Your Dog Has Cancer. Everything You Need To Know
This post is an excerpt of my next book focusing on senior dogs and their care.
You notice an unusual bump or bulge on your dog, so you take it to the veterinarian to get checked out. The vet tests the bump, and it is bad news. Your dog has cancer. You don’t know what treatments are available for dogs. How much will it cost? Your head is spinning as the vet starts to discuss your options. You get home, and you don’t even remember half of what was said. Here I will discuss the basics of cancer and your dog. Take a deep breath. There are new options available for your dog.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs over the age of 10. But the good news is, according to Dr. Sandy Eckstein that “half of all cancers are curable if caught early,” the catch is “. . . if caught early”.
Dr. Dave Ruslander, a veterinary oncologist and former president of the Veterinary Cancer Society, gave some important points about canine cancers and some possible treatments for dogs diagnosed with cancer. He (Dr. Ruslander) said that older dogs, or fifty percent of dogs 10-years old and older, are most likely to develop cancer in some form. The dogs may develop malignant lymphoma or cell tumors, which is a kind of skin cancer. They may be inflicted with gland tumors, breast cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas. Dogs may develop a case of bone cancer. And it is very stressful and sad to think of your dog suffering from cancer.
Usually, the warning signs of dogs developing cancer are similar to people who also develop cancer. You might be seeing some lumps or wound that doesn’t easily heal. There might be growth or an enlarged lymph node, or perhaps abnormal bleeding. There are several signs and symptoms. This is why your veterinarian should check out anything unusual that develops on your dog’s body. Your veterinarian can detect many issues during an annual exam.
COMMON CANCERS FOUND IN DOGS
The National Cancer Institute has these interesting figures to say, “approximately 6 million diagnoses are made in dogs each year”.
We have gathered from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) list some cancers common in dogs that affect their blood, bone, and body tissues. Early detection can help us prevent and cure some of these cancers. In the meantime, new treatments are being studied and painstakingly researched. Here are some of the common types of cancer in dogs.
- Lymphoma — a common occurring cancer diagnosed in dogs. Around 20% of canine cancer is said to be of this kind. Sadly, dogs are two to five times to develop lymphoma compared to people and it affects any breed regardless of age. Lymphoma may appear as a swelling of the lymph nodes under the jaw, in front of the shoulders, or sometimes behind the dog’s knees. It may attack lymph nodes in the dog’s chest or abdomen causing difficulty in breathing and would cause the dog to vomit and experience diarrhea. The good thing is it is treatable depending on the type and as observed, multidrug chemotherapy gives favorable results. Dogs that responded well to chemo still enjoy life for their next 12 to 18 months of remission. Golden retrievers are the most common dog breed that is affected by lymphoma.
- Mast cell tumors — a growth that forms on the dog’s skin, it may vary from being benign or it can be aggressive. It spreads to different parts of your dog’s body. A mast cell is an immune cell that is associated with allergies and can be easily identified using fine-needle aspirate. Symptoms of mast cell tumors often lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and appetite loss. Surgery is a must in excising the mast cell tumor, chemotherapy and radiation are also options if it becomes a severe grade tumor. Boxers and bulldogs are the most commonly affected breed of mast cell tumor.
- Osteosarcoma — is common bone cancer in dogs that are frequent in the large and giant breed of dogs. Osteosarcoma attacks the long bones of the dog’s limbs, but it can indiscriminately affect just any dog bone and it can rapidly progress. It spreads to the lungs, lymph nodes, and bones. If you notice some swelling or your dog feels pain on the affected limb refer it immediately to a vet. In some extreme cases, amputation is often the course of action because of its aggressive and rapid spread to different parts of the dog’s body. Chemotherapy is also cited as an option in treatment. Only a small percentage around 10% of dogs survive for three years after undergoing medical treatment for this kind of dog cancer. This is common with Great Danes, Irish wolfhounds, and mastiffs.
- Melanoma is most commonly associated with skin cancer, but it can also be a type of oral cancer seen in dogs with dark tongues and gums. A kind of tumor that has dark pigment cells which are found anywhere in your dog’s body. A malignant melanoma that develops in the oral cavity spread all over the dog’s body by the time it was earlier detected is incurable. Surgical intervention is quite difficult for this kind of metastasized cancer. Sadly chemo is infective for this type of cancer. Melanoma seems to respond with immune-base therapies. Other forms of treatments are yet to be studied and developed. Doberman pinschers, schnauzers, chow-chows, and Scottish terriers are the most frequent victims.
