Cancer is a devastating diagnosis for humans as well as dogs. But just like the survival rate for human cancer is on the rise, dogs now have a much better chance of living through this terrible disease.
And, just like humans can reduce the risk of developing cancer by doing the \"right things\", you can help ensure your dog has the best chances of avoiding cancer.
\"Sorry, your dog has cancer.\" Those are words you never want to hear, but they are exactly the words I heard from my dog\'s vet just over a year ago.
Baron was a beautiful, loving, smart and loyal Golden Lab. He was rough and tumble with the kids, but always in a playful way. His tail wagged like the flag on a dune buggy whenever I came home from work, and he sat by my feet when I settled into my favorite chair to watch a bit of television.
Around the time he turned 9, I began to notice that he wasn\'t as playful as he used to be. He favored his left hip when he walked, and his \"bounce\" seemed to have disappeared.
He was never much for getting on the furniture, but he\'d jump right up on our bed at night even though he knew he wasn\'t allowed to sleep with us. When he stopped doing that, I grew concerned.
But when he snapped at my daughter one night, I KNEW something was wrong...
My daughter had a habit of patting Baron on his side and saying \"good boy\" as she passed by him. One night, as she reached down to perform her ritual, Baron moved slightly and she ended up patting him on his hip instead.
Suddenly, and without warning, he spun around, growled, and actually snapped his teeth at her! I jumped and yelled \"Baron, down!\" and he immediately went to the floor like he had been taught.
He looked up at me and I swear I could see tears in his eyes. He whined and whimpered and lay his head between his paws. I never saw him looking so sad.
Bad News From The Vet...
The vet told me that Baron had advanced bone cancer and she recommended we put him down. I couldn\'t believe it. How could my dog have cancer at such an advanced stage and not have shown symptoms earlier?
When the vet went over the symptoms with me, I was filled with guilt. I had actually noticed subtle chances in Baron\'s behavior over the previous year, but I had just chalked it up to his growing old.
You can\'t imagine how badly I felt because I didn\'t recognize canine cancer symptoms in time to save my own dog\'s life...
And I vowed that our next dog would never suffer the fate Baron did if I could do anything to help it.
The only way I knew that I could keep my vow to not have another dog I owned suffer from canine cancer unnecessarily was to learn everything about the disease including the warning signs, preventive measures and early treatment options.
Boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. What I thought would be a couple of days research turned into almost 6 full months of after-work and weekend reading.
There is so much to learn about Canine Cancer prevention and treatment, most people do not have the time to read everything they need to know.
Part of the reason I spent countless hours researching dog cancer is because there are so many different types of dog cancer. And many of them don\'t just have different symptoms, some of the symptoms mimic those of less serious diseases and illnesses.
Unless you know exactly what you are looking for, your dog could easily go from an early treatable form of cancer to an advanced stage where putting her down is the only option.
I don\'t want anyone to ever have to feel the guilt and pain I felt when I realized I had seen and ignored the early warning signs of cancer in my dog, and I think I\'ve found a way to make sure that never happens to you.
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