Sudden death

[Merc202]

My 7 year old collie died very suddenly a few weeks ago. She was fine at 2.00, but on the walk hesitated very slightly getting in the car. At 5.00 she wouldn't jump on the settee so I thought she may have sprained something. She ate her dinner and slept in the evening. At 9.00 when she got up she was obviously having trouble walking. By the time we got her to the vets at 10.00 her back half was paralized. X rays showed a disc had disintegrated or ruptured. Tests showed  there was no feeling even at the centre of the spinal cord and she was put to sleep. She had never limped and was completely fit before this and hadn't suffered any trauma. I just wonder what could have caused it.

[skydnsr]

I'm sorry too.  Many dogs have a natural instinct to avoid showing discomfort for as long as they possibly can, when they are sick or injured.  If it were a human with the same condition, he or she would probably complain and go to the doctor, long before your collie showed any observable sign of a problem.  It makes it hard to take care of certain pet health problems proactively, but that is just how a lot of animals are.  

A friend of mine had a dog die of cancer only four days or so after running happily in the woods and appearing perfectly healthy.  A few hours after the outing, in the evening of that same day, the dog acted like her back was hurting, and the owner did not think anything of it.  The dog was older, and they had had a very active day.  It would have been natural for her to be a little sore.  The next day, the dog acted depressed, and the owner took her to the vet.  It turned out that the dog had a hemangioma (a type of malignant tumor) on her spleen that had ruptured while they were out playing the day before.  My friend made an appointment to take the dog to a veterinary oncologist, but the dog passed away early in the morning of the day that they would have gone to the specialist.  Probably there was nothing  the specialist could have done, anyway.  When those tumors rupture, cancerous cells are spread throughout the abdomen, and typically the cancer is fatal, no matter what type of treatment is done.

Just in case you are wondering, something like what happened to your collie does not mean that you or your vet failed your dog in any way.  This type of sad event just happens, sometimes.  Please accept my condolences.

[ginger899]

I am so sorry to hear that your dog died. So quickly and unexpectedly too, which is hard to come to terms with. It is hard when they are fit and well one minute, and like this, the next.

I cannot say what caused the disintegration of her spinal bones. I do not know enough to say. All I can say is that sometimes these things happen to dogs. They do not show any signs of being sick, until suddenly something happens which is beyond help.
I wonder if the disintegration of the bone could have been due to a primary bone cancer, that was up to that point not giving her any symptoms? Obviously I do not know, but that occurred to me as a possibility.

I am so sorry for your loss.