- Mammary gland carcinomas — common in unspayed female dogs. Often overlooked because it usually appears as a small nodule around the dog’s nipple. The nodule can grow quickly into a large and painful tumor that leads to a wound. About 50% of these tumors may be malignant and can be treated by removing them surgically as long as the carcinoma has not yet metastasized. Another 50% are sadly fatal cases. Spaying a dog before her first heat cycle is said to decrease cancer of this kind significantly. This is common in most breeds that are old and unspayed.
- Hemangiosarcoma — a form of cancer that develops from cells that line the blood vessels that attack the spleen, liver, heart, and skin. In most cases, diseased canines rarely display signs and symptoms until the tumor ruptures and the dog suffers shock resulting from blood loss. A dog may also suffer from pale gums, sudden weakness, and difficulty breathing with blood loss. Surgery is the only recourse to address blood loss followed by sessions of chemotherapy. This disease is devastating because it doesn’t give any obvious signals until it worsens into later stages where treatment is no longer viable.
https://youtu.be/8FTYXmhwYXk
TREATMENT AND CARE
There are 3 common treatment options for cancer and tumors in dogs, according to msdvetmanual.com. These treatments could be administered as a stand-alone treatment or a combination of the other options. Your vet may recommend depending on your dog’s condition, the type of cancer, and its growth rate or spread in your dog’s body.
- Surgery — is considered the most successful in removing cancer that involves a tumor that has not spread in different locations. But surgery is not an assurance that your veterinarian can surgically remove all tumors like those located in inaccessible sites. For example, if the location of a tumor would mean that vital organs must also be removed, then surgery will be less likely to be recommended. Also, If a cancer cell has metastasized, often, surgery alone is no longer feasible.
- Chemotherapy — These are therapeutic chemical medicines that destroy and inhibit the growth and spread of cancer cells. Chemotherapy is an option in managing several types of cancer. The purpose of administering chemo is to reduce the size of cancer’s growth by administering several kinds of drugs or chemicals. Ideally, a chemo drug would destroy cancer cells without harming the healthy cells. While it targets the cells that divide and grow rapidly, normal healthy cells are also affected by the treatment in most cases. It is administered orally or by injection. Some cancer does not respond to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is best effective when the tumor size is still small and at an early stage.
- Radiation therapy — is used in addition to treatment with either surgery or chemo. Your vet may recommend radiation if he sees that it is the best shot in controlling or removing your dog’s cancer. If your dog suffers from brain tumors, nasal tumors, and other tumors in the head and neck, radiation therapy may be chosen as a choice. For cancers in the spine or the pelvis, it could only be the practical option. Radiation is an additional option to augment chemotherapy’s effectiveness in decreasing the size of a tumor so that surgery may be possible and successful.
Whatever treatment option you choose, if any, I am sorry that you are in this position. I wish that the remaining days, weeks, months, and hopefully, years that you spend with your dog are as happy and free of pain as possible.
If you have a sick dog, it is important to allow them time to rest and recuperate. Having a quiet climate-controlled place that they can go to when they aren’t feeling social is important. If you have children in the home, help them understand that your family dog may need more naps, and the dog may be grumpy if pestered.
Resources
- https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/dogs-and-cancer-get-the-facts#1
- Hargis AM, Ihrke PJ, Spangler WL, Stannard AA. A Retrospective Clinicopathologic Study of 212 Dogs with Cutaneous Hemangiomas and Hemangiosarcomas. Veterinary Pathology. 1992;29(4):316–328. doi:10.1177/030098589202900406
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=tl&lr=&id=2qg1DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA53&dq=Warning+signs+of+dogs+developing+skin+cancer&ots=1B6UEUkVlI&sig=w07Mun9okenLcaZuYR8nVUBnEUk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
- https://www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-owner-education/ask-aaha/canine-cancer/
- https://ebusiness.avma.org/aahsd/study_search.aspx
- https://academic.oup.com/ilarjournal/article/55/1/16/843218?login=true
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1939-1676.1999.tb01468.x
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2003.tb02434.x
- https://www.msdvetmanual.com/special-pet-topics/cancer-and-tumors/cancer-treatment
