of you and understand how lost you are feeling. I am truly sorry your boy is gone.

[KF_in_Georgia]

There's additional information on your boy's littermates on a different racing database: http://www.trackinfo.com/dog-search.jsp?keyword=KRYPTON&by=dam

 

Both databases show just four puppies in this litter. Information on the deaths of dogs rarely shows up in the database unless the dog was famous.

 

Your boy ran once. Sister DK's Makin Waves ran three races and had two 1sts and one 3rd (in schooling races, I think), with no apparent problems; I wonder why they didn't run her again after such a promising start, but it's possible that she and your boy didn't show much interest in running. DK's Swak, another brother, raced from March through December 2009: some wins, some collisions, and a lot of inconsistency.

 

Sister DK's Reality Red was the best of the litter. She ran from March 2009 to April 2010, winning several races. (She has more races on Track Info than on the Racing & Breeding Database.) The Racing & Breeding database shows that she was adopted through a rescue group in Philadelphia. There's no info on the fate of the other littermates, although we know your boy was adopted out, so the others might have been as well.

 

Mom Krypton ran at least 101 races from July 2003 through December 2005. She had 18 wins. Records show only the one litter, with just four registered pups. Her sire was Gable Dodge, an excellent racer who lived to the ripe old age of 11.

 

Sire Clappin Thunder was born in the States; thanks to the miracles of modern science (and frozen semen), he has Australian and American offspring. The Racing and Breeding Database lists 608 offspring, 36 of whom have run in major races. (DK's Reality Red is in this list.)

 

I don't see anything alarming in the background of your boy. You could wonder why he and Makin Waves didn't run longer, but there could be reasons that have nothing to do with their health. (My 13-year-old was one of a litter of 9--none of whom has so much as a schooling race in the databases. I have no idea what happened with them.)

 

In some ways, this will always haunt you. It was sudden, unexpected, completely out of your control. And you didn't get to say goodbye to your boy in old age, as you'd expected you'd be able to do. I lost an 8-year-old to a blood clot, so I can understand your feelings, and understand your wanting to know what happened and why. You can only take consolation that it was fast, and your boy didn't have time to suffer or to be frightened.

 

I'm so sorry.

[Guest nellins]

Thanks for all the comforting responses, and thanks to KF_in_Georgia for all the additional information on Henry's (aka DK's Heats On) littermates. I have always wondered why he was retired so young, but he was very healthy. He seemed normally active for a greyhound - short bursts of incredible speed (but only if the surface he was running on was nice and soft) followed by naps on the couch. He got loose once a couple of years ago and ran down the street for a short distance, until he saw our neighbors and decided he would rather visit with them. What he really loved to do was to meet new people.

[heartdogs]

My DD had a boy that died the same way. Hombre greeted her when she got home from work, went outside to do his evening laps around the yard & just colasped. It was very hard on all of us but he'd had a good life & died doing what he loved doing. I'm sorry for your loss.

[Charlies_Dad]

I am so very sorry. Losing a pup this way is truly heartbreaking. Our Jack passed last June at 8.5yrs the very same way. We came home from the farmers market one Saturday morning, he met us at the door happy and wagging his tail. He then ran to get a stuffie and started throwing it around having a good old time. Next thing I hear from the living room is a loud whine and I ran to him, he was stiff with all four legs straight out, his mouth open tongue hanging out and eyes fixed. I held him as he passed....it is beyond heartbreaking to lose them this way. We don't know what killed him but we do know he had an enlarged heart and an issue with his heart rhythm so we suspect that even though 'heart attacks' are rare in dogs. It may have been an embolism caused by his bad heart, we will never know.

 

Again I am sorry you lost your boy.

[dante2zoe]

I have no insight, but wanted to let you know how very sorry I am. He didn't get the quantity of time with you, but I am betting that the quality was perfect. Hugs.

[racindog]

My heart is breaking for you. My soulmate Slim crossed over suddenly and unexpectedly when he was only six years old too. This was 2006 and I still am floored by it and I still think of him constantly. I had heard it said that "you never know how long you are going to have a greyhound" and that took on new meaning because it is so true. You really learn to treasure every single day you have together. I want to share with you that one of the big things I learned was that we have no control over when they cross over. We may think we do, but we don't. When its their time to go they are going and there is nothing can be done to stop it. But I also learned that it is only the body that dies. They are spirit, just like us. It is the real them- it is who we shared love with. It wasn't their body we loved- it was them-their spirit. Love that strong will never die. It is energy like everything else and even death cannot destroy it. Just hang in there. To me it sounds somewhat neurological what happened-like a stroke or maybe a clot?- but if it wouldn't have been that it would have just been something else. At any rate try to be open minded as you grieve because he may very well send you a "sign" letting you know that he is really OK still and will be with you always-just in a new way. Don't doubt yourself if you experience something unusual. If you search Greytalk you will find MANY instances of where the crossed over hound sent a sign or even returned to reassure their peep that they were still with them sharing love. Many times they even pick out another hound for their peeps! You will know it if it happens because you will recognize his energy. Just don't doubt- it is true. If you think you heard his tags for instance- trust me- you did. It really is true. In some ways they have even a more powerful presence in your life when this happens. My deepest sympathy. It is so tough to go through such a thing.

 

"For love is as strong as death....
Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised."
-Song of Solomon 8:6-7

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
"What we have enjoyed we can never lose…All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."-Helen Keller

[galgrey]

I'm so very sorry for your loss, nellins. I know how much it hurts to lose one without warning.

 

I lost my first greyhound, Frostman, this way. He was 10 and very vital and active. He had a fairly long racing career and retired at 4 1/2. He'd just had an annual physical and everything looked great. He had been running and playing earlier in the evening and seemed just fine. I was awakened from a deep sleep at 2:00 AM by that loud whining sound Charlies_Dad described and rushed to him in the dark. When I reached him he was gone. When I recovered sufficiently to turn on the lights, his mouth was open and his tongue was dark blue. I was in such shock at the time it never occurred to me have a necropsy done to determine the cause of death. A vet friend of mine later told me he probably had a weak spot in his aorta (likely from birth) and it had ruptured while he slept.

Edited June 21, 2013 by galgrey

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

I lost my boy Sol this way. Christmas eve. He was at a boarding kennel at the time. Vet hypothesized a stroke or massive heart attack. I still have not forgiven myself for leaving him there. I'm so sorry for your loss. I spend many months feeling like it wasn't fair, and resenting people with senior greys. Sometimes freak events like this are the hardest to get over.

[Feisty49]

This is so sad. There aren't words to give that express how you must feel.

 

One of the foster dogs of my group went the same way. He was a totally healthy appearing hound. His foster mom let him out in the (fenced) yard to do a P&P and he collapsed. The vet said it was probably a heart attack. There is nothing anybody can do to anticipate this. It comes totally out of the blue.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Feisty49