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My question is are Golden Retrievers becoming more susceptib...

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Answer by Patty
Submitted on 7/9/2004
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We just lost our nine and a half year old golden, Maggie, last night. We never knew for sure if it was cancer, but it most likely was. I was amazed at how quickly she went from fine to miserable. She stopped eating her dry food one day, and eventually stopped eating even the most tempting foods. She had sores on her body, a fever, and 2 large lumps on her back that came out of nowhere. We originally suspected an infection, but antibiotics didn't help. We didn't test her for cancer because we knew there was nothing we could do if it was. When she showed us she was in terrible pain, we had to put her down. I feel awful, and wish I could have done more for her, but I'm told that Goldens don't live for more than 10 years on average. She was such a wonderful, loving, loyal dog. I've had other breeds, but she was by far the best and my heart is broken.

Answer by Kelly Dee
Submitted on 9/15/2004
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I just lost my baby Nala, a 9 yr old golden retriever to cancer. On 8-20-04 she became very ill & we rushed her to the vet. She stayed there over the weekend and they ran numerous tests. The vet couldn't come to a specific cause & since she was looking better (by being on antibiotics and steriods) so we took her home. She stayed on these meds for about 2 weeks and was looking fine. The meds were done on Fri and then on Tues 9-7-04 she collapsed. We rushed her to the vet again and they said it looked very bad. She had labored breathing, her gums were pale, her tongue was discolored, and she couldn't even walk. They did surgery on Wed 9-8-04 and found a large tumor in her spleen and nodules in her liver. There were 3 vets on staff that day and they all came to the same conclusion. I (and my family) decided to put her to sleep. This was the hardest thing I will ever have to do. It is even more frustrating because one moment she was totally fine & the next moment she was just collapsing. It just doesn't make any sense-there were no warning signs! She was my baby, my friend, my loyal companion, my everything. I love her dearly & I am very heart-broken and depressed over this. She was the best dog I have and will ever have. I know she is out of pain now and is in Heaven. I truly believe this because she was an angel sent to me and if she is not in Heaven, then nobody deserves to go.

Answer by Dinah
Submitted on 11/1/2004
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I had to put my 8 1/2 year old golden retriever to sleep Saturday, October 30th. She had lymphoma that was throughout her liver. We had no clue, even though she had been to the vet twice in the last 3 months for shots, and because she injured her shoulder. I found her the day before Christmas Eve 8 years ago, she was a puppy about 7 months old. We named her Angel, because she came to us at Xmas. Since then she was glued to me whenever I was at home. We hiked 3 miles every morning, with our other dogs, took 2 more walks in the afternoon and one after dinner. She loved to play ball, and loved just being around our family. She was the sweetest, most affectionate dog I have ever owned and I'm sure I will never recover from the loss. I miss her so much.

Answer by Sharon and Doug
Submitted on 12/8/2004
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My sweet Sugar had a bleeding stool on Halloween. We rushed her to an emergency clinic. She was treated with an antibiotic and we took her to our regular vet two days later. They diagnosed her with lymphoma and gave us the name of a specialist. On Nov 15th we got the news she had advanced lymphoma. They put her on steroids. On Dec 3rd her breathing changed out of the blue. She had developed a lump in her throat seeming overnight. We had her put down on Dec 4th. Up until Halloween, we didn't have a clue that she was sick. She had seen three different Vets in the span of three months because we had recently moved to Dayton and were searching for a good vet. It was so sad. She was the perfect dog--never a behavior problem from puppy-hood through adulthood. She did everything including elimination on command, and never left our yard went let outdoors. Outside of the dog hair, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect pet. I miss her so much. We buried her in The Pines outside of Dayton Ohio. It is a lovely pet cemetery with a stellar reputation, but I would rather have my sweet Sugar back in my arms again. She was about 7 1/2 when she died. We got Sugar from a family friend who had a litter, but in examining her records we found that her grandfather was the same on both the maternal and paternal sides and wondered if that contributed to a faulty gene-pool. I think it is high time the breed had a gene-pool rest, but I doubt the greed of the industry will allow that to happen.

Answer by Goldensmom
Submitted on 5/28/2005
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My 10 year old Golden is in the vet ER now. He suddenly developed a poor appetite one day, and by the next morning was very short of breath. They've given him supportive help and several meds, but we're still not sure what it is. There was some lung fluid which was removed, and there are a couple of suspicious cells. This may be cancer. We're having the fluid analyzed further. How did they diagnose the lung cancer in your Golden? My pet's chest x-ray in not normal, but they are not sure if it is a mass or just the fluid. I sooooo hope we are not about to deal with what you all faced. These Goldens are the best dogs; it's so sad that they don't have longer lives!

