# Golden Retriever Puppy with Osteosarcoma



## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

I am so, so sorry for your loss. And that is really young, too young for either of those types of cancer. My heart goes out to you.

What did the breeder say?


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I am so sorry...he was so young.
Please do not beat yourself up with 'what if's'.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet boy. It had to be so hard losing them at any age but so young is that much harder. You can second guess yourself over and over but try to remember the good times instead. To many of our sweet pups are being lost to the terrible disease. May your memories help to heal your pain.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

That's very, very young for osteosarcoma, but it doesn't reflect poorly on the breeder. Definitely let your breeder know, since it's a rare event, and if it crops up once or twice more, it may influence your breeder's choices in the future. 

However, it's really important to remember that the genetic causes of cancer are poorly understood because they're immensely complex. One incidence of a young dog with cancer does not mean that the parents or any other dogs in the line are "carriers." A single young dog with osteo could simply be a statistical fluke. 

Don't beat yourself up over the diagnosis. Osteosarcoma can move incredibly fast, and it's very rare in young dogs. If you had noticed a symptom early on, your vet would likely have treated it as one of the more common bone and joint conditions that puppies run into, like panosteitis. Every single card played against your dog; there really isn't anything you could realistically have done.

On the personal, non-scientific side, I am so sorry to hear that this happened to your pup. It's always heart-rending to lose them when they're old, but losing a dog in his prime is especially confusing and upsetting. 

A lot of us have found that sharing stories and photos of our pups has helped us grieve. This forum is great for that kind of sharing, because nobody here thinks a Golden is "just a pet," and lots of us have had Goldens for long enough that we've lost one or more. If you'd like to tell us some stories or post some photos, you'll find an appreciative and sympathetic crowd.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, the younger the dog (or human) when the cancer strikes, the more aggressive it tends to be.
I have a customer who lost an 18 month old golden to cancer, sorry to say I'm not sure what type it was, and another one who lost a 4 year old to what I believe was osteosarcoma. The youngest golden customer that my vet lost to cancer was 7 months old.
So very sad. My thoughts are with you.


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## Tomfoolery (Aug 30, 2009)

Thanks for the supportive comments I have received thus far. Dylan passed on August 18th, so it still very recent and our house seems empty without him. I've been wondering if the dog food I had him on, an all-natural "any stage" dog food might not have provided enough vitamins and minerals for his bones to support his fast growing body. It had no grains, 20% protein, 10% fat, and 1.1% calcium. I was feeding this as opposed to "puppy" dog food, but the manufacturer stated this was approprirate for puppies and dogs of any ages, but what else would I think they would say? I guess I'm still in "blame" mode, trying to find answers, and possibly blaming myself for choosing to feed this food to him. I did enormous research before deciding on this food.

Tomfoolery


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*So very sorry*

I am so very sorry for your little dog.
How awful for you.
Please do let the breeder know.


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## Tomfoolery (Aug 30, 2009)

*Picture of Beloved Dylan*

Here's a picture of my wonderful puppy who tragically passed away on August 18th 2009. He was one-in-a-million, great fun-loving personality, and did not deserve this fate. Everyone always told me how handsome he was, which you will see in his photo. The best dog a man could ever have. 

Tomfoolery


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Please don't beat yourself up over this. If the food didn't provide enough vitamins and minerals for his growing body, you would have seen the typical malnutrition issues, not cancer. 
Cancer is not a disease of nutrition. It is a disease of the immune system, in a manner of speaking. Nothing you did or didn't feed him would have caused this to happen. If that were the case, think of how many young dogs would be diagnosed with osteosarcoma. There are a whole lot of dogs out there eating much worse foods, or fending for themselves on the streets. 
Please believe that there's nothing you could have done to have changed this, not in a dog this young. It takes years and years of environmental exposures to contribute to cancers. You'll notice I said contribute to, not cause. You simply didn't have time to have done anything that would have caused this to happen. And in very young dogs, the cancers are so aggressive that nothing you could have done would have changed the outcome, either.
Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. It is a fear that all of us who live with golden retrievers face every day of their lives.





