Untimely death of Beloved Schnauzer of my parents

Question
My Mom and Dad have had Min-Schnauzers since 1988.
They lost Bubby-at 15 a year ago.

Klaus had just turned 7 March 29th. He was diagnosed with diabetes a few yrs ago and my Mom has given him 2 shots a day faithfully.

Last Thurs at noon,my Mom called and said he was sick. They had been up with him half the night. He had vomited up foamy like substance like dogs/cats will do but was also squirting muus/blood from his rectum.

They called the vet 1st thing in AM,but he had taken off work,nurses called him and he said he just had diariah maybe from grass eating,and had my Mom come over and get some pills and told her no food for him 12 to 24 hrs.

As the day went on Klaus got worse. He kept going to a ditch they had dug which he never got into before and acted like he just wanted to go away and die. My Mom and Dad rushed him to the vets to demand they see him,for my parents have taken our dogs to that vet for 35 yrs.

Klaus died by 5pm. On Wed he was fine. Went for his 2 walks a day etc.

He has seem depressed and lazy but we attributed that to the loss of his buddy--Bubby.

Klaus had blood work done 3 months ago.

Any idea what the problem could've been?

My parents are devastated.

They lost a Schnauzer years ago to Cushings also.

Thank You,
Cheryl Frey

Answer
Sorry, but I am not a veterinarian so I couldn't begin to guess what the problem was. The only way to probably know would have been to do an autopsy on the dog. It could have been any number of things, including dehydration from the vomiting and diarrhea. The way to check a dog for dehydration is to lift the skin up by his neck/shoulders and watch how quickly that skin goes back down. The skin on a hydrated dog goes down quickly and goes down very slowly (or not at all) on a dehydrated dog. The only way to get fluids into a dehydrated dog that is vomiting is to do sub-Q fluids under its skin.

What I do if I have a sick dog is withhold food AND water for at least 24 hrs. I pick up the water because some dogs like to tank up when they start throwing up, and that just starts a cycle of vomiting and tanking up that is harder to break. The dog is put on meds for vomiting/diarrhea. I give the dog one ice cube every hour initially, and then if he is holding that down, I might give it every half hour. Once he starts leaving a bit of water in the bowl, then I switch over to plain water, but still not a full bowl.

When I start feeding (which will be 1-2 days later, depending on how long it was since the dog was sick), I give one teaspoon of rice every 2-3 hrs. (For flavoring, I usually mix a small amount of Infant Gerber Strained Chicken into the large bowl of rice I have made.) If he holds that down after the first 3 feedings or so, I gradually give him a bit more with each feeding. By the second day of solid food, I start putting in a piece of two of kibble, and that is gradually increased with each feeding as the rice is decreased. Anytime the dog starts to vomit again, I go back to square one (fasting) and start the procedure over again. I have no idea how this would work with a diabetic dog!

Several years ago I asked my vet at that time what was the most common problem she saw in schnauzers and she said it was diabetes. Then she added, "and every single one of them was fat." The best thing one can do for one's schnauzer is to feed a quality diet, keep it slightly on the thin side, and give it plenty of exercise.

Please give your parents my condolences.

Karen Brittan