Did My Senior Terrier Pass Away From Choking Or Was It Just Her Time? (Vet Answered)
This question has been answered by a vet
Small Animal Veterinarian
Dr. Karyn is a small animal veterinarian originally from Australia, now based in the UK. She holds degrees in Veterinary Science (2010) and Zoology. When not helping pets, she tends to her 5 cats, 5 dogs, and garden!
The Question
Dear Vet,I am writing to you because I am in a state of severe shock, panic, and grief, and I desperately need your professional reassurance regarding my dog's final moments.This happened four days ago, and she has already been properly buried, but I cannot stop blaming myself. My dog was 13 years old and in the terminal stage of her illness. She had ascites and a tumor near her spleen. In her final days, her back legs became severely swollen, she was completely immobile, had labored breathing, and stopped eating. On her last day, she also refused to drink.Wanting to comfort her, I tried to give her water using a syringe without a needle. I placed it into the corner of her lips through her closed, clenched teeth. I gave her two 5 ml syringes (up to 10 ml total of water), and some of it likely leaked out of her mouth.A few moments later, I noticed she rolled onto her side and completely relaxed. When I held her, she made a few gasping or twitching movements with her head toward me with an open mouth, and then she passed away.I am absolutely terrified that she might have suffocated or choked because of the water I tried to give her, or that I caused her death. From a medical standpoint, given her advanced organ failure, tumor, and ascites, was this just a coincidence of timing as her body was already shutting down?Thank you so much for your time and response
Quick Info about Dona
Oh Danci, I'm so, so sorry for your loss.
This is 100%, hands-down, the worst part about having pets. The only way I can ever feel a little better about how much shorter their lives are than ours is that we get the opportunity to know and love more than just one pet in our lifetime. But, this doesn't make it any easier when you have just lost a dog who has been with you for so many years.
Of course, you'll know that I can't say with total certainty what happened in Dona's final moments, but from what you have described, I honestly and truly do not think you caused her death.
Although 10ml might seem like a lot of water, even if the entire amount had trickled into her airways, it would not have been enough to cause suffocation. If anything, it would have triggered a pretty violent and obvious coughing fit, and probably woken her up more. I think it's very likely that she was completely unaware of the syringe or the water.
I suspect that the timing was just a coincidence, and she simply passed away in your lap. You obviously knew she was in a very bad way, which is why you thought to offer the water at all, but the cancer is what caused her death.
The gasping you saw is called 'agonal gasping'; a reflex breath triggered by a lack of oxygen as the heart and lungs shut down, and it's quite possible that her heart had already stopped beating when you were giving her the water.
So please, put away any feelings of guilt because you did absolutely nothing wrong. You were with her at the end, and I can't tell you how special that is. I want you to remember those final moments for what they were - you offering comfort to Dona as she passed away. You were there, and she felt safe enough to let go.
Take comfort in that, and remember all the wonderful, silly, warm, funny, and crazy things about her.
Take care,
Dr Karyn