Most blogs on cancer focus on humans, but pets are a very important part of human life. And, when cancer strikes a beloved dog or cat, or any other loved creature, we are touched too. When there is important news in cancer findings on pets, I’ll be writing about it, as well as stories about pets themselves. I have an unending passion for greyhounds, so we may be a little heavy on the greyhound side, but I’ll be sure to mention others too. :-)
I’ve lost three dogs to cancer in the past 4 years. Rox was a purebred golden retriever who we rescued before he was to be dumped at the SPCA. He was 2 years old when he came to share his life with us and he died 7 years later, at the age of 9. Like a typical golden, he didn’t let on that he was in pain or not well. So, but the time we discovered that he had cancer of the stomach, we had no choice but to let him go. That was in January of 2004.
In June of that same year, I fell in love with greyhounds and Oscar, whose racing name was Answer to Chevy, came to live with us. He was at a race track in Massachusetts and he was brought up here to his forever home. Oscar was only 2 years old but his owners felt he wasn’t a winning racer, so they gave him up. Greyhounds often develop cancer and, unfortunately, Oscar did. He had a tumor on his spine in his neck. He died August 13, 2007. He was 10 days shy of his fifth birthday and his death came one week after I published a book about him, Oscar’s Diaries: Live as a Retired Greyhound.
It was too heart breaking to lose two dogs so close together but in November 2007, I allowed myself to fall in love with Dee, also a greyhound who had been kept for breeding. Her racing name was Cee Bar Denise. It turned out that her dad and Oscar’s dad were the same; they were half siblings. Dee came to share her life with us, her first and forever home, on November 11. She wasn’t quite a senior yet, only turned 9 yrs old on December 23, but she needed a home and ours was hers. Sadly, she also died just this past August. We didn’t get a definite diagnosis, but the vet thinks that, yet again, cancer struck our household.
Whether your love is a greyhound, a poodle, a Heinz 57, the pain of losing our precious friends can seem unbearable at times. But would I have passed up the chance to feel the love of those three precious dogs, even knowing when I would lose them? Never.
Rox, my wild child and a bundle of joy, Oscar, my heart dog, and Dee, my sweet broodie are all at Rainbow Bridge, hopefully exchanging happy and fun stories of their time with us.
Do you have a pet story to share?
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Photos: Marijke Vroomen-Durning
Tags: cancer blog, dogs and cancer, pets and cancer, rainbow bridge, greyhounds, pets
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