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Does hemangiosarcoma take them all?

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Rilelen 
#1 ·
Starting in 1982, we have always had a Golden - three in all - with short gaps between them searching for the next. Sadly, each one was lost to hemangio at around 9 years old, and they were not related. As everyone on here knows, the pain of those losses is extraordinary.

We lost our last golden in January, and are struggling with whether to get another, though we so dearly love the breed. Has it gotten so bad that there is no realistic chance of avoiding this dreaded disease? Having gone 3 for 3, we just don't know whether we can start down the emotional path again if that is indeed the near-certain fate.

Any thoughts or advice from those more up to speed on the current big picture with the breed?
 
#2 ·
Sorry for your losses.

I lost 1 golden to probable hemangio (liver cancer for sure) at 14.5, but my other 2 Bridge goldens died of other causes (1 from LP surgical complications, the other causes unknown but possibly just old age).

So no, not all goldens get hemangio and not all goldens die from cancer :)

But it is a common cause of death in our beloved breed (btw, my dogs died at 14.5, 12.5 and 13.5)

I have 2 goldens who are 8, one is 4 and the youngest will be 18 months.
 
#3 ·
So sorry for your loss. Same here. Our Maggie was 1/2 golden, 1/2 flat-coated retriever (both AKC purebred parents), and we were hopeful that the risk of cancer would be lower, but she died at 10 as did several of her litter-mates to cancer. We took the plunge again recently and tried to do everything we could to see if there was a way to mitigate this risk. One thing to consider (although certainly not determinant) is the coefficient of inbreeding (COI) that you can get from K9data.com. This MAY reduce some of the inborn risk (although if a particular group of dogs has no cancer, then inbreeding could actually protect the offspring). And, I think there is a lot of interesting research looking at the effects of a healthy diet (not necessarily fad diets like "grain-free," but the addition of fresh foods, fruits/vegetables, etc. in the reduction of cancer risk. We plan to do that with our new girl. Obviously how you weigh the risk/benefits of getting another purebred golden is up to you, but while it's not nice to think about, one aspect I considered was that when a dog dies from cancer at a younger than expected age - they often die in a relatively short period of time when their life is still full of doing the things they love. Sometimes if a dog lives to a more expected old age, their quality of life may be significantly limited for years. It's a weird thing to think about, but it did make me feel less scared of the possibility of losing another dog at a younger age. Now...4 or 6 I couldn't handle, but if I lose another dog at 10 and know that I did the best I could to give them a good life, I don't think it would be much more painful than losing a dog at 13 or 14. Just my 2 cents of course.
 
#4 ·
We lost Jake at 9.5 to hemo in Jan 2015. We have done a few things different with our new golden girl. We don't have the grass fertilized by a company anymore. My dad found some organic and so far it seems to be working pretty well. Its also important to keep your dog on the lean side. Chloe is pretty lean. She gets almost no dog treats. She might get one bully stick or something special every month or two. She has some Nutro small dog treats that once in awhile she will get. They only have very few calories per biscuit and are made of real fruits and veggies. She mostly gets fruits and vegetables as treats. She waits every night for her cucumber when my dads lunch is being packed. Also limit the number of unnecessary vacinnes. We don't do flea and tick meds because we really don't have a issue with them. Goldens are so special. You are really robbing yourself if you don't get one for this reason.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for your comments. We tried everything we could with Murphy (our last golden), including no yard treatments, very careful about food, no flea preventatives (no flea issues, thankfully), etc. All worthwhile, but in our case to no avail. Pretty much identical timelines for all 3.

But there just is no other breed that we think is even close. We are drawn to every golden that we see. They are so awesome, but it sure comes with a big payment at the end, at least it has for us every time.

We've started doing some preliminary looking for breeders, so I suspect we'll get there eventually. That picture of Sadie sure whets our appetite for another round of golden puppy.

Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
#6 ·
We lost our Bayleigh this month to acute kidney failure. However. we're fairly sure she had cancer as well due to high calcium levels(and the high calcium is what is expected to have caused the start to the kidney failure). Although, since we declined invasive testing we're not sure what kind. She would have been 11 in November.


I have read that "average" is 10-12 years. But, I was really hoping as she was so very active and healthy until the last few days that we were going to have a few more happy years with her. She made me love this breed. There is absolutely no way I could write goldens out because of it.


All we can do is choose the best food, and awesome care, and avoid the "known" risk and then pray and hope statistics are on our side. I have come to realize that no one, our precious dogs included, are guaranteed tomorrow.


Lisa
 
#7 ·
I have had 3 goldens since 1980, Helo is still here but Jake and Leo did not die to Hemangio. Jake died of liver failure at 11 3/4 and Leo died of kidney failure at 11 1/2. Eleven seems to be the magic age for my dogs so I'm glad I don't know how old Helo is. I got Jake and Leo from backyard breeders. They were very healthy until they weren't. Helo is very healthy except for a seizure history but that's been controlled for almost 3 years now. He is between 10 and 12 years old, I would estimate. I'm very sorry about the loss of your 3. That is some very bad luck. I don't blame you for being scared to try again. These dogs are so wonderful that we always seem to take the risk and let another into our lives. My life seems empty when I don't have a golden, even if I have other breeds.
 
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