What would cause a puppy of about 5 months old to die within 24 hours?

onyx1unicorn: What would cause a puppy of about 5 months old to die within 24 hours?
My neighbors puppy started vomiting the day before yesterday, and last night he died. When he first started vomiting, they called the vet right away, but the vet wouldn’t even talk to them without a visit and wouldn’t see the puppy without payment up front, (which I thought was really cruel!). The puppy continued to weaken and died the next day. We don’t know if it was a disease or if he ate something he shouldn’t have or if someone gave him something. The other dogs here in the neighborhood (including mine) were off their food for a day or so and inactive, but they are much bigger dogs and much older than the puppy. My dogs don’t roam free, when they are out, they are tied on a lead. So that leads me to believe it was some sort of disease. Now our worry is for the other puppy in the neighborhood (the brother of the one that died). He is vomiting slightly and won’t eat or drink, but I did manage to get him to eat a Milk Bone. What is your opinion of what happened to Rusty?
They called all three vets in the area. All said the same….payment up front. They wouldn’t even consider payment options. The owners of both puppies are between paychecks and were not prepared for emergencies. Basically live pay check to pay check. One vet told the owner of the living puppy that it’s a sad reality of life that puppies die. It happens every day. As for needles, i’m not sure if they had them yet. As for 24hr emerengy vet, there are none around here.
I completely understand that vets do not work for free, no one was asking them to. Believe it or not, not everyone who can’t pay a bill today is going to walk away from the bill. Not everyone is prepared for emergencies. THAT IS A REALITY OF LIFE! I think it was unfair to say that you shouldn’t have a dog because you aren’t totally prepared. You may be prepared today, but what if you suddenly found yourself without a job and are relying on employment insurance benefits or welfare. Should you get rid of your animals because of a temporary situation? And what if you have children that are attached to the animal? What do you tell them? Thank you to everyone for their input. I was thinking it was parvo, but never having experience with it, I wasn’t sure. I’ll be watching my dogs more closely.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Amanda K
Parvo? Have them take it to the vet immediately.

Answer by Yo LO!
First of all, they need to find another vet! The brother of that puppy needs to be seen by a vet ASAP!

It almost sounds as if he was poisoned, along with the other dogs…Parvo wouldn’t take hold so quickly and there would be other symptoms like diarrhea.

Answer by Carol
Possibly parvo. The other puppy needs to see a vet right away. If one vet won’t see him pick up the phone and call every vet you can! You can also check to see if you have a 24hr emergency vet around.

Answer by PATRICK J
It sounds like parvo virus – I had a german s. puppy that got sick like this a long time ago – too her to the vet. Many iv fluids and much money later, she recovered, but the vet said it was rare for them to come back from that far gone. She had brain damage – not too smart, but loving until the day she died.

Answer by Bassetnut
There are all sorts of things that could cause it. Too bad they didn’t take the pup to the vet. Hopefully this other pup will be taken.

Vets are a business like everyone else, they don’t work for free.

EDIT: That’s why we are constantly telling people DON’T GET A DOG IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD AN EMERGENCY VET BILL. Stuff happens.

Answer by gringo4541
It is nearly impossible to positively diagnose, even if the body were taken to a Vet. There would have to be a necropsy done to be certain. It sounds like it could have been Parvo. Do you know if this pup had it’s vaccinations? All of them, not just one or two and then they quit getting them…… Parvo can kill a puppy very, very quickly, over night actually.

When they called the first Vet and didn’t get answers they wanted, why didn’t they call others? I am sure there must be more than one Vet in your area? Most Vets do want their payment up front now, even with the pet insurance, you pay and the insurance pays you back. Vet’s have been left with unpaid bills for years. Especially if the animal dies, some owners just figure they won’t be going back so what the heck. The Vet has quite an overhead to pay out monthly with secretary, Vet Techs, utility bills, extremely costly equipment, medications, laundry…..etc. I don’t think the general public thinks about what it must cost to have up to date, professional care for their pets. You might look into pet insurance for your own pet, it can be beneficial if you have just one or two pets. More than that and the premiums become fairly costly.

Answer by catherine k
Sound like he ate something that didnt agree with him, could be the that an item he ate lodged in his gut and the gut twisted there are so many variables, the only way to know for sure the cause of death is for the vet to do a post mortem.You saw the othe pup in the litter is also vomiting so it would appear that without a doubt you should get the puppy taken to the vet immediately without spending valuable time second guessing what could be wrong …

Answer by g g
when the vet said they wouldn’t see them, did they call another vet? why wouldn’t you keep calling vets til you get your dog into one? take the other pup in right away, sounds like you have someone poisoning dogs in the area. i would have your dogs checked too just to be safe. if a vet does determine the brother dog was poisoned you all need to make police reports immediately

add: seems how it sounds like noone is prepared for a medical emergency here is a link to organizations that help pet owners with vet costs. i know it says cats but there are a few that are for all pets. hope it helps someone
https://felinediabetes.com/vetbills.htm

Answer by Rissa
That other puppy needs to go to the vet PRONTO. He could have been poisoned by something he ingested, or it could be parvo. My puppy came down with parvo and the vet told me one more day and she would have died, it can run them down that quick. Get the other puppy to the vet immediately or it will most likely suffer the same fate.

Answer by 59caddy
the parvo virus can take a dog out that quick. but parvo usually involves runny bloody stool, alot of it, and stinks really bad.