My Boston Terrier, Pepper (age 13) died recently of a seizure. I
wasn't sure if she was having a heart attack or having continuous
seizures until the one that killed her that day. Please read the story
of what happened below, and then I will ask you the questions......
Pepper had a bad seizure back in September. Her legs were stiff,
she fell over, but her breathing was very fast, she also stared
straight ahead. I noticed her mouth was a little bit open, so I raised
it up because I noticed it was white on the gums, and I noticed it was
white all around her gums. Then Pepper gradually got her strength back
for an hour laying there with a comfortable sheet over her.
For the last two days before she died recently, her breathing was
very fast again. I was concerned about her, and wanted to take her to
the vet again (but the vet said at her age (she was 13), there is
nothing he can do...he didn't like giving medication to an old dog).
On her last night in bed with me, I noticed she was moving around a
lot on my bed like she was uncomfortable...one time I felt her paws
wrapped around my arms kind of stiff, then it wasn't again. This was
in the dark when I was trying to sleep.
The day she passed on, I decided to take her to the vet after I get
off from work....I felt her breath breathing really fast against my
hand that morning. I put her sweater on to keep her warm (it was
cold), and wrapped her in my heavy blanket to keep her warm. I wrote a
note to my mother that she needed to go to the vet...since Mom had to
leave early for work that day and she comes home earlier than I do.
I didn't find out she died that day until I went home. Mom said she
and Dad found her on the floor, her eyes dialated, she had a pool of
wet liquid all around her (and under her since her sweater was wet),
her teeth were baring together (like a dead dog would have - showing
teeth), Pepper wasn't breathing at all (nothing there on her chest),
she was limp like a rag doll. The man who came with them said her heart
wasn't beating (there wasn't any fast breathing like before).
Mom said she tried to close Pepper's eyes but they opened back
up...Pepper didn't blink or anything. Her eyes were dialated (Mom said
they were dialated big). Mom tried to fix her mouth to cover up the
teeth, but she couldn't pull it down (where we COULD do that on her
last seizure and she was breathing since I mentioned that I looked at
her gums)....so I figured she was getting stiff there. Mom did this to
prepare her for burial.
Pepper had been laying like this for over an hour since they were
home so she died probably an hour or two before everyone arrived....Mom
had petted her, felt her chest, etc....but Pepper was lifeless. She
never gradually had her strength back like her last seizure and her
ribs never moved again (breathing)....it was very still. It was cold
that day, so the liquid Pepper was on cold, and Pepper felt slighly
cold on it....Mom told me that if she was alive, she would've felt warm
or normal temperature against the liquid....but Pepper felt not too
warm, not cold....but almost "cool".
My questions a
1. What was the clear liquid? It's not urine...but she did poop on
the floor.
2. Was she having heart failure or an attack by the fast breathing
she had before it completely stopped? I believe her heart gave out on
her during the seizure and she wasn't breathing.
Sorry for the long read, and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

When my doxie died, it sounded very similar to yours. He was doing the
rapid breathing and his tongue was dark purple (lack of oxygen). He was
restless and agitated. The fluid that I saw came from his mouth, after his
demise, and was probably fluid that was in his lungs causing the rapid
breathing and gasping. The lungs usually fill with fluid if the heart
doesn't work as efficiently and a heart attack is such an event. I think it
is called pulmonary edema or something like that. Whole ordeal started
around midnight and by the time it was decided this wasn't going to get
better, he died at 4:30 am before we got him to the emergency vet. He was
old judging from all his gray hair around the mouth and we never did know
his exact age as he was from a shelter. It was his time.

B~

"NRushing1969" wrote in message
oups.com...
My Boston Terrier, Pepper (age 13) died recently

.........I'm so sorry your lost your pup. It so hard to lose an old friend.
If you have pets in your life it's something we all have to face at some
time or another. It's not easy.

I was concerned about her, and wanted to take her to
the vet again (but the vet said at her age (she was 13), there is
nothing he can do...he didn't like giving medication to an old dog).

..........It's true there's no cure for old age and that we all eventually
leave the planet earth. But I don't like to work with vets who assume your
dog is just suffering from old age when it may be something that can be
controlled by medications, giving your pup more quality time. If he didn't
know what was wrong with her how could he assume it was fatal? Something to
think about when you have a dog in your life again.

My questions a
1. What was the clear liquid? It's not urine...but she did poop on
the floor.

..........yes, it probably was urine. It's common for the bowel and bladder
to lose their function at the time of death. The urine probably wasn't
concentrated, making it look and smell more like water.

2. Was she having heart failure or an attack by the fast breathing
she had before it completely stopped? I believe her heart gave out on
her during the seizure and she wasn't breathing.

.......it's really impossible to say what the actual cause of death was
unless you had a necropsy done. Seizures can happen for a variety of
reasons. Sometimes it's the liver, brain, or metabolic disturbance from
something like kidney disease, etc. She may have had some kind of heart
disease. It's not something you can figure out now.

.........grieve the loss of your friend; celebrate her life and give thanks
she was with you all these years.

my condolences
buglady
take out the dog before replying