living with dead dog

[worriedworried]

My grandfather was so distraught when his beloved Alsatian dog died from eating something bad, that he wrapped it in blankets, put it in a plastic container, and kept it under mattresses and clothes in his apartment for 8 months. It leaked into the wood floor and he cleaned as well as he could. When I found out I talked him into disposing of it, and 2 weeks later I spent several days helping clean with Ajax and Fantastic all his possessions and floors which all smelled foul, but the floor smells keeps returning. My grandfather has no aparent health problems, and continues to live there. What health dangers have we been exposed to, and are there any other precautions to take to protect our health?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

The circumstances of your grandfathers dogs death are very frightening.  Are you saying that these people wanted to kill your grandfather with poison?  Horrible!

If it is a case of posioning than the cause of death is obviously not catching.  Since the dog was wrapped up in plastic directly after death than the risk of disease is not strong.  Look for symptoms such as upper respiratory infections, or irritation from the fumes, gastro-intestional infections (vomiting or diarrhea) from parasites, or bacteria from decomposition.  It would be very difficult to get GI diseases or parasites  unless you accidentally got something internally.  If either of you do show any symptoms I would mention the dog situition when I had my appointment with the doctor.  

Lastly, I am not a forensic pathologist or a medical doctor so this is just advise, of course.
Good luck and please keep me informed!

[worriedworried]

Apparently the dog died after a strange lady offered my grandfather some chicken, and as he reached for it the dog uncharacteristically jumped up and ate it, and the stranger's husband said "Oh no you've killed him!". My grandfather believes the dog ate it to save his life. It was an aged Alsatian that had trouble walking, was always on a leash, close to my grandfather, and did not play with other animals, so rabies is unlikely. My grandfather wrapped him up in blankets and put him in a plastic container, and says he didnt smell anything for all those months, though the floor smelled to me months after cleaning. I know its crazy but my he didnt know what to do, he lives alone and expected his grandson to visit soon and help him, but I didnt realize his urgent calls were so urgent, since he was afraid to actually tell me the problem on the phone. I'd really appreciate if you could tell me what we're at risk for and what symptoms to look out for, also anything we can do to protect ourselves now? Thanks.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Gee, thanks again peekawho and Jaybay.  

Contracting a zoonotic disease is possible.  It would have helped if we were able to discover what your grandfather's dog died from.  If you are in Britain you do not have to worry about rabies, thank goodness.  It also sounds as if your grandfather has lost his sense of smell.  I am not a forensic veterinary pathologist but I will do some research for you about this with a pathologist and let you know the result.

[DELETEAChengDVM]

Gee, thanks again peekawho and Jaybay.  

Contracting a zoonotic disease is possible.  It would have helped if we were able to discover what your grandfather's dog died from.  If you are in Britain you do not have to worry about rabies, thank goodness.  It also sounds as if your grandfather has lost his sense of smell.  I am not a forensic veterinary pathologist but I will do some research for you about this with a pathologist and let you know the result.

[peekawho]

He has my sympathies too, but he has a whole lot more of my concern for his actions.  Again, this is not normal under any circumstances, and could be a sign of a serious decline in mental health.  

[Jaybay]

I have heard of a fairly new line of business that involves cleaning up crime scenes and places where people have died and not been discovered for quite some time.  It's basically a medical/ HAZMAT type of clean-up business.  You may try the Yellow Pages to see if such a business is available in your area.  Their primary objective is to clean up body fluids after death or accident in order to prevent sickness in the people who have to continue living or working in such a location.  In some instances where the clean up involves a person who has died, some home-owner's insurance policies cover the service.  Maybe calling the insurance company could put you in touch with this type of service provider?

How on earth did it come about that nobody was aware of the smell of decomposition from such a large dog for 8 whole months?!  My sympathies go out for your grandfather for the loss of what appears to have been his only friend in the world.  :-(

[peekawho]

I'll let the vet field the question about what you might have been exposed to, but I'll throw in my 2 cents about your grandfather.

This is absolutely not in any way, shape or form,  a normal reaction to the death of a pet, even a beloved one.  Be sure that you or some other responsible adult checks up on him frequently to be sure he is not developing other abnormal behaviors that might signal dementia or other problem of an elderly person.  Keep a close eye on him.