Shortly after Lori Guzewich adopted Canute, a young Great Dane, she noticed something odd inside his mouth. A receptionist at a veterinary practice, she knew she should get someone to check it out, and was relieved to hear it didn't seem to be anything but a harmless polyp.
A year later, Guzewich noticed the polyp was still there, and it was creating a foul odor. She took him back to the vet, who found it was fibrosarcoma, a malignant tumor. The veterinarian suggested she take Canute to LSU Pet Med, a veterinary teaching hospital at Louisiana State University.
“He's just a baby, and he deserves a long life,” said Guzewich, who lives in Crestview, Florida, and rented an AirBnB so she and her spouse could take turns staying with Canute during his treatment in Louisiana.
Now, the 2-year-old rescue is recovering and, other than a burn mark on his face from radiation, is “doing fantastic,” Guzewich said. During November – Pet Cancer Awareness Month – her advice to fellow pet owners: If something seems wrong, talk to a veterinarian, get a second opinion if you think it's needed, and talk out treatment options before deciding cost is too much of a barrier for treatment.
Dr. Jayme Looper is a veterinary radiation oncologist at LSU Vet Med. She said cancer treatment for pets often follows the same protocols as it does for humans: surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation.
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But there's one big difference, she added: “Our biggest goal with animals is not always to cure them,” she said. “Our priority is to give them the best quality of life.”
Side effects for cancer treatments can be painful to endure for humans, but a person can understand why they're suffering through the treatment with an end in sight. Animals can't.
“(Pets) can't tell us when they're suffering,” Looper said. “So we go out of our way to make sure the treatment itself isn't making them sick. We go out of our way to minimize the side effects since they don't know what's happening.”
While pet insurance is available, not everyone has it and not everyone can afford it, so cost is a reality many pet owners face when deciding on treatment for their animals.
“A lot of treatments can be expensive,” Looper acknowledged, though not as expensive as it can be for humans. Veterinarians talk to owners about their options and their own goals for the animal's treatments.
“One of the most important things to recognize is that there's a spectrum of care,” Looper said. Palliative care, surgery, radiation, chemo, monitoring for changes: These can all be options for pet owners.
And there is financial help as well, she noted, from low-interest financing and even grants and other assistance from charitable organizations like Petco Love Care.
Like humans, older animals are more likely to develop cancer, although the disease can afflict younger animals as well.
But since our pets can tell us if they're not feeling well, it's up to owners to look for the following signs that something might be amiss:
- bumps and lumps that enlarge or change;
- lethargy or loss of interest in playing or exercise;
- rapid changes in weight;
- changes in or trouble with urination or defecation;
- unexplained bleeding or discharge; and
- changes in appetite, demeanor or behavior
Lymphoma, bone cancers and mast cell tumors are most common in dogs and cats, Looper said, and all breeds, including mixed breeds, can get cancer. About half of the dogs who live to the age of 10 will develop cancer.
“But that speaks to how well cared for they are,” Looper said. “They live longer, and they're diagnosed more frequently.”
Advancements in cancer care for humans apply to animals as well, including immunotherapy and more targeted radiation, the latter of which can also minimize side effects and treat tumors more effectively.
“It's a lot easier on the pets, and it means a lot fewer treatments,” Looper said, meaning shorter cycles of radiation, fewer occasions when the animal needs to be anesthetized, even lower costs.
Looper said she's spoken with many pet owners who've dealt with cancer within their own (human) families, and often decide they can't bear to put their pet through the ordeal of treatments. “But we have a huge focus on quality of life, and we go out of our way to make this as easy for people to decide what's best for their pet as possible.
“We want every to be a good day for their pet.”
