Sadly a friend has lost an otherwise healthy 4 year old within just 24 hours of first onset of illness.  The dog first showed signs of cramping and straining, followed by bloody stools and was taken immediately to the vet.  Despite emergency treatment within a matter of hours the poor dog was screaming and in terrible pain.  He could not be saved.

A post mortem revealed that his pancreas had been turned into "mush" :(   The vet believes that a particularly strong poison of some sort was ingested by the dog and warned that other vets in and around the Midlands had reported cases of pets suffering from severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea - some more critically ill than others and it was suspected that a "new" form of poison was being used to kill vermin etc. and this was finding it's way into popular dog walking areas.

It is believed my friend's dog ingested something when out on their usual dog walk or possibly something laced with toxin which had been carried and dropped in their own garden by wildlife.  She is devastated as you'll appreciate but wanted others to be warned that this is something which comes on rapidly with no early warning signs and while immediately veterinary attention did not help save her boy it may help save other dogs and spare owners going through the same heartache.

The owner lives in the Derbyshire area, however if this does turn out to be the result of a novel toxic product, obviously anywhere in the UK could be potentially at risk.   Teri

Oh Teri that's awful, please pass on my condolences to your friend.

How awful Teri - my condolences also to your friend :(

Thanks girls - it's very sad and I think made even worse (if possible) because the dog was in so much pain :(  He'd been vaccinated and had a full health check just a couple of months back and was a real live wire.

Hopefully this message will serve to make others more aware particularly if they have dogs that are prone to scavenging (that's probably a large percentage of dogs).

Teri

Thank you Teri for the warning ,your friend must be devastated it is so sad.

Roni

Oh teri :-( tell your friend i am so so sorry and my prayers are with her xxxx

Big hugs to your friend Teri.  That's a terrible thing to have happened!

Sarah.

Hi Teri, I am so very sorry to read this about your friend's dog, very sad indeed that the poor dog was in so much pain it had to be pts. I live in the South East area and 3 months ago my dog was heammorhaging blood and vomiting and ended up on a drip at the vets for 3 days, and I also found out about 5 other dogs in my area who had the same thing at the same time! I contacted DEFRA because I found out they were putting poison down on my village green (where all of us had walked our dogs that week) and I was horrified that no signs or anything had been put up. Apparently it was to kill the moles, poor things. Everything was fine and I avoid the green anyway now, but Monday this week my dog was heammorhaging blood again, so badly it was coming out of her rear end like a hosepipe and she was vomiting. The vet told me there is something horrendous going around as he had never seen so many dogs with this condition and in fact he had almost run out of anti-biotics this week because of it. Luckily, today my dog is well again as she has been on anti-biotics since Monday, but I can tell you she was in a very bad way indeed, so reading your sad post has got me thinking yet again. Why do they have to use poison in places where we walk our dogs, or at all come to that! All dogs have the occassional diarrhea, but not to this extend that I have now seen in my dog within 3 months, with copious amount of blood coming out with it! I wish we could do something to stop this poisoning in our countryside. Please be aware any of you who live in the Sussex area nr Worthing that there is something very nasty going around, and yes my dog is up to date with all her vacs too! I'm horrified and frustrated that there is nothing we can do!

Hi Helena,

Sorry to hear that your dog has been so poorly but pleased that things have improved.  I agree, it's terrible that poisons are finding their way into common dog exercise areas - I just hope that this serves a warning to everyone to be vigilant. 

I live in an area with more than it's fair share of wildlife and my neighbour found four half dead foxes in her garden last year - all were suffering from poison.  Foxes are frequently in my garden and I have no objection to them at all but clearly some people have and now I'm extra aware of my dogs picking up anything to chew on - which is a bit of a nightmare with a youngster around :(

Thanks for adding to the info.  Regards, Teri :)

Really sorry to hear of the horrendous and untimely death of your friend's dog, Teri :(
It wasn't one of Margie Pratten's dogs was it, I seem to remember she lives in Derbyshire.

Lindsay
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Hi Lindsay, One of her breeding but owned by Helen G.  :(   It's in my notes this week too - poor girl is absolutely distraught.

Oh no. Oh my god. I'm so so sorry, she must be distraught  - I wasn't even sure it was a Belgian (not that breed would matter) but when you said Derbyshire...:( :(

I love some of Margie's dogs, I met one down here at a working trial a couple of years ago and my heart leapt because she reminded me so much of one of mine.
I've also been following the Light litter and some others on her website. Was it one of those? I feel almost as if I know them.

Lindsay
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