I lost my little Pomeranian..... Trevor....

[Vicki]

He died this past Friday at home on our bed as I was petting him. He was 16 and a half years old. About three weeks prior he had been diagnosed with mild trachea collapse. He also had a mild heart murmur. His blood tests had come back all normal too. He started coughing and they did xrays to see if it was the heart and it wasn't....that's when they found the irregular trachea. So he was put on codeine which really helped a lot. Made him drowsy and a bit lethargic.....which I expected. But he began to get more and more drowsy....no energy....didn't want to eat - it was a struggle to get food into him, but I did. I attributed all this to the codeine so I started to cut back a bit with it. During all this he was still eliminating when he went - just like normal. Friday night we went to bed and he was his normal self....he was sleeping on our bed as was our other little Pom, Huey. About 12:20 I heard Trevor make a noise. His noises always woke me because I never knew what might be going on. I looked at him...he was still lying there, breathing, eyes open. I reached over and petted him and talked to him. Then he started tensing his whole body, then relaxed it....tensed and then relaxed. Did it about 3 or 4 times - all the while I'm petting him and talking. I was thinking maybe he was trying to cough but was too weak. Then it stopped...just like that. I felt for his heartbeat but there was none. The breathing stopped. He was gone. It was so sad. When talking to the vet the next morning he said he didn't think the trachea would just completely shut off like that and that there must have been something else going on in his little body. I agree....maybe his heart was weaker than we all thought. Now I feel that his getting weaker and weaker was not just from the codeine. My question to folks here is....can codeine complicate things in a dog's body that could cause death or was this all just coincidental? I just wish I knew what it was that really caused him to die. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you......Vicki

[Marty]

I am so sorry you lost your Trevor. Run free at the Bridge, boy...

[Traci]

Not knowing how the codeine was prescribed, it's impossible to say. Your vet should be looking that up for you. Otherwise, a necropsy might be helpful to determine cause of death. I suspect the heart condition was worse than previously diagnosed, or possibly a secondary condition was developing.

I'm so sorry, Vicki, it's never easy. I hope you are comforted in knowing you gave Trevor 16 wonderful years, filled with unconditional love.

Safe and gentle journey, sweet Trevor.......

(((HUGS)))

[davet]

Vickie, I can;t say that is great because it is not fun but I can think of no better way for a pet to go then to have his loved ones around to help him...My toy poodle went the same way with my wife holding him....I know you feel bad but at that age it could not be a better way to go....

[k9Karen]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Codeine would help relax the body and relieve pain, so, even if it could be a factor in his death, it would have helped him go with less pain. It does relax the muscles, and can lower the heart rate slightly, but your vet would have taken these factors into consideration when he determined the correct dosing. At his age, any number of different things could have happened that were not related to the codeine.

[momPaws]

So sorry Vicki. ((hugs))