Dog died of blood clot after surgery

My beagle had her spleen removed because we discovered she had a large mass.
She seemed to be on her way to recovery, walking to get up and drink and eat.
On the fourth day after surgery, she vomited a few times and later in the day developed
very runny diareaha and became very weak. I took her back to the vet specialist hospital
where the surgery was performed. They were treating her for the acute intestinal distress, said  she
was responding to treatment that evening. Then later, at about 10:30 pm, they called and said she was not breathing on her own, her heart had stopped and they got it going again, only to have her die several minutes later. At the time, they were very preplexed and didn't know why she had taken such a bad turn. The following morning when I spoke to the vet, she said she reopened my beagle's surgery stitches to try and find out why everything had gone so wrong. She said it was a blood clot
in her intestines.  I was too upset and grieving at the time to ask more questions. And these vet specialists are very busy.  So my question is: Could this have been avoided? I know that people get blood clots, so I figure dogs do too. The only information I was able to find on the internet, was something about a dozen dogs in a study that had a blood clot in the intestines, one died and the rest had to be put down. It is very distressing when you see your dog recuperating after surgery,
getting to the put of walking around and eating, only to die of a blood clot.

[madradad]

Your description matches what happened two days ago to our 1 year-old puppy.  She had surgery to remove a section of her stomache infected with pythiosis.  Three days post-op she came home, 12 hours later she followed exactly what your dog did.  After the weekend in the vet ER, the surgeon reopened the incision to investigate and found clotting had destroyed her gall bladder, pancreas, and spleen.  Did we kill her in those 12 hours?  ***@****

[madradad]

Your description matches what happened two days ago to our 1 year-old puppy.  She had surgery to remove a section of her stomache infected with pythiosis.  Three days post-op she came home, 12 hours later she followed exactly what your dog did.  After the weekend in the vet ER, the surgeon reopened the incision to investigate and found clotting had destroyed her gall bladder, pancreas, and spleen.  Did we kill her in those 12 hours?  ***@****

[Jaybay]

Clotting problems are an issue in any kind of surgery in any human or animal.  Sadly, it's a necessary risk when the procedure is a life-saving necessity.  The more invasive the surgery, the more bleeding results, and the higher the risk for developing a deadly  blood clot.  Symptoms can vary depending on where the clot lodges and cuts off the blood supply, so they may not be immediately recognizable.

I'm so sorry this happened, but in my opinion, your vet did nothing wrong, and neither did you.  I really hope that you'll be able to take in another dog when your grieving period is over.  :-)

[ktco83]

My jack russell terrier of 11 years just passed away also from a blood clot after surgery to remove a Mass Cancerous tumor on his chest. He also was recovering well for a day when all of a sudden he began vomiting and couldn't stand up. The Vet had said they had tested his blood prior to the surgery to make sure it was healthy and would not clot. But it still clotted. The Vet said that it was probably because the surgery was very invasive and stressfull on the body, changing his blood properties. I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I hope that our dogs are playing in heaven together.

[myfatbelly]

I had a 13 yr Golden Retreiver who was my baby.  She had a tumor removed from her chest.  I brought her home and she seemed fine besides she was bleeding from her drainages.  She even ate and went to the bathroom.  Lab and xray worked looked good.  Then she died that morning.  They said if was from a blood clot.  I'm regreting that i did surgery on her since she was old.   The way she died was very sad.    

[jean0316]

I just lost my loyal, best friend Nacho of 13.5 years after her biopsy today.  The surgery took place about a week ago.  After her surgery, she was as normal as one would think until she started throwing up brown liquid and refused to eat.  The vet had to force feed her and she was in the hospital for three days until this morning.  I saw her early morning and later that morning, she had passed.  The doctor feels that the surgery was a success but it was neurological.  I disagree.  I think the surgery was the biggest mistake I've ever made.  My intentions were only for the best for my Nacho but, I REGRET giving her the surgery because in my heart, I feel that the surgery was what pushed my poor chihuahua over the edge.  I feel your pain.  A dog is not just a pet, she is a companion, your rock and it feels as if someone has put my heart through a shredder.  
If there is one thing I have learned from this tragic loss is that you should ALWAYS go with your gut feeling.  If I''d listened to my  gut feeling, I would have NEVER walked into the vet to see my best friend leave my life that morning.
Every single day is precious.  Treasure time as it never comes back.  

