Dear X:
 
My assessment based on this report and your clinical description is that
Mingo died of overwhelming sepsis.  Certainly with the gross description
of a very inflamed abdomen, the intestine is the most likely culprit.
The necrosis and infarction seen in other organs is likely due to sepsis,
which can in some cases trigger the formation of clots in a wide range of
organs.  When a clot forms in a large blood vessels, it cuts off the
blood supply, and the tissue infarcts (dies due to lack of oxygen)
 
What caused the original lesion in the intestine - well that's the hard
part.  Could it have been a blockage, or perhaps a perforation from a
tiny bone fragment which continued to get worse...
 
A common phenomenon with gut perforation is that the animal feels terrible
pain up until the perforation, due to pressure and fluid buildup proximal
to the blockage.  When the gut finally ruptures, the animal actually feels
much better, having gotten rid of the gas and material in the stomach.
However, this same material is now pouring into the abdominal cavity with
all of the bacteria to be found in the gut as well, and the countdown
begins to a life-threatening peritonitis.
 
I can't be sure that this is what happened to Mingo, but it is a likely
scenario based on the report.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3745]