Expert: Patti - 2/28/2006

Question
My dog aged 12 years old had just died and we are very sad and wished to know why . please help and below are some of the symptoms and details prior to her death. Candy was not eating well for 2 days then 3 hours before her death, she began salivating and was weak and could not walk and breathing heavily.I tried to get her to the nearest vet but he was on holiday. She usually fights and kills rats and mouses at the garden. Could she had rabies or poisoned from rat bites?
Thanks for reading and answering my question

Answer
Hi Elaine,

I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your dog, Candy.

The fact your dog had not been eating in the days prior to her death may mean that she was not feeling well.

While the salivating is one of the symptoms of rabies, there are other symptoms to consider:

Rabid animals usually stop eating and drinking, and may appear to want to be left alone, they have an inability to swallow that leads to drooling and foaming of saliva, dropping of the lower jaw, paralysis of jaw, throat, and chewing muscles. After the initial onset of symptoms, the animal may become vicious or begin to show signs of paralysis.
If your dog had been vaccinated against rabies, the chances of her getting the disease is slim.

Rat poison causes the blood to quit clotting and dogs who ingest it bleed to death internally. Had your dog eaten rat poison, you would have seen blood coming from her nose or mouth.
You would have seen bite marks if she had been bitten by a rat.

It's possible though that your dog ate something else which was poisonous. Poisoning can mimic many things. Some poisons act immediately, some take days to appear, potentially making diagnosis difficult.

Given your dog's age, it's also possible that she died of natural causes. Sadly, nobody can tell you for sure what Candy died of, at this point.

Whenever a pet passes on it's extremely sad event. It's okay to mourn the passing of your beloved Candy. Try to remember all the happiness she gave during the time you had together.

Though Candy can never be replaced, when you feel you are ready, perhaps you will open your heart to another dog. If you believe as I do that a pet adds so much love and happiness to our life, then it would be a shame to deprive yourself of that relationship.

I hope I've been a help.

Patti