What happens when a perfectly healthy pet shows up for his annual exam and you find something bad…really bad. I’m not talking about the severe periodontal disease eating away at a cat’s skull—I can fix that. And I’m not referring to the dreaded osteoarthritic knee—I can find somebody to fix that, too.
The really bad things I found this week on basic exams include one giant cat kidney, a grapefruit-sized mass adjacent to a dog’s liver, and a [probable] malignant melanoma on another dog’s gumline.
The scary part? Not one of these pets was over seven years old. Not one was showing any clinical signs of disease. And yet two of three will likely be dead by year’s end, regardless of treatment (statistics is a depressing field of study, indeed).
Sure, it makes me feel better that we found these horrible, budding monsters before any pain or suffering had a chance to have its way with their victims. But will our ministrations do any good in the face of these probable cancers? Maybe…maybe not.
I started this post with the intention of harping on the importance of yearly exams—regardless of age or apparent comfort level. But now I’ve strayed into the realm of the near metaphysical…the question of the irrevocable, inevitable, inexorable disease process.
We can attack it with the deadly aim of sharpened steel, an erudite combination of drugs or the gentle laying of hands but neither modern medicine nor man-powered spiritual intervention is any match for the ravages of cancer and other potent diseases.
When the vet says—“I know you weren’t expecting this” and looks at you sympathetically, you should know that we’re as befuddled as you are. Yours may be a far more personal sense of loss, but ours is achingly bewildered as we think: Why this one and not another?
Worse yet, when all our work yields months, not years, we wonder: Do we really make a difference? And is it worth it?
I can expound on the virtues of annual exams and frequent well-pet visits all I want but sometimes…there’s nothing even our best efforts and most sophisticated methods will ever do to hinder nature’s wily ways.
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The question I'm going to toss back at you is why are pets breaking out in all these forms of cancer?
Some would say it is from over vaccinating, others just say it is only associated by breeds, then there are people like myself that have to wonder if these cancers are somehow enviromentally related.
It's not uncommon to hear about giant breeds of dogs breaking out with some form of cancer by 3-4 years of age. Since most of these dogs break out in bone cancer, pet food industry jumped on the bandwagon to make better diets to accomadate these animals fast growth. But even with their best intentions, still it is rare if a Irish Wolfhound survives past the age of 6.
Cats are also breaking out in lymphomas and other kinds of cancer. One of my cats has some unexplained weight loss going on. I dread what I'm going to hear when he goes in for his yearly physical Tuesday as I've been through this once before. He has been eating, drinking and hasn't been sick from anything. I can only suspect one thing at this point because it has been life as usual. I can't even blame the new dietary changes I've made as he likes his new food as the weight loss started before I switched them to a new food.
I cannot blame it on over vaccinating as he only gets his booster once every other year since he is 13 years old and strictly indoors. He only recieves a rabies vaccine every three years as long as I get in before the expiration date of his last one. If I miss it by a day, he would have to have a 1 year then go back to a three year assuming I got him in before that one expired.
Ferrets are the only pets exempt from this vaccine schedule. They are required by MA law to have a canine booster and rabies vaccine every year.
So the only thing I can think of should my suspicions rear it's ugly head is he's either gotten cancer from enviroment or possibly his diet. I can't think of any other possible reason other than maybe genetics, but I have no way of tracing down his parents and what their problems were.
I've thought about this with people and allergies as well. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a staple of most kids diets years ago, and now there are peanut free zones in schools across the country because kids are dying from inhaling peanut dust.
While I can only speculate on all of this, I have to say these are enviromentally related. People are so dependant on pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and every other kind of "cide" to keep crops from becoming damaged, lawns free of grubs and other pests, not to mention all the chemicals that are kept under the kitchen and bathroom sink to control molds, roaches, and of course there is the overall pollution that everybody inhales on a every day basis that we may not see or smell.
Maybe pets have always broken out in these cancers, we just never recognized it as like people, animals are living longer as well, but I'm having a difficult time wrapping my brain that. One cannot go anywhere that is pet related without hearing about how somebody lost their pet or pets to some form of cancer.
Cats and dogs were not meant to live as long as people, but I don't think it's normal for them to be breaking out in brain tumors at 2 years of age either.
It is sad and scary at the same time...
Stacy February 11th, 2007 11:45:00 AM
Yeah, but sometimes finding something you don't expect DOES make a difference. A year ago, I had a feeling something just "wasn't right" with my nearly 9-year-old flatcoated retriever, Heather. (flatcoat=cancer)
PE, CBC, UA, films ... nothing. I'm sure my darling veterinarian thought I was crazy. Finally, ultrasound. Voila! 25 mm mass on the spleen. The spleen came out that afternoon. (The surgeon threw in a stomach tack while he was in there to minimize any gastric tortion possibility, what the heck!)
More than 14 months later Heather is still cancer-free. Passed the same gamut of diagnostics last month with flying colors.
Sometimes you get lucky, I guess.
Gina February 11th, 2007 02:03:00 PM
So which one of the three is likely to survive? Is the melanoma smal enough not to have metastasized?l
Diane February 11th, 2007 09:12:00 PM
I agree partly that our dependence on chemicals may be causing all this, but I can't help but think that a large part of it is due to the face that we actually take our animals in for wellness exams these days...I imagine that dogs and cats have always been dying of cancer, we just either didn't know what to look for or, more likely, we didn't look at all.
anna February 11th, 2007 10:42:00 PM
Is it odd that I would never consider missing one of my animals' yearly appointments, but that I have not been to see a general practicioner for a workup on myself since high school?
Becky February 12th, 2007 02:41:00 PM
Yes, Becky that is odd. Maybe I wrote this post for you.
And, Diane, I think the cat with the kidney. At least I can take that sucker out--as long as all tests come up negative before-hand. Still waiting to see on all three. I'll keep you posted.
Dr. Patty Khuly February 12th, 2007 02:45:00 PM
I had a total blood panel for my 6 year old dog, Hanna, because my daughter is also a veterinarian who believes in exams and especially mid-life blood panels. She had slowed down some, a very relative some. Who would have guessed to make a long story short, she had surgery this morning at U C Davis for a liver shunt. She would have just gotten sicker and sicker without knowing what was happening. So yes, a yearly exam and a complete canine blood test.
Eliza February 12th, 2007 08:11:00 PM
I agree with the post about over vaccination. The University of Colorado has come up with new vaccination protocols.... the yearly shots have got to go. And the crap that is commercialized dog food.... thank God I have been feeding raw and Innova EVO for the last 2 years. I know- there are risks involved with EVERYTHING. But at least I KNOW WHAT GOES INTO MY DOGS. Human-quality meats and veggies. I also will use titre testing as opposed to yearly vaccinations. I will have my dogs checked every 6 months for heartworms,rather than poison them every month. Heartworm pills ARE NOT a preventative...they just kill the heartworm larva IF IN FACT your dog has heartworms....otherwise you are using a poison needlessly.IF they ever get heartworms, I will catch it in the early stages and utilize poison at that time to kill the worms. I will bathe often and maintain a kept yard to keep fleas and ticks at bay, instead of putting poisons on my guys every month.
I used to give heartworm tabs every month...they always made my standard poodle horribly ill. That's when I decided this aint right. I started doing research. I don't want to put anything into or on my animals that I can't let my grandkids handle.
I truly believe that over vaccination,heartworm meds on a monthly basis whether needed or not, flea products, and bad food are the main scourge of our pets.
Agadore's momma March 24th, 2007 03:50:00 AM
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