Did raw food cause death?

Hi, Dr. Marie,
My sweet Shiva, who has been with me since an 8-wk old pup in 2002, died suddenly today. I had gone into town for a few hours and when I came back she was curled up on the couch in her favorite spot, looking like she was sleeping soundly. But she wasn't. She was still warm and I rushed her to the vet but she was gone. Shiva has always been a healthy dog with no problems, other than a month ago I discovered she had two bald patches and the vet put her on thyroid medication 2x/day. He said she was a bit anemic, but we'd treat her thyroid first and then see where her anemia was. She's been on the thyroid medication for 3+ weeks now and had more pep and energy. She was more playful with my other dogs. She wasn't sick, no vomiting, no blood, no diarrhea. The only thing that was different was the food I gave her and 4 of the other dogs last night. I've been concerned about where their food is coming from because of recalls. They've been on Blue Buffalo Limited Ingredient for a few months now and all like it. I did more research and thought I would supplement their dry food with some raw dog food. I bought a quality brand from a specialty pet store locally and last night defrosted two slices and cubed it up, mixing it with their dry. Shiva was laying by me in the office later that night and this morning and I could hear her bowels moving. I thought I wouldn't give her any more of it because it seemed her bowels at least didn't like it. She went outside twice before I left and was acting just fine. The vet did a necropsy an said her heart and lungs looked fine. He said there was a lesion on her stomach that looked like something had eaten through it. And he said her bladder looked a little odd. (She's been drinking a lot of water since beginning the thyroid pills). He's sent the tissue to a pathologist to see if he can get more answers. I'm just devastated. I know it's difficult to have an idea what happened but maybe you've heard or seen something similar and could offer some answers. I'm afraid I killed her by giving her the raw dog food mixed in with her dry. Thank you.

Hi, Dr. Marie,

Thank you so much for your reply. I feel somewhat better, in that I didn't kill her by feeding the raw food. It's just so odd that she died the very next day after eating it mixed in with her dry food for the very first time.

No, Shiva wasn't on any other meds. She's always been the most healthy of all my dogs. She'd only been on the thyroid medication for 3 weeks and was due back to the vet this coming week for a blood test to see how she was doing. I've never given her aspirin because she's never had any problems with her hips, or legs, or anything.

I still can't believe she's gone. Your explanation that it may have been a tumor on her stomach seems logical. It seems that if it had been anything else, like poisoning, she would have been very ill, but she wasn't. She was acting normally before I left the house, and looked like she was sleeping on the couch when I got back.

Thank you again for your response. You have helped give me some understanding of what could have happened. Thank you so much.

Diane Moore