[Red931]

You can not blame yourselves for trying to get you best friends medical attention that they needed. My shepherd, Jake had to go in to have his spleen removed because of tumors. He was 12 at the time. He did not make it through the surgery. I felt the same as you guys do at first. But he was in pain and suffering and I loved him and would do anything for him. It was just his time leave me, but he wasn't suffering anymore. There is another friend out there that needs you and you need them. I know it hasn't been long but I have always found that that new friend is right there in front of you. I had Jake cremated and he is still here with me today. My other shepherd, Prince that past away when I was 19 I buried myself in a that they he used to enjoy going to in the mountain area.

As you can see from my pictures, I have a bulldog, Bella that needs me to take care of her and she takes care of me.

I am truely sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is. But you didn't do anything wrong. Please don't blame yourselves.

[chemis]

I lost my dog Roxy a pug. very weird, I took her to the backyard for her to use the bathroom and she went into a bed of plants or somthing with a lot of grass, I was looking at her from about 15 feet and saw her jump very high like never before, that night she couldnt lay down at all. the next morning her chest was swolen I took her to the vet and she told me she didnt have a bite mark or anything that she maybe got hurt when she landed and she had a blood clot in her chest. she give me some pills and told me to give her warm baths with a cloth, I took her of her all that day and tought she was going to be ok. the next morning she was dead in her bed like she was sleeping until this day I really dont know what happend to her. I didnt want to go back to the vet because I was very hurt.

[ginger899]

I am so very sorry you lost your dog like this.

It's very difficult to say exactly what killed your dog. My first thought was a snakebite, but if there were no puncture wounds I suppose it couldn't be. It's possible a sudden pain brought on by the clot could make her jump like that? I don't know.
A blood clot could cause swelling in surrounding tissues.

I send you all my good wishes at this sad time for you.
(It is possible your post might not be noticed by others, as you posted at the end of a very old thread. So if not many people answer, that will be the reason. If you would like more responses, you could open a new thread with this?)
Take care. Ginger.

[sashagail]

hi ,
  wednesday morning i let my 2 dogs out as usual only to notice my dog sasha  gsx on the floor i called her and she made it back to me but seemed drunk as she walked then sunk to the floor and lay motionless on the step i called my daughter and tried to get the out of hours vet but my daughter checked sasha's gums which were blue and said she had gone it was no more than 10 mins from the time she colapsed to her passing but i still dont no why this happened so suddenly , she had a major op a year before for pieametra and was coming up 12 and a little over the weight she should be but it was going down so why so sudden ,
iv been told it sounds more like a colt the went to her heart than a heart attack
its to mins to happen but is taking so long to come to terms with as no warning signs that i can think of to alert me to this and iv had her since she was 10weeks old so its so hard without her

[ginger899]

It's horrible when this happens....one minute they are fine, and the next in an acute condition. The only thing to say is that dogs, like people, can have sudden inexplicable things happen like this. If a blood clot blocked a main vessel in her heart, it would all happen very suddenly. There was nothing you could have done, more than you already did.
I'm so sorry you lost her. They are our best friends for sure, and important family members. When they are gone, they leave such a gap in our hearts. My condolences.

[brode79]

Did you still have to pay for the surgery??? My dog just went in for a knee surgery last thursday and died 5 hrs after surgery. He had previous work done on his other leg and came out just fine. He was fine at 6pm and was trying to walk around. They found him at 9pm not breathing and tried to revive him. It was very unexpected. They think it might have been a stroke, blood clot, or aneursym, their not sure. We have to put the bill on a credit card (which *****, because we always pay our bill), because we don't have the money right now. But he we love our dog dearly and wanted him to get better. He was only 4years old. Now i think we have to pay for a dog that is no longer living. Putting more salt in the wounds. Do we really have to pay the $1,900 vet bill???

[amay71]

This is EXACTLY what happened to my dog last week...spleen and mass (benign) removed after it ruptured, then a blood clot in the intestines 5 days later caused severe and bloody diarrhea and, ultimately, my dog stopped breathing. The emergency vet that is in the same building as the internal medicine and surgical vets that performed the surgery couldn't diagnose the intestinal blood clot even though it was THE major risk factor after surgery, according to internal medicine and the surgeon.

My question is: if the emergency vet could have diagnosed the intestinal blood clot when I brought my dog in, could he have been saved? The vet isn't saying one way or the other, but I'd like an independent opinion anyway.

