Today, we have a guest post from Dr. Rex Riggs, talking about cancer treatments in cats and dogs versus people. Dr. Rex Riggs is the owner of Best Friends Veterinary Hospital in Powell, Ohio. He is a veterinarian, and an Advisory Board member of Embrace Pet Insurance.
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I often get asked the question, do dogs and cats get the same cancers as humans, and do you treat them the same way?
Well the answer is yes, and pretty much yes.
If it seems like we are seeing more cancers in animals these days it is because we are. Our pets are living longer. Veterinary medicine has become very proficient in picking up other diseases that in the past would have been fatal in our pets and the longer our pets live, the higher likelihood that they will get some form of cancer. In fact, a study done in the 1980s estimated that half of the dogs living past 10 years will die of cancer.
Now don’t worry if you have an older dog or cat! We have very good treatments to extend cancer patient’s lives with very good quality of life.
Veterinary medicine has come a long way in a short time. We have so many options at our disposal. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are our mainstays in combating cancer. Surgery often has the chance of curing the pet of cancer. For the tumors that are not resectable, we turn to chemotherapy and sometimes even radiation therapy. Each type of cancer has its own particularity as to what treatments are most effective. There are no “one treatment cures all” as far as cancer goes.
So up to this point it seems that we treat pet cancers the same way we treat human cancers. We mostly do, but with one major exception - we are not as aggressive in using chemotherapy or radiation.
When I say the word chemotherapy, most people think about that friend or relative who had serious side effects to cancer treatment. Our goal is to NOT make our pets sicker with treatment.” I remember my oncology professor at The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Guiellmo Couto (probably the most compassionate man I have ever known), making that comment. It really made an impact on me.
Cancer treatment in animals is less aggressive due to our pets' shorter lifespans. Our focus is on remissions and alleviating pain in our cancer patients. We do not want the animals to suffer with side effects which we often can tolerate in humans. If we are aggressive with human patients and have them suffer some pretty serious side effects for a year, with the potential to have that person live 20 more years, then we can often justify that. On the other hand if we make an animal miserable for 6 months to get an extra year of life, then it is debatable if that is fair to the pet. As a result, we get less cures than in humans but we get a lot of remissions. Many animals will live months to years on chemotherapy.
This brings up another important point. Just because we have all these tools to treat our pets for cancer, that does not mean we should use them in all our cancer patients. In some pets, the benefit-to-risk ratio is not in the animal's best interest. The decision to treat cancer in our pets is a very personal decision. Please talk to you vet about the treatments and the goal of therapy.
On a personal note, I have had a number of friends that have been impacted with cancer, just I am sure many of you have had. I am riding in Pelotonia 11, which is a 100 mile bike ride in August, from Columbus, Ohio to Athens Ohio. Last year we had 4000 riders and raised $5,000,000 in 1 day! All the money goes to The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University Medical Center. It is a great event and it impacts so many people.
My goal is to raise $1,800 on behalf of two friends with cancer. If you feel the urge to donate, any amount is appreciated. My donation page is here.
Thank you.
Related Posts:
April is Cancer Month at Embrace Pet Insurance
Claim Example: b cell neoplasm (rectal tumor) in Dachshund
Guest Post: cancer treatment for cats and dogs versus people
Claim example: lymphoma in 3 year old mixed breed cat
Other posts by Dr Riggs
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Dr. Rex Riggs grew up in Wadsworth, Ohio, near Akron. Dr Riggs is co-owner of Best Friends Veterinary Hospital in Powell, Ohio. He is also on the board of the North Central Region of Canine Companions of Independence, a board member of The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Society and Small Animal Practitioner Advancement Board at The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Riggs lives in Lewis Center, OH with his wife Nancy, their dogs Maggie, and two cats Franklin and Speeder. Outside of work, Dr. Riggs is an avid golfer and enjoys travel and photography.
