We lost our first golden (Shadow) to cancer back in 2013, and shortly after losing her we brought puppy ZuZu into the pack to torture Daisy and Paczki. There seems to be a high prevalence of cancer in golden retrievers (some research says upwards of up to a 60% rate of cancer in goldens), so we were paying a lot more attention to this and reading up on the latest.
During this research, we learned of a study that had started in 2012 called the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study which was created by Morris Animal Foundation to “identify the nutritional, environmental, lifestyle and genetic risk factors for cancer and other diseases in dogs.” They were still looking for at least 3,000 golden retriever volunteers, and since Daisy and Paczki were past the age of acceptance, we volunteered ZuZu for the study, and she was accepted. Count us in to help find what in the heck is going on with our golden retrievers and canines in general.
Each year we fill out a rather lengthy list of questions about ZuZu that covers behavioral, environmental, food and lifestyle issues. We also receive a box from Morris Animal Foundation with all of the goodies for our visit to the vet, and ZuZu does her duty by donating a few vials of blood (and skipping breakfast!), nail clippings, fur and other stuff.
Those golden retrievers that are enrolled in the study are called “Heroes” and each is assigned a number; ZuZu is Hero #2334. The brothers and sisters of the Hero are called Supporters, so Daisy and Paczki are supporters of ZuZu. We are thankful for all of the doctors and researchers along with the heroes and supporters involved in this study, and let’s hope we can start finding a way to battle the awful cancers that afflict our canine angels.
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