Recognizing Cancer in Your Dog
November 11, 2010 by Paris Permenter and John Bigley
Filed under Health, Tips
November is National Pet Cancer Awareness Month, an important effort to increase awareness of this terrible disease. Like so many pet families, our own was touched by canine cancer; two years ago, our sweet Yoda (right) passed away from cancer at the age of 14. The number are staggering: one in four domesticated dogs in the US will die of cancer, and that number increases to almost one in two for dogs who reach the age of 10.
Today we have a guest post from Zachary M. Wright, DVM DACVIM (oncology), Staff Oncologist and Intern Director at VCA Veterinary Care Referral Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico about this timely topic, starting with how you can work to identify tumors in your dog:
Owners can take a proactive role in identifying cancer in their pets. Skin tumors, the most common cancer in dogs and cats, can be easily felt while spending quality time your pet. Middle to older aged animals may display vague signs that including vomiting, lethargy, weight loss, lameness, or coughing, which can all be linked to cancers of internal organs.
The smaller the tumor the more effective therapy will be against it, so never just watch a lump on your pet. If your pet is experiencing any of the above symptoms, you should bring your animal to the nearest VCA veterinarian.
Treatment Options
If your pet is diagnosed with a cancer, ask your VCA veterinarian for a referral to the nearest veterinarian oncologist. Veterinary oncologists are veterinarians who have done 3-4 years of additional training in cancer diagnosis and treatment. VCA has more than 10 veterinary oncologists nationwide who are skilled at evaluating, treating and researching cancer in pets.
A cancer diagnosis comes with a variety of treatment options:
- Surgery: Typically a first line of treatment as it can offer a cure for many tumors if they are completely removed.
- Radiation: The least used treatment modality in veterinary oncology because of the lack of radiation units across the country. However, it is a great second line option when surgery is ineffective or incomplete. VCA currently has four hospitals across the country with radiation facilities.
- Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy use in veterinary medicine is very different than the perception of cancer treatment in human medicine. Much lower dosages are used as quality of life is most important. Approximately 90% of dogs and cats will have little to no obvious side effects from their treatments; thus allowing our pets to be at home, feeling great, with their loved ones.
- Clinical Trials: Oncology has our own breakthroughs in cancer treatment and many veterinary oncologists are able to offer pet owners clinical trials for new cancer therapies.
For More Information:
If you have additional questions about cancer in pets please visit the following links.
About Paris Permenter and John Bigley
DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.
- Google+ |
- More Posts (5416)
or via
