Have any of you lost multiple pets to cancer? Did you go through some kind of “survey” of your home to identify potential environmental causes? Did your vet have any ideas of causes?
I lost my dog Sydney to cancer very suddenly 3 years ago, my Golden Retriever was just diagnosed with cancer and now my cat in at the vet with blood tests indicating either an infection or cancer. So, I’m getting a little paranoid that my house is poison for my animals.
They all eat very high quality food. We don’t use any pesticides anywhere near our home and no smoking in our home. Those were the ones our vet mentioned. Any other ideas based on research you have done?
Not multiple pets, but, I lost my best friend, Jackson, 3 years ago to cancer. He was a 13 year old Lhasa Apso. It was undetected and took him very suddenly. I have had my 10 year old border collie mix tested and nothing showed up. I also had Kansas, the dog we found on the highway, tested b/c of a couple growths removed from her. She also came back clean.
Just as an FYI - 3 year vaccines for rabies in cats is a major cause of connective tissue and bone cancer. One year is recommended for cats. Lost my flame point Himmy at age 11 to this.
There is a lot missing in your OP. What types of cancers? How old are the animals? I would assume the first was young, but if the others are older, then that may not show anything of significance. Remember, we are doing more with nutrition, health checks, etc and our pets are living far longer lives than they used to. The age increases have risen pretty dramatically within the last 20 or so years, so you may be seeing some artifact of that. Much like the reporting of prostrate cancer in human males - it appears to have gone up, but longevity and diagnosis have improved so much the number is probably somewhat artificial. Pure breeds or mixed? There is a lot of cancer that shows up in more popular pure breeds as breeding quality goes down.
It is a very complicated issue, like anything else that is epidemialogical. Now if your vet has reported a rise in cancer for pets in your area, then maybe there is something to a broader environmental issue.
Not that it is not worth checking out your house, but there are some many factors at play here that I am not sure you could definitevely isolate it to any one cause. I lost one cat and one dog within a one year period, but the cancers were very different, the casues were pretty well determined. Sometimes the odds just go against you.
I so sorry you and your friends are going through this. I don’t really have anything to add other than we are praying we are clean with Rory.
Last weekend she had a large mass (golf ball sized) removed from the “elbow” of her front left leg. It was kinda like a large skin tag since it was attached at a small point. Because of her general great health and young age, the vet recommended not worrying about having it tested due to the cost. Because we are on an extreme budget due to wifey’s current unemployment, we agreed. But I have to admit I think I would rest easier had we had it tested. But in the end, it wouldn’t really have changed alot. We are going to love and care for her the same way regardless.
In the end, love and care for your friends and give them the best life you can. When they leave this world, know you did the best you could for them. Then heal the broken heart and start over with another friend. I believe there is a special place in the afterlife for people willing to do this for our friends.
For our first dog, she was just over 7 when she died. We don’t know exactly what the cancer origin was. We found it because a lump started growing on her knee and interferring with her walking. It was treated as an injury with anti-inflammatories but that wasn’t helping and the lump seemed to be getting bigger. It felt boney so we didn’t even think of a tumor. The vet got concerned and we had it biopsied. Big surprise to all of us that it was bone cancer. They did a full images, I can’t remember if it was an ultrasound or x-rays, and found it all through her system. Turns out the lump on her leg wasn’t the origin, it might have been the liver. She was a Cattle Dog mix so she was really tough. Gave us no indication anything was going wrong. Two weeks after diagnosis we put her to sleep. It was horrible.
For our Golden Retriever, we suspect Lymphoma. He got a full “Senior Workup” (he is ~ 12) at our vet which included a bunch of bloodwork and some x-rays. The x-rays were fine but his bloodwork showed an elevated calcium level. We did a second blood draw and had it sent somewhere back east for another type of test which came back 50/50 that it was either cancer or a parathyroid problem. One last test ruled out the parathyroid which left us with cancer. We decided we would treat with Prednisone and not pursue chemo. He is old, has a really hard time moving around because of his hips and is completely deaf. If we pursed chemo it wouldn’t be fair to him and wouldn’t necessarily succeed. We also decided not to do the ultrasound to find the tumor because it wouldn’t have changed our treatment plan and it would have been more stressful for him. Ultimately all that would do for us it let us know how much longer he as to live. That is only for our benefit, it won’t help him at all. Good news is that the Prednisone is making him feel MUCH better. We have no idea how long he’ll be with us so he is getting spoiled rotten.
With him, it isn’t a surprise because Goldens get cancer. Our vet told us that most Goldens die of cancer, it is that common in the breed. He was rescued off the street and brought into a shelter where we found him. He hadn’t been neutered and we really don’t know how old he is. 12 is a best guess.
For our cat, he doesn’t get vaccinated. He never leaves the house and neither do my other cats. He is 6.5 years old and was feral. We took him in a 4 weeks old and have had him ever since. We are waiting for a final diagnosis today. Its possible it is an infection but I have no idea where he could have gotten it because he doesn’t go outside.
We do actually clean the carpet very regularly. Our other dog, Katy, is 13 and has incontinence problems so we need to spot clean it almost daily. She can’t make it through the night anymore. I usually do a full cleaning once a month. We use the standard rug cleaners in the grocery stores but always the pet specific ones.
Check out your household cleaning products. They are full of hazardous chemicals. There was a good documentary on this on CBC. A company named Shacklee makes evironmentally safe cleaning products. We’ve switched over to these.
Our 12 year old lab Daisy, recently put down, had a large (tennis ball sized) tumor on her belly which may or may not been cancerous. It looked nasty and didn’t feel like her numerous fat tumors. We had her spade AFTER her first heat and I have since read that waiting after the first period increases the likelyhood of several types of cancer. We now have a deposit on a new female Lab puppy and will definately have her spade at the recommended 7-8 months of age.
I talked to my vet earlier and my Opie isn’t doing well. He won’t eat anything. The ultrasound didn’t find any tumors but we knew going in that it would definately rule out cancer as it won’t always find a tumor. He is staying over another night and will get tested by the radiologist to see if he can find anything. They are going to have to force feed him in the meantime. My poor baby is so scared.
I know my neighbor’s dog died of cancer many years ago but he was quite old. My vet says cancer is pretty common in dogs and isn’t necessarily a sign of an environmental cause but I don’t think I can keep going like this. Ugh.
Hopefully he makes it through the night and we find out what is going on tomorrow.
In the meantime, my house is being purged of anything that even remotely has chemical in them that could cause harm.
