The National Canine Cancer Foundation

• 1: Home
• 2: About
  • 2.1: Our Mission
  • 2.2: Organization Staff
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  • 2.4: Scientific Advisory Board
  • 2.5: Research Grants We Have Approved to Fund
  • 2.6: Affiliations
• 3: Donate
  • 3.1: Donate Now
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    • 3.3.1: List of Core Members
  • 3.5: Affiliate Companies
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• 4: Shop
• 5: Resources
  • 5.1: Facts on Canine Cancer
    • 5.1.1: Early Warning Signs
    • 5.1.2: Hermangiosarcoma
    • 5.1.3: Lymphoma
    • 5.1.4: Melanoma
    • 5.1.5: Osteosarcoma
    • 5.1.6: Other Types of Cancer
    • 5.1.7: Chemotherapy Side Effects
  • 5.2: The Road from Despair to Hope
  • 5.3: Ask the Doctor
• 6: Grants
  • 6.1: Grant Information
  • 6.2: Pre Proposal
  • 6.3: Full Proposal
• 7: Blog
• 8: Podcast
• 9: Contact

Darby Page

Darby's Story and Pictures 

Our dog, Darby, died on May 22, 2008.  It was a very sudden and totally unexpected.  She was a golden retriever and only 9 years old (would have been 10 in August).  Darby came from a very good line of goldens.  Both her parents were certified with the health certificates and were champions.  We thought she would be with us for many, many years.

On Wednesday, May 21, she was fine (her normal self).  When we woke up on Thursday, she was very lethargic, could hardly walk, etc.  I took her into the vet ASAP.  He did an x-ray and found a tumor on her spleen.  The tumor had ruptured and was slowly bleeding into her belly.  The vet operated on her and found that she also had tumors on her liver which meant it was malignant.  She had hemangiosarcoma,.  So we made the awful decision to have her put down while she was under anesthesia.  It was the most compassionate thing to do.

This really came out of the blue for us.  We have been very upset. It has been over a month now and not a day goes by that we don’t shed a tear.  We miss Darby immensely.  We know that the best medicine for us is to get a new puppy.  We talked with Jamie, Darby’s breeder, and found out who was breeding this summer.  A famous breeder in the area, Leslie Dickerson, had a litter due June 21st.  Darby’s brother, Zephyr, is the dad! So ait will be like getting Darby’s nieces.

We got on Leslie’s list for a girl and we heard over the weekend that the puppies were born (June 20th) and we got one.  We’re thrilled.  Sissi, the mom, had 10 puppies, 6 boys and 4 girls.

Holly and Scott McGee