Just 24 hours ago, beaches in FLA opened in limited fashion, and we took our Sam to the beach for the first time after weeks of home confinement. As usual, he dashed into the waves as soon as I undid his leash and pranced in the waves (high tide, a bit rough) for a few. It was ~ 70 degrees F and water was ~ 68. We then called him to shore, and proceeded to walk down the beach with our ever faithful companion by our side. We came upon a gentleman w/ an Irish Setter who made the mistake of dropping the ball at the feet of Sam, the worlds most notorious ball thief. Sam ran into the water, the man said no problem, they had just found it on the shore, and they went on their way. We then obliged the boy with throwing the ball into the waves, his favorite past time, but one which we have been careful to limit because of our concern about salt water ingestion. This day, he kept his head out the water and did not appear swallow. On the 4th or 5th retrieve, he staggered out of the water towards me, his front paws splayed, and he fell over unconscious, tongue out. I immediately began CPR (I'm a physician with loads of human CPR experience, but no dog), called my wife over from her shell hunting, and we frantically began 30 minutes of mouth to mouth and chest compressions on our beautiful boy. Crying, screaming for help, finally one of the passersby actually did something and called the EMT station just 200 yards up the beach. They arrived and I inserted an airway, but my 'Silent Sam' was now to be forever silent. I am sobbing as I write this, we are devastated and totally traumatized. He saved me last year when I suffered through major surgery and near sepsis, never leaving my side, and saved my son's soul several years ago; yet I could not save him yesterday. CPR did nothing. How could we have prevented it? At the vets, we declined the autopsy and vet told us that he did not think it was cardiac (I wanted to scream 'are you crazy?') and that it was probably the salt water. But his abdomen was soft and not distended, and during my 30 minutes of alternating mouth to mouth on him, I can attest that his airway and lungs contained no water. At 4 Am today I found this blog and info on EIC (https://www.embracepetinsurance.com/health/exercise-induced-collapse). Was this EIC? He was a perfect canine, both physically and behaviorally, and while we noticed heat intolerance w/ exercise, we never saw the classic hindpaw splaying or loss of consciousness. He was certainly not overheated yesterday morning. Only some very mild occasional staggering over the years that was barely noticeable. We were always careful to not overtax him, and when he overtaxed himself, he always sat down and cooled off - I realize now that this boy was self regulating and thus I completely missed any cues (not that I knew what to look for). I guess we will never know - oh how I wish that I had not thrown that final toss. Is there anything we should have noticed or done differently?
What a terrible experience. I am so sorry for your loss. As you say, you will probably never know what the cause was, though many labs are tested these days so you could look at the records of the parents of your boy to see if they were tested clear. Labradors live to retrieve and you did nothing wrong In fact it sounds as though you went above and beyond in your efforts to save your dog, and couldn't possibly have done any more. I hope you can take some comfort from your memories of Sam and the happy full live you gave him.
Thank you for your kind words and the suggestion that we try and track down the records of his mom and dad. We will make the inquiries and will post if any information. Sorrowful, B and P
I'm really sorry to hear about this, it sounds like an incredibly traumatic experience for you. It doesn't sound like EIC to me. EIC usually becomes obvious in young dogs when they exert themselves beyond whatever threshold their own EIC kicks in at (it can be different for different dogs). But I think that, by the age of 5yo, he'd have experienced every level of exertion possible - without this occurring... Whilst dogs with EIC lose control of their legs and collapse, they are usually conscious and not in pain - they are still attempting to drag themselves around using their front legs sometimes. Then they just recover and are back up on their feet again. If it wasn't a cardiac issue, perhaps an aneurism...? Take care of yourselves!
Is it possible that he drank enough salt water while retrieving to get his system out of balance. Years ago, on Tillys first trip to the beach she drank too much salt water, but she just threw it up when we got back to the car. I understand that it can be life threatening. We had the reverse happen with Cooper in fresh water (Water Intoxication), but it took a lot of retrieving to do it. Cooper recovered, but it was very serious.
