Canine Cancer

Cancer is a very grim and emotionally devastating disease that any human can have that will affect everyone in his circle of family or friends. Such an occurrence in the household can be truly sad indeed and all everyone can do is to try to make the most of it in any way they can. The same kind of emotional heartache can happen for a dog suffering from canine cancer, particularly if the dog is beloved and is close to the hearts of everyone in the household, like my Mom’s dog, Chelly, was. Chelly was a frisky little toy poodle, kind of grayish-black and with a very sweet nature.

Chelly was my Mom’s constant companion in her later years after my Dad had passed. They went everywhere together – even places where you weren’t supposed to bring dogs. My Mom would smuggle her in wrapped inside of her coat. But then one day, Chelly started acting a little strange. Nothing too odd at first, but you could kind of sense that something was going on with her. She didn’t have any real symptoms until she started losing control of her bowels and bladder. My Mom looked up these things online and found that it was possible that Chelly had bladder cancer. Off to the vet they went and it turned out that the symptoms pointed very strongly toward having bladder cancer.

Having bladder cancer or bone cancer or even liver or spleen cancer is not an immediate sentence of death and you can still provide the quality of life that your dog has accustomed to. However, this would take much time and effort on the part of the dog owner like my Mom found out and if your dog has been diagnosed with cancer of any kind, even pancreatic cancer, you should be ready to take on this commitment of caring for your canine friend.

Ideas in Taking Care of Dogs with Cancer

Given the nature of cancer therapy in its current form today, there is little that can be done in medical terms. Chemotherapy can be administered and this would be very expensive on your part as the dog owner, however this action usually only delay the fact and cancer will eventually catch up. In such cases, doctors would advise dog owners on how long they should expect their dogs to live and if they are willing to give the extra care that this disease would demand from them.

In some cancers, like dog skin cancer, the discomfort and external signs would not show up until they are nearing their time. When this happens, dogs may lose control of their bowel and bladder. These are some considerations that a dog owner will take should they decide to pursue providing health care. They should be very willing to clean up after their pets in most cases.

As canine cancer progresses, the dog may become more and more uncomfortable and will eventually feel an increase in pain on whatever parts are affected. Cancer in the extremities and limbs may require amputation to ease the pain but eventually the cancer can spread out to the rest of the body. In such cases, dog owners can administer pain killers and other medications to relieve their pets and give them as much comfort as possible. Sometimes there is even a special cancer diet that you can learn about online and give to your dog.

Some symptoms in dogs who have cancer

In some cancers, bleeding on some areas on the skin, ears and mouth can result due to tumors and sores. Although the blood coming from these wounds are not contaminated by cancer, seeing such wounds may not be advisable for kids and small children. This is another consideration to take if you decide to pursue life-prolonging health care. Still, it is up to you as the dog owner to render health care in such cases and provide as much comfort as they can until the time comes.

It took my Mom a long time to decide if she wanted to see her friend suffering in such pain. She did not want to let Chelly go but even more she did not want her to suffer. She eventually took Chelly to the vet for the last time. Every case is different, however, and there may have been medical breakthroughs that were not available even 6 months ago. The internet is a great place to find out all the information you can for your canine friend.