Cause of dogs death? 1 day after animal attack or shotgun. Multiple cuts, severe infection, no internal injur

Question

Let dog out 6am, came home <1 hr later, completely covered in mud.Then noticed he was bleeding from multiple small, deep wounds on back, rear, & hind legs. Although serious, I felt the injuries were not life-threatening as he was breathing normally, etc.Laid down & refused to get up. Weighed 85 lbs & couldn't carry by myself. Cleaned some of the mud off but did not clean the possibly 20 or so separate punctures. Wounds went thru the flesh & not bleeding alot. He drank a little water & got up to urinate that evening. I got him to vet at 8:45 am next day. He was sick that morning & had a rapidly-worsening odor. Stank. Vet said infection indicated he must have been injured 5-7 days before but not possible! Widespread & irreparable tissue damage, recommended putting him to sleep. Vet felt likely animal attack but did not look like bite marks to me.Maybe lead poisoning from shotgun blast?Other dog found dead last month in woods after missing 2 days,muddy, same marks over same part of body

Answer 1

Sounds very typical of septicemic shock. Doesn't matter if the punctures were from bite wounds or buckshot. The bacteria from the mud got in, then couldn't get back out again. The mud was likely fecally-contaminated. Lead poisoning takes longer than that, especially if it's not contained within in the stomach (which usually takes a few days to show symptoms anyway.)

Sorry about your dog. :-( I understand how it would seem like it might could wait since it didn't look too serious. But next time, immediate treatment can usually save a dog's life in situations like that.

Answer 2

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog! How awful. No doubt infection set in and was far too advanced by the time he got help.

You may want to look into filing a police report or letting them know what you think happened. If there was another dog it happened to then there may be some pretty cruel people that need to get arrested.

If your vet feels it was an animal attack though, you should probably accept that because they see that pretty often and know what to look for.

Answer 3

What part of the country do you live in? I am thinking this might be a wild hog attack,or a javelina attack, maybe even an alligator attack. I am trying to think what would make numerous punctures and also carry a serious germ load on it teeth or claws. Something reptilian might be more likely to carry germs which are toxic to mammals but no to themselves. Maybe someone had a komodo dragon as a pet and turned it loose when it started getting too big. The komodo does not kill its prey outright; it mauls it and then locates it after it dies of infection.

Answer 4

Just wanted to say, I'm Sorry for your lose,, I had 2 dogs, I had to have put down, because they were exposed to one that had rabies, and I had no idea. Can't understand what happened to yours.