My neighbors dog recently died

Question
My neighbors dog recently died, he took the dog to the vet and all the vet did was feel him and gave him a shot and gave no urinary test or x-rays. The dog was constantly vomiting up all fluids and was constantly breathing heavily. My neighbor had woke up at AM and the dog was howling in pain. Afew moments later the dog had died and blood had dripped from his mouth. They had found one of those packets kept in bags of food to keep its freshness open in the backyard. The dog is very smart and we do not believe that the dog had ripped it open. The vet had called my neighbor and told him that the shot was an antibiotics in doing so the vet had told him a different type of medication when giving it to the dog. I would like to know what you think has happened to the dog. Please help.

Answer
Hi Anna,

I am so sorry for the suffering that this poor dog went though.  It is possible that he did ingest that package of freshener and who knows what was inside it?  If your neighbor had told the vet about that package, the treatment might have been different and possibly successful.  There is no way to tell without an autopsy.

The vet's change in story is not a good thing.  Suggest to your friend that she obtain her dog's records.  Perhaps she wants to forget this horrible incident and that is ok too.  It's really up to her as to wanting to persue it or not.

There is no happy ending to this story...the dog suffered and died.  The family is suffering.  You are grieved by this loss.  This is a sad story.  The only saving grace is to become more mindful of keeping dangerous items away from dogs but sometimes things just happen.  Perhaps she can rescue a dog on death row in memory of her deceased pet?  This would be very healing for her.

Sincerely,
Shelley Davis