After the sudden death of her golden retriever Maya due to bloat, 40‑year‑old Ewa Matyja reevaluates pet nutrition and care, changing how she feeds and cares for her new dog. The experience also highlights the impact of travel, environment and feeding habits on canine health.
Losing a dog suddenly can change everything—and for one owner, it reshaped how she feeds and cares for her pets forever. After her golden retriever Maya died at just 4.5 years old, the experience forced 40-year-old Ewa Matyja to rethink what it really means to keep a dog healthy.
Maya had been part of a life defined by travel and change. After leaving New York, her owner spent five years living in Bali before eventually returning to Poland after nearly two decades abroad. Despite such a major shift, Maya adapted quickly to her new surroundings.
“Maya flew across half the world with me and adapted so beautifully to her completely new life in Poland,” Matyja told“She suddenly fell in love with all the neighborhood dogs, experienced snow for the first time, loved the cold winter walks and genuinely seemed so happy here. ”Then, just months later, everything changed.
“Then, less than six months after arriving in Poland, she suddenly passed away almost overnight,” Matyja said. She was later told the most likely cause was gastric torsion, also known as bloat—“something that can happen when dogs eat too quickly. ” The shock of that loss had a lasting impact.
“That experience completely changed me as a dog owner,” she said. In the aftermath, she began questioning habits she had never thought twice about before, particularly around feeding and digestion.
“When Maya passed away, I started questioning everything I thought I knew about dogs—nutrition, digestion, ingredients, feeding habits… all of it. Some changes came too late for her, but not for Charlie,” Matyja said. Charlie, her new golden retriever, is growing up under very different circumstances. Unlike Maya, who spent her early years surrounded by nature and open space“Charlie’s life looks very different from Maya’s.
Maya grew up surrounded by nature, beaches and open space in Bali, while Charlie is a typical littleStill, Charlie has brought a sense of comfort during a difficult time, becoming"a huge part" of Matyja's"healing journey after losing Maya. He brought light back into my life during an incredibly painful period. ” The changes she has made are practical but deeply personal, shaped by what she wishes she had known earlier.
“The reel was inspired by my personal experience after suddenly losing my first golden retriever, Maya, at only 4.5 years old. What made everything even more heartbreaking was that Maya was a perfectly healthy dog," Matyja said. But she stressed the clip was never intended as expert guidance: “The video was never meant to sound like professional advice—it was simply me sharing the personal lessons and changes that came from losing a dog I loved more than anything.
” She believes many people connected with the message for the same reason.
“I think many dog owners connected with it because there’s a very universal feeling of wishing we had known certain things earlier,” she said. “You learn so much with time. And some lessons change you forever,” she said. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share?
Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Dog Loss Canine Nutrition Bloat Pet Feeding Owner Reflection
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