The deaded C word a discussion

[Glenys]

Lets talk about the rising cases of cancer in dogs,Personally have lost two dogs one was Ned four years old to Carcinoma and Gollie aged nine was cancer of the spleen both incurred lots of heartache for us and the question why ?.
As Owners we do our very best to give our dogs everything they need to keep healthy choosing decent food etc so is it possibly hereditary? Environment possibly.
When we visited our caravan a while a ago a man was trimming trees and bushes he was covered up as he told us thousands of ticks were falling off as he was working ticks are a menace who would know they can be on leaves and trees I thought they went from animal say sheep,deer etc ..Last week we found a pea size lump on Bears back but by Friday it was much bigger so he had a needle biopsy then on the Saturday night it was bleeding ..a lot so we saw the vet Sunday and he was scheduled for the lump to be removed monday with big margins ie: take a large area around the lump too the mass was stored as we were due the result of the first biopsy which we have now received the results were worrying so the other mass is now being analysed and we wait…and hope.
Bear is not two till February but we have to have hope not being a Vet I tried to make sense of the report using Google on the words I didn’t understand like spindle cell etc and as Sam had taken him and Sam doesn’t quiz the vets and ask questions like I do.

The point of this post is to hear others experiences or theories a few things I don’t agree with
Over use of flea treatment/routine spot on chemicals when not in a flea ridden place
Over boosting dogs especially old dogs
I’m all for tick and flea type Bravecto and obviously worming
Feel free to disagree and it would be great it any Vets would offer some insight into this as well

Here is My Bearsy with Sam who he adores

[jackie]

What a lovely photo Glenys Bear is just gorgeous. I wish I had answers as having lost Maggie aged 13 I still feel cheated even though she was a good age and should really accept she had to die of something. We think she had bone cancer it was never confirmed as by the time we realised it was more serious than just arthritis we felt it wasn't right to put her through lots of tests as it wouldn't help her in the end.

I worry about over vaccination, I am not keen on vaccinating yearly we have only given a full set when a puppy and then a full booster one year on. Not sure this is something I can full endorse as being one of the causes of 'C' as I have known some dogs to live to 14/15 and had full vaccinations but if it isn't needed then why do it and there is lots of debate about what if any annual vaccinations are needed. I took the stance to reduce vaccination as we have in done this in human medicine as we now know that it is not required just one course of most vaccinations will last for life.

Flea and tick treatment - I have never used this, the girls had hundreds of ticks over the years and we have never had any problems from them at all. We have been lucky enough to not have fleas. Flea and tick treatment often contain Organophosphates and these are pretty nasty for us and our dogs.

Food is a big one for me. I only give food if I know what it is! So prepared or dried food I personally am against despite their claims as I like to know what the dogs is actually given. I am a fan of raw feeding now, relatively new to me but I think it is best for dogs. Bella had a couple of hard spot type things on her ears I think they were little cysts. One was growing but on switching her to raw they disappeared and there is no sign of them now. I don't understand why and it may be just coincidence but I am happy to see them gone! I also give veg and fruit daily too as I think dogs need antioxidants just like we do.

Exercise helps too lots of long off lead, free to do whatever they want, walks are excellent for heart, soul and mind and a happy, fit dog will be in a better position to fight any nasties if they are unfortunate enough to come their way.

Lastly is just pot luck, sadly sometimes it just happens no matter what you do in the same way it happens to people. It is particularly hard when they are young and so unfair.

I hope Bear is ok sending lots of healing thoughts and hugs.

Jackie x

[coco-bean]

Firstly I hope Bear is ok and his results come back ok

Like you I’m not sure why this happens to so many furbabies. I often wonder if it is environmental in areas where you live - we had an incinerator built not too far away from where we live a couple of years ago and that often goes through my mind.

Is it that years ago people didn’t take their dogs to the vets as much as we do these days? I remember as a teenager we had 3 large breed dogs and I don’t remember them going to the vets like we take them these days.

I feed my girls on royal canin labrador and like Jackie fruit and veg especially raw carrots.
I worm them every 3 months
I know some people don’t flea but I do flea mine every 6 weeks (not 4 weeks) they do play with lots of different dogs (not saying any of them have fleas but you never know) we walk through woodland areas.

Saying all that they both have to have their anal glands emptied??? and Coco has a small pea size lump on her side our vet thinks it’s a fatty lump and to keep our eye on it, it’s been there about 11 months and hasn’t changed in that time.

Vaccinations I do vaccinate every year, I changed vets last year and recently had 2 letters from my previous vets saying they were overdue their injections and they would have to start from the beginning again...... they had their injections at the new vets.

Do we/I just listen to our vets regarding injections, flea treatments etc and go with their advice?

[xenotime]

Hello Glenys, I sincerely hope that Bear’s results are going to be ok. Such worrying times xxx

As for the rise in cancers, I agree with you regarding over vaccinating and over use of chemicals like flea treatments. I stopped getting Mads vaccinated about three years ago. I figured her levels of immunity must be way up due to her annual vaccinations over the years so decided in her old age to leave it. Her flea treatment I give her once a year purely because she brought back fleas twice so she’s prone to them.

As for her diet,,, everyone comments on her shiny fur and healthy joints. We put that down to “ Chappie”. Steve had a golden retriever many years ago who had chappie and she lived to be 17 years old so I’m praying that Mads follows with that. Chappie is fish based and I swear by it for those joints and shiny fur. Mads also has Burns sensitive stomach pork and potato dry food and she loves it. She was prone to bouts of colitis so this diet got that under control. She also has vetzyme high strength flexible joint tablets each night and she shows no sign of arthritis which is brilliant.

Now as you know, Mads had surgery for mammary cancer a few years ago. She has been fine ever since thank goodness. I think her case of cancer was due to us not being able to Spey her. Having had pyometra and emergency Spey at the beginning of this year will have a positive effect of minimising her risk of mammary cancer returning.

I often wonder why canine cancer is on the rise in younger dogs too but then I think of how human cancer is also on the rise. Then I think of the many pollutants in the air we breathe, in the chemicals we use in everyday household cleaners and also the chemicals (including formaldehyde) within furnishings. There’s a safe level of formaldehyde within carpets and sofas etc but it’s also in washing up liquid etc etc so we are bombarded with it. That’s just one chemical. Then we have pollutants from cars etc.

My mum has had cancer 3 times and she asked me why had she got it and I told her we’re all more than likely to get it these days. We can’t possibly escape carcinogens. It’s the same for our beloved dogs. The world isn’t a healthy place.

That’s just my opinion though.

Fingers (and paws) crossed for bear xx. Much love xx

[Labrador3]

Hello Glenys,
I just wanted to say we hope all goes well with Bear. We have lost 2 Labradors to cancer, the second one had just turned 4 years old so its a dirty word in our house. It does seem to be more common these days in dogs and humans (we have lost family members too). Maybe it is diet/the environment we live in. All we can do as loving dog owners is follow advice from the vet as for diet and immunisation medication.
Very best wishes. x