Tomfoolery said:


> Thanks for the supportive comments I have received thus far. Dylan passed on August 18th, so it still very recent and our house seems empty without him. I've been wondering if the dog food I had him on, an all-natural "any stage" dog food might not have provided enough vitamins and minerals for his bones to support his fast growing body. It had no grains, 20% protein, 10% fat, and 1.1% calcium. I was feeding this as opposed to "puppy" dog food, but the manufacturer stated this was approprirate for puppies and dogs of any ages, but what else would I think they would say? I guess I'm still in "blame" mode, trying to find answers, and possibly blaming myself for choosing to feed this food to him. I did enormous research before deciding on this food.
> 
> Tomfoolery


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## Sawyer4me (Jul 25, 2009)

I am so sorry for your loss. Your boy sure had a Beautiful face.


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## Meggie'sMom (Dec 24, 2007)

This is just heartbreaking. All cancer is, but so very young, and yes, so very beautiful. I am so sorry for your loss. 

You may be interested in following Luke Robinson's walk to bring awareness of the disease and his hope for a cure: http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/ Luke is planning a Canine Cancer Caucus in DC on September 18 and he plans to talk to members of Congress about the importance of comparative oncological studies. http://2dogs2000miles.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-on-dc.html His personal sacrifices for the cause are humbling to me.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

My stomach just lurched even reading the heading. I am so very sorry for your loss of Dylan. Hemangiosarcomas and especially osteosarcoma in youngsters are aggressive awful forms of already bad cancer. There is nothing you could have done, and it probably grew so fast you didn't have time for warning signs. Cancer terrfies me, and I admit I check lymph nodes and bumps as I groom each of our three goldens. . .It is a very sad, scary loss to try to understand.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> Please don't beat yourself up over this. If the food didn't provide enough vitamins and minerals for his growing body, you would have seen the typical malnutrition issues, not cancer.
> Cancer is not a disease of nutrition. It is a disease of the immune system, in a manner of speaking. Nothing you did or didn't feed him would have caused this to happen. If that were the case, think of how many young dogs would be diagnosed with osteosarcoma. There are a whole lot of dogs out there eating much worse foods, or fending for themselves on the streets.
> Please believe that there's nothing you could have done to have changed this, not in a dog this young. It takes years and years of environmental exposures to contribute to cancers. You'll notice I said contribute to, not cause. You simply didn't have time to have done anything that would have caused this to happen. And in very young dogs, the cancers are so aggressive that nothing you could have done would have changed the outcome, either.
> Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. It is a fear that all of us who live with golden retrievers face every day of their lives.


I totally agree with Hotel4dogs, cancer is a terrible thing for our pets as well as humans. There is nothing you could have done to change it. Remember the good times you had with Dylan.

The petloss.com site has a wonderful grief message board and candle service every Monday night. I visited there often after we loss our Maggie.
http://petloss.com

I'm sorry for your loss. ((((hugs))))


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Tomfoolery said:


> Thanks for the supportive comments I have received thus far. Dylan passed on August 18th, so it still very recent and our house seems empty without him. I've been wondering if the dog food I had him on, an all-natural "any stage" dog food might not have provided enough vitamins and minerals for his bones to support his fast growing body. It had no grains, 20% protein, 10% fat, and 1.1% calcium. I was feeding this as opposed to "puppy" dog food, but the manufacturer stated this was approprirate for puppies and dogs of any ages, but what else would I think they would say? I guess I'm still in "blame" mode, trying to find answers, and possibly blaming myself for choosing to feed this food to him. I did enormous research before deciding on this food.
> 
> Tomfoolery


There is no way that the food caused the cancer. I don't necessarily think that grain free food is better than more "traditional" dog food, but there's no way it caused osteosarcoma. 

It's natural to blame ourselves or to ask what we did, and I certainly did my share when my 6-year-old pup died of lymphoma, but what it comes down to is that we simply don't know exactly what causes these cancers, and even if we did, the causes are going to turn out to be so complex that there will be no way to say that a food choice or any other single factor would have changed the situation.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Tomfoolery said:


> Here's a picture of my wonderful puppy who tragically passed away on August 18th 2009. He was one-in-a-million, great fun-loving personality, and did not deserve this fate. Everyone always told me how handsome he was, which you will see in his photo. The best dog a man could ever have.
> 
> Tomfoolery


He's a handsome boy.


