Sudden death of 5YO female Golden Retreiver

[windsurfman]

Our beloved 5 year old Golden Retriever (Penny) died, probably sometime in the early morning hours, and we found her in our yard, with rigor already set in, about 8:30 am.  My 12YO daughter found her and she is devastated, as are we all.  She was never sick a day in her life.  Very active and healthy, we took her to our vet every year for checkups.  The night before she seemed fine, playing as usual and lying on her back for us to pet her tummy.  In preparing her for burial I did notice some blood in her stool.  Otherwise absolutely no marks on her body.  We live on a small farm but there are no hazardous products for her to eat (we have several other dogs).  We are simply at a loss to explain this.  I have read your prior comments but was wondering if you can shed any light on our situation.  We want to make sure our other dogs remain healthy.  We have another Golden who is 12 and almost blind from uveitic glaucoma (treating with dorzolamide, pred forte and combigan), but is otherwise healthy, considering her age).  Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Mark
  

[Cliff Redford, DVM]

Sorry for your loss Mark. Unfortunately I have little answers for you. I would doubt this is due to cardiac arrest due to her young age.  I do occasionally see gastric bloat and torsion in dogs like Penny (young age, large breed) and living in a rural setting increases the chance of her ingesting something that has obstructed. I feel this is likely not infectious. An immediate post midterm can always shed some light however we are past that point.
Sorry again.
Cliff

[windsurfman]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, and sorry about your loss as well.  These dogs are among the most wonderful angels God sends us!

[famousbev]

I feel the pain you and your family is going through and I am sorry.
The not knowing what happened adds to the lost. I'm still stressed and grief strickened about losing mine a week ago and worrying about the other so I understand your concerns.