Thank you...and hounddogmomma I'm sorry for your loss. My dog was 15 and my best friend.

[ginger899]

It's so sad, and I am sorry.
I don't know about the diagnosis, (just as a guess, I would have thought that abdominal surgery of this kind COULD carry a risk of blood clots post-surgery. At least, I would expect that risk myself...)
But I am sorry you lost your dog, your best friend. God bless,
Ginger

[Abby1124]

This past month I took my 12 year old lhasa apso in to have a cyst on her back removed and teeth cleaned.  She made it very well and came home on Thursday, acting herself.  Friday she did not eat, but drank water, throwing it up.  Saturday she again did not eat, drank, threw up and did not act herself.  Same Sunday.  I called the vet and took her in Monday.  She had not been spade, therefore, developed pyrometra (pus in uterus).  She had surgery Tuesday and he did not know if she would make it.  It was slow, but she made it (having a high kidney count that eventually went down).  My emotions went up and down on how she was doing.   Since the kidney count did not come down, the vet told me I should be thinking of what I was going to do.  The kidney count came down to normal and Abby was in the hospital for 7 days and was to come home the day she died.

The vet called the day she was to come home.  He said he redid her stitches, groomed her, and she stood up in her cage and fell over dead.  He said it was probably a blood clot.  $4000 later and a dead dog.  I did not understand.  She was to come home that day.  Is there anything I or the vet could/should have done?????  It was a terrible shock.  

[LucyHC]

Hi,

Does anyone have any stories with positive (and perscriptive) outcomes?  Is there anything that can be done?  My poor, sweet dog is in the midst of this right now, vets are trying furiously to find a way to heal her, they've located the blood clot but cannot remove it.  Reading these posts has broken my heart, which I thought already completely broken.

I'm so sorry for all your losses.

And, thanks.

[ginger899]

I was scared myself, because my dog has just had major surgery (Tuesday) She seems ok, but I still have fingers crossed behind my back, owing to this (rare but possible) threat.
I am just so sorry you, and your beloved dog are going through this. I guess the vet has tried clot-busting drugs?
Whereabouts is the clot, and why can't it be removed?

I will say a prayer for you and her. God bless, and hope she is ok, and comes through fine.

[Jackie_LuLu]

I lost my baby Phoebe on Monday Feb 27,1012. She went in to have a tumor removed from her rt. leg. vet said she came thru surgery but she got a blood clot from her heart the went to her brain and she could not breath on her own. They took her off life support after 30 mins and my baby died. I can barely type these words. I too regret taking her because she was still alert eating and drinking even tho she began to limp. The tumo got so large and infected the vet said he could help. when i got the call my heart broke . i have be crying hysterically for the last 4 days/ my daughter is with me but i cannot be consoled.  i wish i had not taken Phoebe there , i wish i had brought her home to die rather than go thru what i know must have been awful for her. She was 13.   i will love her forever

Jackie

[ginger899]

I am so very sorry about your Phoebe.
No-one could have foreseen this was going to happen. It CAN happen but is quite rare. It was not wrong of you to try and get that tumor removed.
My heart goes out to you, I really understand what you must be going through, I really do.

[dstup]

I'd like to know what happened with your dog's blood clot.  My 6.5 year old has finally been derermined to have a large blood clot in her aorta/femoral artery area.  We have having a hard time finding someone who will perform surgery to remove.  All my reserach says the plavix and cumadin (coumadin)/wayferin will only help with growth of the clot not removing the clot that is already there.  Our internist does not recommend surgery for the large clot but I am so scared it is going to kill her or remder her paralized.

[habbenb]

My Lhasa went in for surgery Friday and was found dead Sunday morning by the vet.

A few days earlier on Sunday he vomited a black substance and would not eat.  We put his favorite foods in his mouth and he spit them out.. took him to the vet Wednesday and they took xrays w/ barium and noticed some blockages... he passed pieces of a sock Thursday night but Friday the vet took more xrays and saw there was still an obstruction.

Surgery was Friday, they found a piece of a foam shoe insert that was lodged in his small intestines and 2' of intestine was removed because it had turned black.  He had had it in there for 3-6 weeks.  We remember the day he got into it.

We went to visit him Saturday morning and he was alert and very responsive... Sunday morning we got the call he had died overnight.