white gums and tongue on my hound dog

Question
QUESTION: hello marie,what,s the reason a bassett hound would go into a half body stiff mode and his tongue and gums go soooo white , then 15 minutes  later he dies? this happened me tonite i never made it to the emergengy clinic he died on the way,im so upset i gave him tape worm pills yesterday 5 of them he had green poos today some soft and died out of the blue he was fine ? i can,t believe it why can you maybe give me some reasons this happens please i have nodody to turn to that cares and i,m sure tomorrow the vet will just say oh well dogs die ..........

ANSWER: Hi Suzy - I am so sorry for the loss of your basset hound.
He may have had a blood clot and even stroke.  It is hard to say - If he had been poisoned, I believe he would have suffered for 24-48 hrs, so I don't think it was poison.

Again, so sorry for your loss!

Marie Peppers

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QUESTION: thanks marie,do you think round worms could have killed him,i,ve never seen his mouth inside so white ever,it was so scary his tongue etc.he took a tiny drink of water right in the middle of this seizure?i,m blaming myself because i did,nt pay enough attention when it happened,it was so fast and i have 14 other dogs n 2 new kittys all rescues so i,m swamped taking care of them all and for a split moment lost my ten year old baby basett..he barked to get down off my high bed as usuall to go poo then he froze in the middle of pooing  thats when this thing started i brushed it off for a minute cos he,s had tremors before and what a mistake  that was now i,ve lost him.sorry to go on about this but it,s heart wrenching for me .thanky you marie .

Answer
Well, if he had the worms for along time he could have become Anemic and that's what placed him into a seizure or stroke.  Hard to say...
The white gums and tongue could have been related to anemia - low red blood cell count.  Again, too hard to say.  Also, his breed doesn't always live as long as other dog breeds...Sorry, they tend to go around 11 or 12 years, if they make it that long.

It may have just been his time to go.  Ten years is good for a Basset hound.
Just keep your head up and keep on saving all the other animals.
I am sure you do the best you can.

Thinking of you!

Marie Peppers