Morris Animal Foundation & Coastal Pet Products Provide Hope for Longer Lives, Better Quality of Life for Pets

What do aging golden retrievers and shelter cats with gunky eyes have in common?

They're both targets of the more than 145 research projects funded by the Morris Animal Foundation in 2020.

At Coastal Pet, we understand how important the health of our furry friends is. We're pet owners too, and we want as long as possible with our beloved dogs and cats.

As such, we're proud to be a partner of the Morris Animal Foundation. A portion of the profits from the sale of the following products goes directly to the Foundations' efforts to make life better for our dogs and cats.

2020 Research Highlights

Last year may have been one where most people stayed close to home, but the folks at Morris Animal Foundation and the researchers they support were as busy as ever.

In total, in 2020, the Foundation invested more than $9.3 million into 145 research projects, directly studying 85 different species.

How might that research impact your beloved dog or cat?

Here's a small sampling of the research supported by the Morris Animal Foundation in 2020.

Dogs

  • The Foundation's internal Golden Retriever Lifetime Study celebrated eight years in 2020. Over this time, the study has gathered data on more than 3000 golden retrievers. Currently, eight external research projects are using data from this study with a goal of identifying risk factors for cancer and other major diseases in all dogs.
  • As an offshoot of the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, the Foundation created the Golden Oldies program in 2020 to recruit healthy golden retrievers over 12 years of age to help answer why some dogs get cancer and others don't.
  • Anyone who has ever lost a dog to cancer will be happy to note that many of the research projects the Foundation supports are looking to lessen the impact of canine cancers. One such study evaluated the potential of a new type of drug to treat rapidly fatal canine cancers, including high-grade mast cell tumors, acute leukemias and histiocytic sarcomas, as a first step toward clinical trials.
  • Another successful study resulted in the development of a new in vitro culture technique to study cardiac muscle cells in dogs. The new technique serves as a vital tool in helping to create new diagnostic processes, as well as therapies and treatments for dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (a type of heart disease).
  • Other studies looked into chronic bronchitis, fungal disease, head and neck tumors, epilepsy, heartworm, urinary tract infections, and spinal cord injuries in dogs.

Cats

  • Internally, the Foundation established a feline-specific Scientific Advisory Board to provide more opportunities for cat research and solicit more cat-related grant proposals. By increasing its outreach to the feline health community, the number of grants submitted for review in 2020 was 25% more than in 2019.
  • One such study resulted in the creation of a minimally-invasive diagnostic tool to test whether a cat has FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) or another, more treatable, disease.
  • Another FIP study is working on creating a potential oral vaccine to prevent the disease all together.
  • Owners of aging cats might be relieved to hear that one research project resulted in the development of a screening test that identifies cats at risk for clot formation, a dangerous complication of heart disease. Early detection and intervention can greatly improve the quality of life for cats affected by this illness.
  • Ever adopted a cat from a shelter whose eyes were gooey and red? Researchers in one study are hoping to find a treatment for cats with feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), a common cause of that ugly and infectious eye disease in shelter cats.