Theo and Bella

Theo, 9, won't get to look inside his named-santa sack this Christmas, nor will Bella, 7, get to play with her stuffed Rudolf teddy.

The two bichon-shitzu dogs who had the "perfect love story" were put down on Wednesday after suffering stage four acute kidney failure as a result of a suspected antifreeze poisoning.

Hāwera-based Deanna Parsons doesn't have children and considered the dogs her babies.

Bella, 7, (pictured) and Theo had a seizure and Parsons called the after-hours vet.

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Bella, 7, (pictured) and Theo had a seizure and Parsons called the after-hours vet.

"They're the only two dogs I've ever had," Parsons said.

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"I had to come forward and get this out there because this amount of pain and everything, no one should go through that.

Theo, 9, and Bella, 7, died of a suspected poisoning. A shrine - as such - has been set up for the dogs.

JANE MATTHEWS/STUFF

Theo, 9, and Bella, 7, died of a suspected poisoning. A shrine - as such - has been set up for the dogs.

"I just want justice for my babies and if they could save other dogs then that's what they would want."

On Tuesday Parsons and her flatmate Erena Herewini noticed Theo wasn't quite right during the day.

"For me to walk down stairs and he not get excited, that says something," Herewini said.

Their beds and toys lay untouched.

JANE MATTHEWS/STUFF

Their beds and toys lay untouched.

"But Bella was fine so I thought it was some sort of bug or an upset tummy or something," Parsons said.

By 9pm that night Theo was vomiting and Bella was disorientated and walking into things. Both dogs then had a seizure and Parsons called the after-hours vet.

Brendan Gammeter, a small animal vet at the Taranaki Veterinary Centre in Hāwera, said the bichon-shitzu were put on intravenous fluid therapy to try keep them hydrated and get the blood flowing in the kidneys to try to rid them of any toxins.

Gammeter said by Wednesday morning there had been "no real improvement" for the dogs and Parsons paid for them to have a blood test.

The results revealed the dogs had stage four acute kidney failure, which Gammeter said was severe.

"We talked that the prognosis wasn't good with the suspicion that there had been a poisoning," he said.

"The suspicion is antifreeze poisoning, but we won't know until we get the results back from the autopsy."

Parsons then gave consent to euthanise - Bella died at 11.21am and Theo at 11.23am.

Parsons, fighting back tears, said she was unsure of why anyone would do such a thing to her beloved dogs.

"They're family," she said.

"I've had them since they were babies."

Herewini said it was a cruel way for the dogs to die.

"For two days they were left to try and fight that fight. It was a slow death."

Parsons, who thinks the poisoning was a random attack, said she heard noises outside her home a few days ago.

"I didn't jump to the conclusion of anything, and then less than 48 hours later they're gone."

The dogs were inside-dogs and were watched when they went outside to go toilet.

Parsons described the dogs as having the perfect love story. They bred puppies together in the past, and had a lot of love for each other.

Theo was a "real gentleman" who let ladies walk through the door before him and always waited for Bella to get her treat before he did.

Parsons has paid for an autopsy to find out exactly what the dogs died from.

She wants to get the dogs cremated, but with her vet bill sitting at around $1200, cremation costing another $400-odd, and christmas being four weeks away, she's not sure she'll be able to.

Gammeter said he didn't know of any other recent cases of dog poisoning.

The suspected poisoning was reported to the Hāwera police, who said they would wait for the autopsy results before investigating and hadn't heard of any other cases.

Herewini warned for people to watch their dogs at all times.

"Just keep your babies safe, if you're taking them outside to go toilet, stay with them."