Golden Retriever's Reaction to Being Told She's Beaten Cancer Melts Hearts

A video of a golden retriever being told it does not have cancer has gone viral on TikTok.

The video shared by user astro_879, which had 1.4 million likes at the time of writing, was overlaid with a message that read: "Golden retriever reaction to beating cancer [teary eyes emoji]."

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), nearly half of all dogs over the age of 10 will develop cancer.

Addressing the golden retriever, a voice in the TikTok clip said: "You had a six-pound tumor removed from your spleen and as a golden retriever, there's only a 10 percent chance that that's not cancerous.

"They say you have Hemangiosarcoma, which kills all kinds of dogs. And they told us that they've never, in 25 years, had a case that's negative and that we should prepare," the voice continued, as the dog appeared to listen while wagging its tail.

Hemangiosarcoma is a common malignant tumor of the spleen usually seen in older dogs (aged from eight to 10). All large breeds are at an increased risk of getting the cancer, especially golden retrievers, Labradors, German shepherds and poodles, says the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS).

Malignant tumors "can be unpredictable and grow at various rates," at times rapidly, invading its surrounding tissues and spreading to other parts of the body, explains the AVMA.

Getting ready to reveal the results of the tests that had come in, the voice said: "I need you to sit down for this," as the dog sat on the floor.

The voice said: "Lily, you don't have cancer!...you're the first case in 25 years," as the dog, responding to the excitement in the voice, is seen moving closer to the camera while pointing its head upwards and doing some mini-jumps.

"They said 'No, she doesn't have it...we've never seen that happen.' No, you're not going anywhere today, no sir," the voice added.

Newsweek has contacted user TikToker astro_879 for comment.

According to the results of an analysis of cancer claims for 1.6 million dogs insured by U.S. company Nationwide from 2015 to 2021, which were released at the annual Western Veterinary Conference in March 2022, "purebred dogs as a group have a higher relative risk for cancer claims than non-purebred dogs do, at 1.9 times the relative risk," the AVMA said.

Golden retrievers were among the top three breeds for which cancer claims were filed among the 25 most popular breeds (the other two being boxers and beagles), the analysis revealed.

Golden retrievers have a "high relative risk" for spleen cancer as well as other cancers including bone, cardiac, liver, lymphatic cancer, the AVMA said.

Users on TikTok were delighted and moved by the golden retriever's reaction to the news of it being cancer-free in the latest video.

In a comment that got 56,900 likes, user Jade Eizi said: "[I'm about] to cry she's so sweet," while Brayden added: "I'm so happy for this dog man."

Larna/Louise said: "I'm crying," in a comment that got 4,149 likes, while samantha t noted: "I just balled my eyes out," in a comment that received over 1,900 likes.

Several users recalled losing their own dogs to cancer, such as Richard who said: "My golden retriever died of cancer at 4 or so when u was a kid. It was so f**king sad. I still miss him. This video made me so happy."

User ._.Emerson._22 wrote: "This gave me goosebumps because my dog had the same cancer but hers came out positive, she's gone."