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## Tomfoolery (Aug 30, 2009)

We lost a 9 year old Golden (Honey) in May 2008, not to cancer, but to Laryngal Paralysis, and her loss was very hard as well, so we decided to get an Golden puppy (Dylan) from a reputable breeder in July 2008 and raise him for many, many years so we would not have to deal with another loss for a long time, but it happened to my puppy, barely a year later. While we love Goldens, and can't think of a better dog to have in your family, it now scares me to get another one given the prevalence of cancer in the breed. Two losses in 14 months is so very hard on your heart when they are part of your family and develop personalities from 8 weeks and you see them grow.

Thanks again.

Tomfoolery


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## NapaValleyGolden (Mar 24, 2008)

I am so very sorry for your loss, Dylan was a beautiful boy and much too young to have this happen.

RIP Dylan, run free.


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## westy258 (Jul 1, 2009)

We're so sorry, and thanks for sharing your story and thepic of Dylan.


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## KiwiD (Jan 14, 2008)

So very sorry to hear about the loss of your beautiful boy Dylan at such a young age.


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## artbuc (Apr 12, 2009)

I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our 18 month old Tucker to osteosarcoma. He had a nasty tumor behind his right eye. I asked my vet to look at his eye because I thought it was protruding. Vet said it is ok and not to worry about it. About 4 months later, the tumor was discovered on an x-ray which was taken as prep for a root canal.

I've never quite forgiven myself or my vet for so quickly dismissing the original symptoms although I realize it would not have made any difference. 

LESSON: we know our dogs much better than our vets do. Don't let your vet talk you out of something. We know when our dogs are not right.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

Oh I am SO sorry for your loss. He was a young baby who never had a chance BUT you gave him a great life and did your best including the ultimate decision. Please do not be hard on your self. Love the time you had. 

I too have a dog with osteosarcoma, and you were probably better off not knowing, and you are right the prognosis is the same regardless of the age of the dog. This is an ugly form of cancer. 

You really should notify the breeder, this is awfully young to have cancer, they need to know. 

Please keep on board, keep sharing photos and memories. We here love ALL goldens!


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## Bob Dylan (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm so terribly sorry for your loss of Dylan...it is devastating to lose a dog at any time, but when you are not expecting it, it is even that much worse.

I will keep you in my prayers.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

I am so sorry for your loss. There time with us is never long enough but at this age it makes no sense. Please pass on my condolences to all your family.
I unfortunately know the pain, shock and anger of losing a pup at 15 months of age. My Kizmet went to the Bridge at that same age due to Lymphoma Blastic Leukemia. As the breeder of this dog I was doubly concerned when we got the diagnosis several days after she was gone. I was fortunate enough to be able to send samples to some of the best studies working on various cancers in Goldens and this opened the door to communication with one of the best researchers in the country, Dr. Modiano. In our correspondence he explained that due to the fact that this was so quick and it a was mutant form, there was nothing we could have done, even if we knew at birth it was going to strike. I would suspect that although a different form of cancer, the one that took your baby from you was similar in this respect. Kizmet was running in an agility trial on Thursday and was gone by the following Wednesday. 
Below is Dr. Modiano's response when I inquired about the genetics.

As far as the genetics, we don't know the precise answer, but probably 
not. Risk is what it is, and whether it manifests young or old is a 
matter of how the inherent risk factors that exist interact with each 
other and the environment, so there is a bit of randomness to it all.
Some very specific types of cancer in people, and one type of cancer in 
dogs are known to be "heritable" in the sense that the risk is 
associated with mutation of a single gene (and the gene is different 
for each cancer syndrome recognized).
For tumors like leukemia, which also occur very frequently in kids, the 
heritable risk is complex and not necessarily such that it will show up 
in every individual. So we do not consider that a heritable or 
"genetic" disease in the conventional sense.
In other words, the fact that Kizmet got this disease so young is an 
unfortunate accident (and please, do not infer that as meaning that we 
are any less sorry or upset about the news), but her risk was probably 
not significantly different than the risk of any other golden.

 

Again my condolences to you and yours. Although time helps heal the pain, it never really goes away. It was 2 1/2 years ago that we lost Kizmet and as I type the tears again start to flow. One site I find comfort visiting regularly is the Star. Below is a link and I hope it can provide comfort to you and yours.

http://www.sonic.net/dana/shelter/memories/star.html


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## z&mom (Oct 7, 2006)

Dylan is beautiful. I am so sorry for your loss.


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