Answer by Maureen
Submitted on 8/8/2005
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We said goodbye to our 10 year old Golden, Duffy, yesterday 8/7/05. He developed a hard mass on his right shoulder a year ago in May. He had surgery to remove a tumor the size of a small volleyball which turned out to be malignant. The surgeon said he might live 3 months. After recovering from the surgery he took Deramax (anti-inflammatory) and was like a puppy again for a little over a year from the surgery. The tumor was growing back in his shoulder area. Three weeks ago he became extremely bloated in the belly area and he stopped eating for the last two days and could hardly walk due to his hind legs were collapsing. Putting him down yesterday was extremely painful for our entire family. Duffy went peacefully surrounded by us and under the expert care of a wonderful vet. When he passed he was lying on the floor with his beautiful face between his two paws as he gently closed his eyes and went to sleep. He was free of all his pain and suffering. Now we are trying to heal from the pain of losing the best member of our family. Love to all whose hearts are hurting and missing these wonderful creatures.

Answer by rjrapier
Submitted on 8/22/2005
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We just lost our 10 year old Golden Retriever, Katie, 3 days ago. As with others, she was doing great, then about 3 days prior to losing her, she started showing difficulty breathing. When we took her in to the Vet, he determined that she had a huge amount of fluid build up around the lungs, compressing them so badly that she could hardly breathe. We do not know with certainty that it was cancer, but, that is what all three vets we saw said was the most likely cause, given that she had not suffered any significant trauma, nor had she had any opportunity to get into something like rat poison. We are fortunate in that she had a litter of 10 puppies 6 years ago, and we kept one of them, and we keep in touch with some of the owners of her other pups, so a part of her lives on with us.

Answer by Julie
Submitted on 9/26/2005
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Two months ago my beloved Cecilia died of Hemangiosarcoma at the age of 10.5. Cecilia was my running partner of 10 years - she was an amazing athlete and lead a life of love and health. She hiked in her usual puppy fashion the day before she died in my arms. I still get angry that not one of the many Dr.'s we saw took her "borderline" anemia and collapsing episodes as anything remotely related to cancer. I had to push for an ultrasound became I suspected hemangio. and yes that is what she had. She outlived the statistics by almost 6 months. On the days that she was not bleeding out from a tumor or blood vessels rupture you never would have known she had cancer. As a Psychotherapist specializing in the Human-Animal Bond and Pet Loss (am I allowed to say that?) I know the role of anger, but it is so very frustrating that her symptoms were not taken seriously and 6 months went by before she was diagnosed -by that time the cancer having such a high mitotic rate had already spread from her spleen to her liver and stomach. The final time she collapsed I said that was enough..she never would have been ready to go - that was the spirit she had, but I could not allow her body to go on like that - not knowing when the next major bleed was going to occur. And God forbid, she had one while I was away and fell down the stairs or became disoriented or went into shock or bleed so bad she could not get enough oxygen..what a horrible space for her to live in. I just hope that other golden owners are aware of Hemangiosacoma. It is called the "silent killer" for a reason. If you own a Golden, especially an older golden, who develops borderline anemia and periods of weakness and /or collapsing, demand an ultrasound of the spleen. This is a cancer of the blood vessel's and usually forms on the spleen first. As all cancers it is ugly and so very aggressive. I miss my girl beyond words....I do not think I will ever feel the same again.

Answer by rmendels
Submitted on 1/30/2006
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My neighbor's golden was put down last week at age 15 due to cancer. The scary part is that this dog was in great health only 1 month ago. Tumor appeared on her leg 3 weeks ago and within 2 weeks she was overcome by cancer. My sister's golden died from cancer last year at age 10 and her neighbors across the street lost both of their goldens to cancer. I am on a mission to feed my golden holistic, organic foods in an effort to help keep her healthy but unfortunately I've been reading that though this can help there are no guarantees. Golden lovers like myself need to help by contributing money to research on this devastating illness. Check out http://landofpuregold.com/cancer.htm for helpful info.

Answer by Scott
Submitted on 1/31/2006
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I just found out today that my 9 year old Golden Retriever, Dakota, has multiple spots revealed on X-rays today. He went from 100 lbs to 87 within 1 1/2 months. Last year he had a knot on his back that the Vet said was a fatty pocket and we had it removed. They said it might not be cancer, but more than likely is. Other symptoms were excessive drooling and prone to infection in one eye. It breaks my heart to pieces. He have given him nothing but the best. The years we shared together are truly priceless. No matter what, Golden's are the best family dog and so very loyal and true. We will keep hope and prayers that our D-dog will fight for a while with this unknown illness. And if it gets too bad, then my nightmare will come true and I will have to put down my best friend. But one day, we will be together again in Gods kingdom without this heart tearing pain.

Answer by cousette
Submitted on 3/13/2006
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our 11 yr old started showing blood in her stools 3 weeks ago. last week, she began losing interest in food. we had a blood panel done that showed her bone marrow was replacing red blood cells furiously. her x-rays showed no tumors and little arthritis. but when blood continued into the 3rd week, we had an ultrasound done, and then a needle biopsy. i'mwaiting to hear from the lab. but the radiologist showed me the ultrasound results, showing dark spots in the lymph nodes. if it's lymph node cancer, there's no hope. it will progress quickly - 2 months or so, I was told. i cried a lot and our family pledged to maintain her quality of life and let her go when she begins to suffer. she is the sunshine in our life and we will miss her so much. she is our 'surf dog' and loves the ocean. but she won't have another summer on the beach. it's a cold march (06) now and she'll be gone before summer. how do we cope with such a loss?