Sudden death in papillon

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I am sorry to hear about your dog. How tragic.

I won't be able to give you an exact answer as to what happened, but I can give you a few ideas.

If there was fluid in her lungs then one possibility is that she had a heart problem. Little dogs can be prone to some very serious heart problems. However, we don't usually see sudden death with heart problems. Rather, we would normally see significant breathing issues before passing. But not always.

Another possibility could be if she had chewed on an electrical wire of some sort. Electrocution can cause fluid in the lungs and can definitely be fatal.

It's hard to say whether the vomiting and diarrhea were symptoms or just part of the process of dying as organs shut down. It's possible that perhaps she had some mild gastritis (upset stomach) and when she vomited she ended up aspirating (breathing in) some of the vomit.

There are many other possibilities. A foreign object that had penetrated through the intestines could cause serious problems like this. Ingesting something intensely toxic to the liver or kidneys could as well but would be less likely to cause death so quickly. One exception would be xylitol ingestion. Xylitol is a sweetener that is often found in gum. A small amount can be extremely toxic to a dog's liver, especially a little dog.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Please know that it is extremely unlikely that you could have done anything differently to prevent this.

Dr. Marie

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