Jo Laurens, thank you for the insight, very much appreciated. We spoke to his Charlotte NC vet Monday night (we had just moved to our beach house in FLA last week, "permanently") and she agrees with me that it was likely cardiac/vascular in nature. One hypothesis, a burst aneurysm, the second: DOGFOOD! He had bad food allergies a few years ago, we started him on a "safe" food, and when we moved him to NC 1 year ago, we could not get access to food that he wouldn't react to. So we put him on 'Rachel Ray's Nutrish Just 6', about 8 months ago. Apparently (unbeknownst to me) this is one of 18 dog foods that the FDA is reviewing because of the frequency of fatal cardiomyopathies which present to a serious decline of health and/or sudden deaths. BUYER BEWARE. He seemed a tiny bit more tired in the past few months, but still happy and active. Really no clue of anything serious. Ski-Patroller, thanks, and yes, salt water ingestion is definitely life threatening, both swallowing (to stomach) and aspiration (to lungs). Indeed, it was the first thing I thought about when he collapsed. But a couple of things argue against it: His airway (mouth/lungs) was dry (no water coming out, no foam) and he did not vomit, his lungs inflated easily (I did mouth to mouth during the CPR for 30 min), and his stomach was not distended. Lastly, he was a very experienced ocean swimmer / water dog and I watched him like a hawk every time he goes in, including this time. His head / mouth stayed out of the water and he never gagged / coughed, and he never has liked to swallow ocean water. So... a definite possibility, but not high on the list...
I don't have any theories to add, I just wanted to say how very sorry I am for your loss. It sounds like he had a wonderful life with you, and that you did your very best for him.
Lucy: Thank you for your kind words. If I knew how to post pix on here, I would post several, as he was the most wonderful and beautiful companion that one could ever imagine. We continue to struggle with enormous guilt, loss and trauma, but take comfort in the thought that God has called him to his side to help in these difficult times. Even though he had a "good death", I cannot bear to think that he simply has ceased to exist.
Bmpmd: I am SO sorry for your loss! I lost my best friend about 1.5 years ago and grieved for a year. I now have a new companion but I’ll alway remember my first one - Buddy. I know he is waiting in Heaven for me! Let me chime in with another who said “you didn’t do anything wrong” so don’t blame yourself! He died doing what he loved - going in the water, retrieving, and walking by your side. May God comfort you through this terrible time and I hope that someday you’ll finD another special. Companion.
You could have done nothing different in this situation. He seemed like a well loved dog and living his best life. Honestly it sounds like a heart problem he may have had a while because my last dog had this issue. She was a Japanese Spitz and all the dogs we got off her breeder had heart issues. In the last few months of life she slowed down considerably and started collapsing.... Maybe this was to do with the heart? Our vet denied heart failure four times before the day we put her to sleep and when she was on the table ready to be put to sleep they admitted it was possible she had heart failure. Or as others have said possibly an aneurysm. Hold comfort in the fact that he passed on feeling loved and being with his owners. He'd been doing the thing he loved playing in the water and was clearly such a loved dog. Our past dog Lacey had passed away in the vets, a place that terrified her and I wish she could have passed peacefully at home. Just know he was much loved and you could have done nothing wrong !
Lucius, Thank you.... Maxedwell, Thank you... We received his ashes and pawprint molds today, we are getting thru 1 day at a time. My bride wants to get another soon, I just want my Sammy back :0 Our surfer neighbors are going to hold a memorial once social distancing is relaxed... we will go out on boards, form a circle w/ hands clasped and drop flowers in the water. Everybody loved Sammy, and the surfers were most impressed w/ his water skills. We will get to peace on this, sooner or later.
Bless the beautiful spirit of this dog! You shared a wonderful life together and maybe in the future you will find another companion- most certainly different but gor sure special in his own way
