Cancer

In the relationship between cancer and nutrition, there are few conclusive answers. The modalities of both are complex, and neither is completely understood. However, enhanced nutrition is of unquestionable benefit to any dog with cancer, and to any dog with an increased risk of developing cancer. And of the many known factors leading to canine cancer, proper nutrition is the one which dog owners can best control, enhancing a dog's overall health, and improving the body's natural defense against cancer. Those positive words must be followed with some cautions. Cancer diets often emphasize or restrict certain nutrients, in order to promote certain biochemical actions or to thwart others.

when I came across a book called Give Your Dog A Bone by Dr. Ian Billinghurst

Cancer profoundly alters a dog's metabolism, even before any malignancies are advanced enough to be detected; these changes persist even after remission. Ask any dog owner about his biggest health fears for his pet, and his response is likely to include cancer. It's a leading cause of death in canines and can be indiscriminate, striking young and old dogs alike.

Uh-oh. What’s this lump? Any growth on your dog’s body deserves attention, especially one that wasn’t there last time you checked. It could be a sebaceous cyst (a sac filled with sebum, a cheesy or oily material, caused by clogged oil glands in the skin), an abscess (a pus-filled swelling caused by infection), or – everyone’s worst nightmare – a cancerous tumor. But in most cases, the lumps we discover as we pet and groom our dogs are lipomas, which are benign (non-cancerous) fat deposits, also known as fatty tumors. An estimated 1.7 million dogs are treated in the United States for lipomas every year, and according to one survey, American veterinarians average 25 lipoma removals annually at a cost to owners of $635 million. Lipomas tend to emerge as dogs reach middle age and increase in number as dogs get older. A dog with one lipoma is likely to get more. Lipomas are most often found on the chest, abdomen, legs, or armpits (axillae). These fatty lumps aren’t painful and they usually stay in one place without invading surrounding tissue.

Summer is for reading, yes? These long summer days are a perfect time to relax and enjoy a good, long read that improves your...

They are among the words you least want to hear: Your dog has cancer. But the odds are you will hear them someday, especially if you have more than one dog in your lifetime. One in four dogs get cancer; half of the dogs over 10 years of age die from or with it. Much of what is known about canine cancer closely parallels what is known about cancer in humans. Dogs are at risk of the same types of cancer afflicting humans, and treating canine cancer successfully is dependent upon the same variables found in human cancer treatment.

Exciting news regarding bone marrow transplants for dogs with lymphoma has recently emerged. North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh is the first university in the world to open a canine clinical bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit. Dr. Steven Suter, assistant professor of veterinary oncology at NCSU, is about to perform his 30th transplant, all done over the past two years. Lymphoma, also called lymphosarcoma, is one of the most common cancers to occur in dogs. While it used to be considered a disease of middle-aged and older dogs, those demographics have changed in the past 5 to 10 years, with more and more young dogs being diagnosed. Golden Retrievers have a particularly high risk for this type of cancer.

Veterinary oncologists say that cancers in humans and in dogs are incredibly similar, in terms of growth and prognosis. That's good news for both species, as research of human or canine cancer may yield insight about and new treatments for this deadly disease. In addition, many of the tactics that reduce the incidence of cancer in humans, veterinary oncologists say, can be used by pet owners to reduce the chances that their dogs will develop the disease. Here are four things you can do to help prevent cancer in your dog.

In August 2011 my friend Tory felt a couple of small lumps on the throat of her 13-year-old mixed-breed dog, Scout. Within a couple...

In conventional veterinary medicine, cancer treatments consist primarily of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. While research in these areas has brought significant advances, the overall picture is discouraging; cancer death rates are largely unchanged. While many canine cancers are treated successfully when diagnosed early, more often the therapies, conventional or holistic, simply buy some additional time for the animal. In standard canine treatment protocols, a 12-month remission is considered a cure." While a year of dog's life is a relatively long time

Lumps, bumps, fatty tumors – call them what you will, but nobody likes to see her dog develop lipomas, those persistent little foothills that can sprout up on older dogs – and sometimes, not so-old ones. Often soft and squishy to the touch, benign fatty tumors are not a threat to your dog’s health. (The exception is infiltrative lipomas, which can invade muscle tissue, but these are relatively rare.) While lipomas can be unsightly, many vets opt not to remove them unless they are in a location where their growth impedes a dog’s mobility. But many holistic veterinarians see lipomas as far from innocuous. Instead, they stress, lipomas are symptoms of a bigger problem.

Mast cell tumors (MCTs) are the most common form of malignant skin cancer that occurs in dogs, accounting for about 14 to 21 percent...