a most unpleasant one

[arrow]

As others have experienced within our forum family, yesterday my seat time involved digging a grave for our pet boxer of almost 13 years. My wife being in the veternary field, actually delivered this litter. Unbeknowest to her at that time, she then received one of the pups 8 weeks later as a Christmas present. Well, I guess she imprinted herself on this litter as a result of her involvement at their birth and Bubba would literally would not leave her side for his entire life. This of course is making this grieving a bit more difficult.
I'm not hearing about dogs living much beyond 13 or 14 years and none of ours have gone beyond that point. They all died of cancerous tumors of one form or another. I, maybe erroneousely, look at the environmental as well as the genetic aspects of what could be causing this. No one knows how long a dog is supposed to live and there have been stories of dogs living beyond 25 years but my wife states that she sees the same thing in her field. Many lymphomas and cancers that can be pointed to genetics or maybe there's something else such as what we're feeding them. Bubba was on a food with no animal by products or digestive wastes. It was not a vegetarian type food as there was chicken broth involved and it was expensive stuff. Boxers have about an 8-10 year life span. Bubba exceeded that so I am at a loss a to causitive factors. I would like to put our other dog on a vege diet and see what happens. Don't know if anyone else is experiencing prolonged life of their dogs with this tactic but it is an interesting topic for me.Would love to get 20-25 years out of our 4 legged buddies if I could change anything that would aid in that possibility.

 

[shvl73]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
20+ years is alot to ask of a dog, espescially a medium sized breed, I think. Our eldest Dalmation recently passed at 17. All our dogs are on raw diet and all very healthy. Even so, our Rotty/Doberman cross passed last fall at 13. The Dal was very large for his breed, though not overweight at all, the Rotty mix was just a large frame breed.

 

[QRTRHRS]

arrow, I too offer my sympathies over the loss of your pet. Six of the many dogs that I have owned were boxers as well as placing a number of them in homes. I have not had one in over ten years but as I recall most only made it to about ten. I was watching a show on Animal Planet one day highlighting different breeds. The boxer supposedly has the dubious distinction of being the most cancer prone breed of all.

For various maladies, we have our three purebred dogs on the IAMS vet formulas which is very expensive. The fourth, a mutt, is one of the Purina dry foods.

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

Arrow-
I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I have the graves of three of my dogs on my property. It is a very hard thing to get over after having them as faithful companions for so long. I wonder if by selective breeding of different traits for each of the breeds, if we haven't breed in genetic traits predisposing to cancers. Clearly that has happpened with other things like hip dysplasias, congenital deafness and other things in dogs. On the other hand, mixed breeds don't seem to be any less susceptible to cancers. My wife and I also wondered if pesticide collars for ticks and fleas could be carcinogenic. The pain of losing a pet gets better over time and eventually pleasant memories remain. Hang in there - Mike

 

[thunderworks]

I've had dogs all of my life, and some have died from cancer. One of my closest friends is a Vet. She agrees with me that the incidence of cancer is on the rise. I think that the dog food industry is largely unregulated and that the food sources for the dog food manufacturers are probably laden with herbicides and pesticides that preclude their use in human food.

Very sorry about the loss of your companion and friend. It's always hard.

 

[Tig]

Sorry for your loss Arrow. Loosing a canine companion is tough, even for an adult.

 

[Thomas]

Sorry for the loss of your family member...cherish the fond memories.

<_______> R.I.P.

 

[Charlton John]

Sorry to hear about your loss, they sure do become part of the family.

 

[arrow]

Thanks every one for your thoughts. Many true things were stated including some breeders breeding anything for the buck even if it includes a poor cancer thwarting genetic line. Age certainly remains as one of the leading causes of cancer in dogs as well as humans. Don't know if it has to be that way however. A disease that is thwarted by our immune systems for most of our lives, seems to get the upper hand as we or our 4 legged friends progresses in age. I wonder what dismantles our immune systems for cancer to take hold. Its a question for better minds than I have. Hope it gets answered relatively soon or at least in my life time. It would be a cool thing to have a twenty or thirty year old dog or a 120 year old human (but probably not as good as the dog living longer)

 

[woodlandfarms]

We have boxers as well, a fantastic animal. Ours are all mutted a bit (a mix of lab). We lost one and one was put to sleep, both within the last year. I cried like a baby on both. But they both had a great life, and the fact they were rescues made it all that much better. The new pups are rescue boxer mixes as well. Full of energy, tearing everything up, but wonderful animals.

Boxers are notorious for cancer. A dogs life is generally predicated on its weight / size. I have a friend with a 22 year old toy poodle. I have a friend who just lost his 6 year old great dane. 12 years is about the most you can get from a 60lb dog. But those can be a great 12 years.

I hope you guys find a replacement very soon. Lots of animals looking for a good home, especially with so many people loosing their houses.