My Bulldog died suddenly. Was fine and then within a minute, dead.

[adam2101]

Of course, a million things run through your mind when something like this happens.  For me, it helps to understand what may have happened.  I hope someone has the answers but, understand that they can only be speculation.  

My 6 year old Bulldog Francis, was in excellent condition.  I've always feared him growing over weight as bulldogs often do so, kept him on a very healthy diet.  He has always been in the best health.  He was not subjected to any trauma that I'm aware of.  

After a night of sleeping he was laying on the floor near the couch doing more of what bulldogs do, sleeping, when he got up took a few steps lost his balance and fell.  He appeared to still be groggy from waking up.  He then peed on the floor (which he never did).  This was certainly a loss of function.  My girlfriend then ran to see that he was having some labored breething and fading fast.  She held him did a few finger sweeps thinking maybe he had something lodged in his throat.  His tongue turn VERY PALE and WHITE.  He kept looking at her like he was scared and kept fading out then would come to for a second then fade out again.  He then defficated and took his last breath, or vice versa.  

Of course my girlfriend did everything she could think of at that point including CPR and RB.  His tongue then turned very blue.  The tongue streched far out hanging to the floor was the only indication (or biggest noticeable indication) that he was no longer with us.

I know bulldogs often die young but, he really was in great shape and well taken care of.  He gave no prior signs of anything wrong.  Very sudden and unexpected.

Current theories:  Heart Attack (didn't seem in pain)-----  Aneurysm (could this account for the white tounge?)-----  Pulmonary Embolism ( mayabe why he stood up and quickly lost his balance in a dizzy-like fashion)

Could any of these be correct and why?  Is there another theory that fits better?

Please Help me find the answers.  Thank you so very much!

[jeAn_]

Our English bull dog died last night. Same as many posting here. Ate walked did her usual begging for table food. Went outside came back from going to the bathroom. laid down by the door and 30 minutes later gave a whimper and died. Eyes open just in a state of peace. No clue what happened or why. Reading theses helps. I have been running the day in my head wondering what happened that I didn't notice but Even if I can't understand why my Tootsie died I know now I am not the alone. Pray for your loss and pray for us.  We had 13 wonderful years with her which was more than we ever expected. Even the vet said it was rare for bulldogs to live past 10 years but of course she was loved be on measures and lived in a house that adored her.  Our hearts are broken. She had a beautiful personality and was the best company to have good with kids loved going on car rides and enjoyed life. We will miss her dragging her leash around the house when she wanted to go for walks. Good bye Tootsie until we see again. Thank you for all your posts. They truly helped.

[Kellypuleio]

We lost our 8 year old bulldog 5 days ago in the same manner. She was 40lbs, In great shape, we finally got her allergies under control, she was in the best condition we could have wished for. She woke up in the morning, ate breakfast, took her allergy pill (apoquol) played, Peed,  and trotted to the car. We put her in the back seat with her blanket all snuggled up. We heard what sounded like snoring but quickly realized her eyes were open. She looked up and her eyes were really wide and vacant. Then put her head down and stopped breathing. We lost her in minutes. It was so unexpected and fast. She was only 8, we thought we would have had more time. The vet offered thoughts of cardiac or aneurism but She was in perfect health.

[GraceTR]

We lost our English bulldog, Barabbas, quite suddenly yesterday. He was 7, not horribly overweight and kept active with our 2 year old son. And like most stories I've read on here, he was fine all morning and just came in from our backyard. While feeding my son lunch, Barabbas slid into a really awkward position from sitting up and I knew something wasn't right so I helped him onto his side. I noticed he peed all over himself, took really shallow breaths and within seconds, took one final gasp for air and died. I panicked and wanted to rush him to the emergency vet but knew it was too late. He was gone. As heartbroken as we are by his sudden passing I just want to thank everyone who posted their stories on here. Like all of you looking for answers, my husband found this page and even though it won't bring our baby boy back, it's brought us some closure and peace knowing that we are not alone. I pray for all of you who have lost your furry child through such traumatic experiences but know that we will see them again when they greet us at heaven's door. God bless.

[BulldoggeMom]

Today we lost one of our family members. Our old English bulldog Hoss was nine years old. He had been up ate his breakfast layed around sleeping like he always did most of the day.  My husband took him and the other two girls out this was about their sixth trip for the day it was around 3 PM he step down off the porch went out and laid in the yard us like always I heard my husband yell.  I went outside to find my husband trying to revive our big boy and was unsuccessful. There were no signs whatsoever leading up to or that day that anything was wrong.  He had just been to the vet one week prior and had a clean bill of health with his heartworm check Lyme disease check he had received his vaccinations and his  flea and tick medicine. We did use a new flea and tick medicine called bravo. We also gave it to all three of our old English Bulldogs. We are so saddened tonight with his loss. He immediately had whitened gums and tongue. His legs were stiffened and his stomach smeed swollen. All of this happened in immediately within his death. We were not outside more than 5 minutes when he died.  We are definitely sad and very emotional tonight. We will greatly miss him forever.

[Ghilly]

I am so very sorry for your loss.  The only way to be certain what killed Francis would be to have the vet perform a necropsy, however from your description of what happened, I would say there was a major bleed somewhere in his body and that was the reason for his tongue turning white.  The one thing that you can be certain of is that Francis did not suffer.  It was quick for him, you were there, he was at home, he knew he was loved.  If there's a good way for a pet to go, this was it.  Please don't beat yourself up over this.  Whatever it was, it was obviously something that killed him quickly and he didn't suffer leading up to his death, so there was nothing you could have done to prevent his death.  I mean, you don't take an outwardly healthy, happy dog to the vet, NOBODY does that.  Keep Francis alive in your heart and eventually you will remember him with smiles instead of tears.  And you WILL see him again, I know you will.

Ghilly

[RalphRM]

Our 4 year old frenchie had a seizure about 2 months ago. She also was in perfect health always.  She had a couple out of nowhere.  The vet put her on seizure meds that seemed to help.  We took her on vacation this week and she had a seizure after over a month being fine. The seizure are legs jerking, losing balance and falling, and foam or liquid coming out of her mouth.  During bad seizures she'd go to the bathroom as well.  She kept having facial issues and another seizure and we brought her to the ER.  They gave her Valium to bring her temp down and wanted to watch her overnight.  They thought she'd be fine.  She passed at 2am in her sleep according to the Dr.  We are completely crushed.