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What is it with dogs and cancer?

GDawson

GDawson

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I’ve had dogs since I was a kid (a time lost in the mists of antiquity). And up until recently they all died of various things with only one being a hit-and-run. In the last twenty years we’ve had 5 dogs and all 5 have had cancer and were euthanized before it really affected quality of life. The really interesting thing is that all of them had different types (sometimes multiple types) of cancer.

O’Malley – bone cancer/skin cancer/brain mass
Ranger – brain lesions/cancer
Titan – prostate cancer
Lou – malignant mass/sarcoma of the sinuses
Libby (this last Sunday) – Lung cancer (prolly spread from elsewhere first)

And it’s not just us…it seems to be the leading cause of death among our peer group. Interestingly a friend of ours whose father was a vet in Vietnam and came over in the 60s was telling us (many years ago) that cancer in dogs is unheard of in Vietnam and was very rare here in the states when he arrived. As processed dog food grew in use and buying horsemeat and scraps from the butcher decreased cancer death rates increased. Granted this is only anecdotal but it is interesting.

-Gregory
 
That is what got my dog as well.
A simple theory is that we have eliminated the other more common causes.
Dogs are taken care of a LOT better than in other countries, or in the past.
 
True and whereas most were "seniors" the last one Libby should have had another 5 years in her. What I forgot mention was that she had already gone through 2 separate mastectomies starting 4 years ago at age 6. That’s still young(ish).

-Gregory
 
Bummer dude. Sorry to hear about Libby. We've lost two dogs to cancer in the last 20 years (intestinal and chondrosarcoma).

One might speculate though that "increased" incidence of cancer in dogs, like humans, is largely attributable to longer life span. Many forms of cancer don't appear to middle or old age and dogs are definitely living longer. Guide Dogs for the Blind, which has accurate records of all their dogs dating back to the 1940s says that 50% of the labs born in their kennels which survive to weaning now live to 14years. In the 1970s the 50th percentile was 10years 4 months. That's a pretty big difference over 35 years. They attribute most of the gain to vaccinations, heart worm prevention (anyone not giving their dog heart worm meds deserves to have the dog taken away in addition to a punch in the face), better dental care (!) and better tools for infectious diseases like parvo and bordatella. Despite being sponsored by dog food manufacturers they say that they don't believe it makes any significant difference.
 
Hmmm that is interesting. Could be that people in the past weren't as thorough as far as letting a vet get samples so when they died it was due to "old age" and they were less active, in pain, etc because of "old age".

Could be environmental causes too, as we keep getting nastier and nastier things that pop up around us, and them sniffing, tasting, peeing on everything in sight.

Why any one group would be more prone than others? Again maybe that group looks after them more, where as a younger person not as much... hard to say.
 
I do not believe that study in terms of why cancer is so prevalent now a days. It doesn't account for any of the cases that come on early, and there has been a marked increase of those (my sister is a DVM - Oncologist).

I'm sticking with Ethoxyquin as a primary cause. Look when it was first started to be used, then look at when cancer made a jump.
 
If it is environmental that scares me. Libby was abused/beaten and left to die at 5 months. We rescued her from a dumpster starving and dehydrated. She would never leave the house due to fear (getting her to the vet was a treat). She was a total social recluse. She was friendly and active to us but hid when anyone else came around. Her only exposure to the outside world was the back yard for brief potty breaks and she came right back in...Our yard has been organic for 13+ years. Longer than we had her.

If it is environmental we're SOL.

-Gregory
 
etho is an "preservative" used in feeds to stop oils from going rancid. Almost all dog, cat, fish, etc feeds have it in them.
 
Had never heard of Ethoxyquin

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethoxyquin
Ethoxyquin is a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a food preservative (E324) and a pesticide (under commercial names such as "Stop-Scald"). It is commonly used as a preservative in pet foods to prevent the rancidification of fats
Click to expand...

Pesticide and food preservative? WTH?

-Gregory
 
Worked as a tech at a vet for a few years, a theory went around that over vaccination is a key contributor. Some of the oldest animals I ever saw had never been to a vet before or had any vaccinations in their life. My cats are indoor and I now will no longer vaccinate them after the age of 4. Dogs are a little different because of rabies laws and have to be vaccinated if you want a license. But from what I saw and discussed with the doctors It's definitely something to think about.
 
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/misinformation-about-ethoxyquin-from-pet-food.html

FWIW that article is wrong. FDA mandates all fishmeal have etho added... that is what I have been told by people I trust on the issue.
 
Interesting and scary article about ethoxyquin.
I am guessing that is used in fish food as well, which are loaded with fish meal.

But I think "improved care level" can explain a fair amount of the increase in early onset cancer in young dogs as well.
Testing for cancer is a whole lot cheaper now, and people spend a lot more time and money
trying to find out what is wrong with their pets.
Before, they would never even be diagnosed, and simply die of natural causes.

Now I am all bummed out though. Bringing back too many sad memories.
 
Yup most fish food has it. There are a few that do not, ones where the manufacturer is in control of their fishmeal production.

Hey Mark, perhaps you missed the fact this is my sisters field of expertise? Its not cheap to test even if its "cheaper" now. The entire ordeal is very costly.
 
Greg - I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. One of my Grand Dogs passed around ~3 years of age from K9 Leukemia which is apparently very rare. When we took him to the after hours ER the vet that treated him was very upset about the meds and dosage that his primary vet had prescribed for the allergies he had. The vet (more than) suspected the meds are what caused the problem but there was not much we could do (or really wanted to do at that time) to look into it.

His mom (my dog) and his sister both lived upwards of 15 years and that is very long time for Bulldogs. No signs of cancer in either of them.

~Charlie
 
What do you feed them?

-Gregory

BTW - are you going to be at the meeting? Mebbie I could bring that priceless family heirloom....
 
Greg - I feed my Boxer Blue Buffalo Lamb & Brown Rice dry food. I was feeding her "Chicken Soup" (or something like that) when she was a puppy but switched to this when she was about a year old. Boxers and Bull Dogs have a lot of allergy problems (which was why my Bull Dog was on meds back then) and I found that Blue Buffalo cleared up a lot of similar allergy problems with my Boxer.

When I had Bull Dogs I fed the Iams. Turns out that Iams is not a whole lot better than grocery store food now but it was considered a good food when I had the Bull Dogs. At least I thought it was :) I always had allergy problems with the dogs, especially the mom, but it was usually controllable with OTC Benadryl.

I'll post a reply on your heirloom thread later tonight or tomorrow. I think it's doable but I have a couple of concerns. I got a surprise relocation notice at work late last week and I've been scrambling to get some site specific safety training done and and move offices at the same time and I've just been swamped.

~Charlie
 
Thanks Charlie...no hurry on the "heirloom". It's been on the need to repair list for 8 or 9 years now. I think we can wait a bit longer.....

-Gregory
 
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