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Why did my dog die suddenly with rectal bleeding and no vomiting?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Greyhound | Male | neutered | 5 years and 2 months old | 74 lbs

Our 6-year old Greyhound died suddenly, and after death a profusion of blood poured out of his rectum. He was happy, and bouncy not fifteen minutes prior. He ate breakfast, walked outside, howled horrifically and fell over dead. We are suspecting HGE, but Charlie didn't have vomiting or diahrrea. Before we adopted him, he had an aggressive bout of hook worms, but all his subsequent fecal exams were negative. He died July 4, the morning after fireworks in our neighborhood on July 3.

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on July 5th, 2017

Charlie was such a handsome boy, and I'm so very sorry for your sudden loss! How horrible for you :-( It could be that he ate something toxic, he could have had a GI tumor that suddenly ruptured, or he could have developed bloat and subsequent a GDV causing him to die suddenly and have blood come from his rectum. If he didn't have any vomiting or diarrhea, I wouldn't suspect HGE, but without seeing him in person I can't say for certain unfortunately. You can take him into a vet for a necropsy (an autopsy for dogs) to help give you some answers. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss, please accept my condolences.

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    Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on June 23rd, 2019

    I'm sorry to hear about your dog's passing. Unfortunately, without a necropsy (animal autopsy) it would be hard to tell what caused the sudden death. Illness, poisoning, toxic ingestion, underlying medical conditions, etc are all possible causes, and just the one symptom alone would be hard to determine what happened. If you're having trouble coping with the loss, speaking with a vet in your area, or seeking out the aid of online support groups such as The Rainbow Bridge may help with your loss.

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on November 13th, 2016

    Oh my! Poor Jaxie. I'm so sorry for the loss of your dog - how horrible for all of you, especially to have it happen so suddenly. If she was vomiting and/or defecating blood, I wonder if she may have somehow gotten into something toxic such as rat poison - sometimes dogs don't show any symptoms at all until they suddenly begin bleeding uncontrollably. Another possibility is something called HGE, or hemorrhagic gastroenteritis - this can cause severe, life-threatening bloody vomit and diarrhea, and sometimes comes on very suddenly. If you want to have a better idea of what may have happened, you could ask your veterinarian to do an autopsy (called a necropsy in animals) to try and determine a cause of death. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 8th, 2019

    I am so sorry for your loss! Please accept my condolences. Without seeing her in person, I can’t say what happened but it could be she got into something toxic or she may have had a serious disease like cancer. In dogs, sometimes symptoms won’t show until the dog is extremely sick. Again I’m so sorry.

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