u/Radiant_Year_381

He passed away suddenly after an eleven day illness that turned out to be cancer and interstitial lung disease I’d had no idea he had at only 6.5 years old. I keep googling things trying to figure out how he got so sick so young. One theory is the cancer caused systemic inflammation that went to his lungs but recently i started worrying that a bark collar somehow caused the lung problems. I’m losing so much sleep worrying I caused it. His vets never mentioned any trachea issue on his X-rays but I never asked about the collar and now I’m worried they didn’t look because they focused on lungs. If his trachea was ok and it wasn’t a result of anything I did it would give me so much peace of mind you don’t even know. I loved him with my whole heart despite his intense loud barking that drove the neighbors nuts. His airway seemed fine until sudden prostate cancer symptoms showed up and then all of a sudden he was breathing so fast and it seemed like his throat hurt the last few days…he’d pick at food and then cry after swallowing it, then eventually wouldn’t eat at all. I had taken the collar off of him as soon as the urinating problems and sickness started, yet he kept getting worse. I did everything I could to save him including four vet visits, spending 4500$ on images and meds, and then the final, he’s suffering, you have to let him go now appointment talk.

Did my dogs shock collar cause interstitial lung disease that showed up at same time as his prostate cancer? Does his windpipe look ok here?Need help processing grief, and to stop blaming myself. I’m trying to work through the stages of grief here and right now I’m heading back into guilt. My 6.5 year old corgi got really suddenly sick on Easter coughing and unable to urinate and was diagnosed with both prostate cancer and interstitial lung disease ten days later after four vet appointments with different opinions and referrals. He was breathing so fast by the end and I opted for humane euthanasia because I couldn’t save him nor could I let him suffer anymore. I loved him with my whole heart. A few months before he got sick he had started drinking more and urinating a little more frequently but I just assumed it was age related. He was still walking 1-2 miles a day on trails and eating normally at that point and seemed happy and ok. My crabby neighbor complained about his barking nonstop and I finally bought a bark collar because honestly the barking was really excessive and piercingly loud and despite living in the suburbs I was getting frequent complaints that he’d wake children up, annoy neighbors. The vibrate setting didn’t work so I finally set it to shock. It had been a last resort. It seemed to massively slow down the barking but I’d take it off and he’d instantly start in barking again. I’d then end up putting it back on. It was the only thing that worked. It got to a point where he had it on a lot to keep him from constantly loudly barking all day. On April 6th he couldn’t urinate and was breathing just slightly fast, I took him to an emergency vet. His first diagnosis on X-ray was just bronchitis. I gave him prescribed steroids, cooked him chicken and carrots, tried to get him eating and he really rapidly lost his appetite and got worse. Would lift his leg to pee, nothing came out. Took him to a second emergency vet. Prescribed added mirtazepine to get appetite back but it didn’t work. His regular vet referred him to an ultrasound vet who did the ultrasound and said he had prostate cancer that had spread to sublumbar lymph nodes and peripheral banding in lungs with severe interstitial lung disease. He wasn’t sure why they both happened at the same time but said even if steroids would help for lungs, they’d worsen the urinary frequency for prostate cancer. I’ve blamed myself every day since it happened for using a bark collar. What if it somehow irritated his wind pipe and caused bronchitis and interstitial lung disease? Idk if I can forgive myself. He was my best friend. I know I didn’t cause cancer but what about his lungs?but despite the collar just 8 days before he stopped eating and began breathing fast, I took a cute video of him having a verbal tantrum over a donut he wanted more of. He was not breathing heavily, distressed, or having any trouble crying loudly for said donut. It didn’t seem like his airway was in trouble until his prostate cancer advanced. Like maybe the cancer caused full systemic inflammation? I don’t know. I’ll never use a bark collar again on a dog I just hope it wasn’t my fault my baby died. I loved him so very much