KIKO'S HOUSE: Why Have Our Dear American Golden Retrievers Become Cancer Time Bombs?

KIKO'S HOUSE: Why Have Our Dear American Golden Retrievers Become Cancer Time Bombs?

Hi Shaun,

This is Wayne Bonnar writting from New Brunswick, Canada. I linked into your blog while browsing goldens after loosing my 12 yo male golden, Max, this past Saturday (Jan.10, 2015 at 8:40 a.m.) probably the worst day of my life. I have been reading all the testimonials of people who have lost their golden-friends. That has been truly heart-wrenching. I'll try to be short (hard for me) in telling my story. You don't need any other friends when you have a golden retriever. Max went everywhere with me. He would lay beside the tub when I was showering. We took him with us in our Rav4 to visit our daughter in Ottawa last summer, a 12 hour drive. He was amazing, so patient, just happy to be with us. He always had seasonal skin allergies and one ear prone to yeast, and about 2 years ago developed fatty tissue lumps. He also had trouble with osteo-arthritis in 1 front wrist joint and hind quarters. Friday morning he threw-up his breakfast outside in the snow. I found it just before we went for our daily walk. We only went about 1/4 mile but he laid down in the snow more than he usually did. A couple hours later he threw up yellow bile in the house. He didn't look well at all. He went outside around 7pm and threw up again, then laid down in the snow for about 20 minutes. I got him inside, he had a hard time walking. He laid down on his bed and had some labored breathing. Our vet has been closed on Saturdays so we decided to nurse him the best we could. He couldn't eat and I gave him water squeezed from a clean paper towel. Max has always slept beside our bed. We went to bed and his breathing was heavy. I thought the worst, so I laid beside him and covered up. stayed there for about 2 hours with my arm around him. He laid his chin on my open hand. He knew he was dying and he was glad to have his best friend beside him in his final hours. He lived through the night and as we sat beside him he just stopped breathing. We wouldn't have been able to move him because he couldn't stand up; there wasn't anything anyone could do for him. Our vet was on her way out of province but she responded to my text message and we talked. She said it was probably a ruptured tumor and expressed her sympathy. She has 2 dogs, one is a golden (her 2nd). She is fabulous. Max is being cremated today (Monday) at our local pet funeral parlor, Rainbow Bridge. I am sooo crushed and broken, I can't stop crying, the pain is almost too much to bare.  Last May our youngest daughter gave us a 10 week old puppy (a brother to the puppy she got), a Jack Russell / Silky Terrier mix. At the time we weren't sure it was a good plan, but was I ever wrong. Dylan was like a brother to Max, kissed him on the face first thing every morning and has definitely helped ease the pain a bit. Thanks for listening, it helps to talk out the pain. Max gave me 12 years and every once of his love. Goldens are amazing but I couldn't bear to go through this again. I will definitely share this Blog-site with those I know who need it. It has helped me. Thanks.    Wayne

It's time hockey fans sent the NHL a strong message. Get over your greed and get hockey going or we the fans are going to 'lock you out' of our lives. If and when this is settled that's when the fans' have their say. Come on guys you know what has to be done. We're fed up right ? Boycott is the plan.