[Eviestar]

Hi All,

I very recently lost my 7 year old labradoodle to aggressive leukemia. It happened fast, she had a weird thing on her eye that I took her to the vet for, the vet concluded it must be an infection, we got drops and were on our way. A week later it was not getting better and I noticed a lump on her hip. They did tests and found it to be cancer. Next step oncologist for weekly doses of chemo which did help for a little while. She skipped one treatment and went downhill in 2 weeks. She was always the picture of health, vets believing she was years younger than she was. She was a deeply important part of our family and there is a huge gaping hole where she used to be. I always thought she would be an extra long living dog, not to have her life cut drastically short. She was such a perfect dog that I thought I would always want to have labradoodles. But now, Im not so sure about that. I have heard that labradoodles are predisposed to cancer, ive also heard that cross breeding has caused a rise in cancer. I was wondering what anyone elses experiences may have been with labradoodles and cancer? Thanks...

 

[Eviestar]

another question..

I also was wondering if anyone knew what the optimal diet for preventing cancer in labradoodle would be?

 

[Lucky Me]

So sorry on the loss of your buddy.....
There was a great article posted by Dr. Becker about this...
Ted Kerasote Discusses Causes of Cancer in Dogs

You have to be careful about shots & food anymore...

I don't think that Labs are especially prone to it any more than any other dog, however, I have heard a lot about Golden Retrievers having 2 cancers that hit a good amount of them.
I have an F1b Goldendoodle & am going to breed her to a Labradoodle instead of another Goldendoodle for NARs or "Double Doodies" because I don't want to take that risk & feel safer adding LD because of that.

 

[Riverkatie]

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your labradoodle.

Barney, our first Labradoodle, died 3 years ago aged 15. The last 18 months of his life he had 'lumps' just one to start with for about a year, then he had a number grow quite fast. We didn't have them biopsied, as he was 14/15 at the time, and we knew he was too old for cancer treatment, so what was the point. I have heard that labs can be predisposed to cancer, but it was only hearsay. i don't know much about health issues in poodles. Obviously a cross breed can have the problems of either parent breed...or both (a horrible thought, but perfectly possible). Or, if one gets lucky, neither.

 

[lindamarie]

YIKES! This topic gives me the heebies!
My Springer died of Lymphoma. It came on really fast and took him.

I also have heard that Golden Retrievers can get cancer easier. Bogart's mom was an English Yellow Lab.

I do agree with the food and the environment being a cause and Dr. Beckers video was really good......I enjoy watching what she has to say.

Far from being a vet, I'd like to tell you why I think my ES Spaniel got Lymphoma.
-We discovered he was a puppy mill dog, so we had no idea about his parents other than a picture of his mother
-We had our house sprayed inside and outside with pesticides
-We fertilized the grass
-My husband was always sneaking him people food to my dismay

He was 11 1/2 when it happened, so actually he lived a long time. But, he was filled with allergies and looking back, it seems like he was always sick with something. He chewed his paws raw several times form these allergies.

When we got Bogart at 9 weeks, I stopped ALL the bad things.......no more pesticides, fertilizers, and I YELL at my husband every time he tries to sneak him food.
I am also doing all organic foods from his kibble to his treats.

I can only pray that these changes will prevent any other type of cancer in him.
Other than that, I haven't heard of Labradoodles being prone to cancer and I won't hesitate to get another either when Bogart is still with us.......or after, for sure.

I am soooooooooooo sorry for your loss. I know the pain and grief of this loss all too well.

 

[Dmmackey]

My doodle got leukemia at 7 as well(

Unfortunately our labradoodle died just 3 days ago of the same awful disease. We are heartbroken and miss her so much. Where was your doodle from? Ours was from southern cross labradoodles/Becky Roth In new orleans. Becky was wonderful with the adoption process and even delivered our dog to us in Michigan
I am now wondering if this breed has a tendency to get leukemia. I hope you have healed and recovered from the huge loss.
Denise

 

[Dmmackey]

Specifically our dog had acute lymphoblastic leukemia and died with 2 weeks of diagnosis
She looked fairly healthy (although slightly less energetic)until the day she died

 

[richls1]

Labradoodles predisposed to cancer

After vomiting almost daily for 8 weeks with multiple trips to multiple vets, an endoscopy with biopsy finally diagnosed my 6-year-old Labradoodle with stomach cancer. Prognosis was 3-6 months to live if given chemo. After two doses she was at death's door vomiting blood and diarrhea. We have stopped chemo and though she is not well, she is not violently ill. Her oncologist verified that cancer is prevalent in Labradoodles. We are keeping vigil, heartbroken.

 

[deepnite10]

I lost my Toby to cancer to the spleen.. initially he was developing small fatty tumors..was advised to go on a low fat diet..eventually a couple of golf ball size tumors were removed near his belly..all seemed well..until that morning he was urinating blood..a quick trip to the vet. hospital proved that he had a fever, low red blood count, high white blood count..i asked the vet to be as aggressive as possible to cure him..even with another transfusion his state continued to decline..to the point where he would not be able to recover from any procedure ..they had planned on removing his spleen and a growth near by..he was gone within 48hrs..i still have feelings of guilt that I could have done something to give a better chance..

 

[Navatso]

I have lost Toffee my 7 months old Labradoodle to very aggressive Leukemia. He stopped eating on Sunday and by Wednesday his lungs lost half of its ability. It was really heart breaking.