GOLDEN RETRIEVERS DYING YOUNG FROM CANCER
Golden retrievers are one of the most popular breeds in America and probably elsewhere. Their sweet nature and wiliness to please and to learn make them ideal pets for children, people with special needs, vets suffering from PTSD, a person wishing to have a therapy dog, and just for being part of your life. I read and recommend the book UNTIL TUESDAY, about a wounded vet and the Golden Retriever from the Dobbs Ferry dog assistance training center, who help Captain Luis Carlos Montalvan live a fuller life (until he didn’t.)
Goldens use to live into their late teens and now if lucky, they may live 9 or ten years. Some only 3-5 years. My niece’s neighbor lost two at the age of three years. A study conducted by the Colorado-based Morris Foundation (with an expenditure of over 25 million dollars and involving three thousand goldens whose owners chose to participate,) is to find out why so many goldens are dying from cancer and or gastrointestinal illnesses. Sixty percent of goldens die from cancer, the highest rate for any breed. These include, bone cancer, lymphoma, cancer of the blood cells, brain tumors, or other tumors.
Some of the reasons experts are exploring are food choices, environmental causes, extensive use of pet control chemicals, early spay and neutering (which I am totally against-do your own research, too many vaccinations, poor quality food, and generations of breeding health-compromised dogs. There is much inbreeding, because when male a champion at Westminster Kennel show, his sperm is sent out for sale and there is no accounting for how many dogs are then related to that dog and interbred with other dogs related to that champion. Much has been done to check hair samples, nail clippings, and blood samplings of dogs in the study to find a common thread. “33 percent of the dogs in the study between one and five years had had skin and or ear infections, 17% gastrointestinal illnesses and 11 percent urinary disease.
A big, beautiful male came into the store on Sunday with skin issues. The owner said he had found a few fleas, but the vet had said he looked flea-free, and it may be his food. Perhaps the dog did not show fleas for the vet, but I took him outside, and using a flea comb on his very thick coat, I did not see any flea dirt, but I did find a flea, and found no reason to look further. Some dogs are just super sensitive and allergic to the saliva of a single flea. The customer bought the appropriate products and is not changing the dog’s diet of Fromm.
Most importantly, but certainly do not exclude the possible causes listed above, is a dog’s diet. If you are going to invest $2500 in a papered purebred, any dog for that matter, you should only feed family-owned reputable foods where you are not spending money for them to sell their product, but for quality ingredients, especially compromised dogs like goldens. A woman who was on her third golden, having lost two young ones from cancer, and was feeding Eukabnuba, owned, along with Iams, by Procter and Gamble. She was affronted when I suggested she feed her goldens a much better food. I would also recommend a regimen of CBD oil to ward off possible cancer-related problems and CBD would also help with gastrointestinal disorders.
Thank you for helping to keep a small business in business. We have kittens for adoption and a sweet orange and white male cat.
I am fostering one of the dogs I mentioned last article. Her male companion had to be put to sleep. I will tell you about her next week.
