Our dogs are important to us. For many of us, they’re just like family. I have been around dogs for as long as I can remember, pretty much since childhood. When a dog gets visibly sick we hurry on to the vet to get them healed. We try to keep our dogs healthy; we like to feed them, nurture them, bathe them, and do everything we can do to make sure that they have a healthy life; but in some cases especially if your dog has a genetic predisposition to cancer, it might not be enough. However, there’s not much a person can do to prevent canine lung cancer from occurring. The good news, however, is that there are many treatments available! Also, educating yourself about the disease can help you understand it, which will help you in your pet better combat this disease. Let’s discuss this a little bit.
In the case of Canine Lung Cancer it can start off slowly, and then as your dog progresses further into this disease more and more symptoms appear. Over time, just like human cancer, this can really begin to have an affect on your pet. There are several symptoms that you can look for to identify canine lung cancer. Weight loss, lethargy, trouble breathing, chronic coughing and coughing up of blood; these are all indications that your dog could be suffering from canine lung cancer.
Hence, as a pet owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that your pet is always healthy and happy. Educating yourself on how to keep your pet happy and healthy is one of your min responsibilities. You can find more info here.
What happens is carcinoma (a type of Canine Lung Cancer) forms in the lungs in a small mass. This will begin to cause trouble breathing, and your dog may even begin to cough a little. As the carcinoma increases in size, the symptoms will also increase. If your dog is coughing up blood, or there is blood in the saliva, it’s an indication that the lungs have begun to deteriorate, or that the dog could have ruptured the cancer cells. This is a dangerous situation which could cause immediate death if you don’t get them to surgery right away!
Other signs to watch out for would be your dog dragging their hiring legs rather than walking, less movement while they’re sleeping and as well as during the day. You might also notice numbness in their limbs.
Carcinoma, can usually be malignant. That means that it will cause death if not treated properly. The causes of carcinoma are still widely unknown, but just like in cancer for humans it is recommended that you avoid smoking around your pet it is believed that secondhand smoke can affect your dog, just as it can affect those around you. So avoid smoking around your dog. Also, give them plenty of exercise and a good, healthy diet which will help prevent lung cancer from occurring.
In the case of treatment, your 1st option will usually be surgery. Removal of the mass from the lungs is necessary, and proper medication will help heal the lung. There are cases, however, where the mass might be too big to remove without destroying the lung. Your veterinarian, in this case, would suggest radiation therapy to help reduce the mass until it can be removed surgically. Sometimes in radiation therapy the mass may disappear completely. Radiation and chemotherapy are used to reduce the mass and hinder abnormal cells from forming. It may take up to a few radiation treatments or surgeries before the canine lung cancer is healed.
We, as dog owners feel responsible about the health of our pets. Canine lung cancer is very dangerous and deadly so I hope this will help you understand some of the symptoms, and treatments of this serious illness.
