Sad sad sad day on the farm today. I went up to milk the goats and my mastiff Maya didn't come out to greet me like usual. I went over to her dog house and she was laying on her bed outside of it sleeping- and not breathing. Maya died last night in her sleep. I have never ever in my life just had a dog drop dead like this. She was acting fine except for limping a little from a cut pad on her foot, she was just up and chasing coyotes two days ago. She didn't eat much dinner last night but that's kinda normal for her since we free feed her she doesn't wolf it down. I just don't know what happened. She was all up to date on all her vaccines, de-worming, everything else. She seemed fine and healthy in every way. I've heard that Mastiffs can have heart problems, but we had her heart checked by the vets when we got her and no murmurs and she used to go hiking and running with us all the time. She loved dogs beach. She was only 3 years old. RIP Maya. We love you and will miss you. I am devastated. I loved that dog. I wanted to breed her and keep a couple of her pups as property guardians. She was a really amazing dog.
It has just been an extraordinarily crazy day! You guys will not believe this; after we went out and buried Maya, I was taking care of the rest of the animals and there was a 3' RATTLESNAKE INSIDE my rabbit cages! He was in with the baby rabbits obviously looking for a meal- only problem was he wasn't big enough to eat them. So he bit and killed 4 of my baby rabbits.
So this morning we buried Maya, four baby bunnies, and a rattlesnake.
That makes 8 rattlers we have killed so far this year.
We initially did think of a snakebite as a first explanation for Maya, but she was fine last night, and I looked her over really well; no swelling, no puncture wounds, nothing. And I used to work as a vet tech so I have seen A LOT of snake bites. And not saying this is fool-proof, but she was up to date on her rattlesnake vaccine. We also thought bloat too, but again no symptoms, at all.
We talked about getting a necropsy all morning, and I called two different vets to get pricing and procedure. As it turns out it's roughly $200 for a necropsy because she was so big (160 pounds). We debated on wether or not to do it, but after talking to one of my friends that runs a Saint Bernard rescue and posting on the Mastiff forum I am on, it seems the logical explanation was her heart. My friend that has the Saint Bernards says that she has SEVERAL friends who's YOUNG (<5 yrs) dogs have died in their sleep, and the Mastiff forum says it's very very common for them to die young because of heart problems. I just can't believe it happened to Maya.
And well, as much as I would love to KNOW that that is what happened to her, we've decided that we should save the $200 so we can use it towards another LGD pup to try and help replace her.
It has just been an extraordinarily crazy day! You guys will not believe this; after we went out and buried Maya, I was taking care of the rest of the animals and there was a 3' RATTLESNAKE INSIDE my rabbit cages! He was in with the baby rabbits obviously looking for a meal- only problem was he wasn't big enough to eat them. So he bit and killed 4 of my baby rabbits.
So this morning we buried Maya, four baby bunnies, and a rattlesnake.
That makes 8 rattlers we have killed so far this year.
We initially did think of a snakebite as a first explanation for Maya, but she was fine last night, and I looked her over really well; no swelling, no puncture wounds, nothing. And I used to work as a vet tech so I have seen A LOT of snake bites. And not saying this is fool-proof, but she was up to date on her rattlesnake vaccine. We also thought bloat too, but again no symptoms, at all.
We talked about getting a necropsy all morning, and I called two different vets to get pricing and procedure. As it turns out it's roughly $200 for a necropsy because she was so big (160 pounds). We debated on wether or not to do it, but after talking to one of my friends that runs a Saint Bernard rescue and posting on the Mastiff forum I am on, it seems the logical explanation was her heart. My friend that has the Saint Bernards says that she has SEVERAL friends who's YOUNG (<5 yrs) dogs have died in their sleep, and the Mastiff forum says it's very very common for them to die young because of heart problems. I just can't believe it happened to Maya.
And well, as much as I would love to KNOW that that is what happened to her, we've decided that we should save the $200 so we can use it towards another LGD pup to try and help replace her.
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