Our experiences
It seems almost pointless to attach the label ‘canine’ to this killer disease rather than to any other sufferers, for the statistics are horribly similar. Despite advances in prevention and cures, cancer remains one of the world’s biggest killers of humans and pets. For the 23 years Michael and I were blessed with many beautiful Salukis in our lives, and before we left the UK, we had never lost one to this disease. Similarly, in our family histories cancer had not figured largely as the cause of death in relatives and loved ones yet, in time, we could not beat the odds and I was left reeling when my mother died from the disease. Even so, cancer was not one of my foremost fears or experiences with the Salukis.
I had indeed been shocked and saddened to learn of a beautiful 4 year old show-winner succumbing to the disease but dismissed it in my mind as a rare case. Apart from routine visits for vaccinations and minor problems affecting my Salukis, the most serious reasons for seeking veterinary assistance for our hounds had been to treat injuries sustained while out running free, exercising their natural hunting instincts. During a particularly difficult time for us we had failed to recognize the warning signs of pyometra (serious disease of the womb) in my first female hound, Yasmin, and she only just survived by prompt veterinary action and spaying to remove the infected uterus. Other than this many years passed with only the occasional rush to surgery with blood-spattered hounds from ripped shoulders etc. and/or from the quarry still in their mouths.
There were, though, two other similar serious incidents that required surgery and one of these, it is my personal belief, left a trauma site which in time allowed cancer cells to develop. Until we moved to Cyprus, all our dogs were able to run free across countryside and after the great storm of 1987 in England Yasmin impaled herself on some remaining debris. She pulled herself off a foot long piece of wood and, had she not been spayed, would have bled out. Again, prompt veterinary care saved her to make a complete and rapid recovery with no long-term consequences. Some years later, however, our young male Saluki, Rowan, sustained a similar injury from which he seemed to make a full recovery aside from a very slight turning in of a back foot when he was tired. It was only years later, when the leg disintegrated and a form of bone cancer was diagnosed, that I felt there had been a connection between that first accident and the later development of cancer. We were living in the Holy Land near Jerusalem at the time and in my memoir of those years, ‘Ineffably Beautiful’, I recall the vicissitudes of the Salukis along with our own fortunes. Extracts from the book and the story of how we dealt with canine cancer both in that land and with another case when we retired to the island of Cyprus can be found by clicking on 'Healthy Solutions'
The ‘I’Word
Dogs suffer from many of the same kinds of cancers as humans and are treated similarly, following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy protocols or surgical removal. However, in some canine cases the treatments used for humans are too aggressive to be successful without weakening the animal to the point where survival is unlikely. So much can be done in this modern age to alleviate and even cure all forms of cancer but we had to experience the horrible moment when we heard the diagnosis attached to the ‘I’ word – Incurable – and this not once, but twice, although the cancers were quite different in each affected Saluki. These stories don’t have miraculous happy endings but they do present minor miracles along the way and encouragement to others facing the probable loss of a beloved pet. Our experiences affirm that, even in the worst cases, it is possible for the canine sufferer to have an extended life span and pain controlled quality time with their companion owners. Our stories are recorded here but we invite other owners to share their own.
For details of the types of canine cancers, please go to the Common Cancers or Mast Cell Tumour pages.
It seems almost pointless to attach the label ‘canine’ to this killer disease rather than to any other sufferers, for the statistics are horribly similar. Despite advances in prevention and cures, cancer remains one of the world’s biggest killers of humans and pets. For the 23 years Michael and I were blessed with many beautiful Salukis in our lives, and before we left the UK, we had never lost one to this disease. Similarly, in our family histories cancer had not figured largely as the cause of death in relatives and loved ones yet, in time, we could not beat the odds and I was left reeling when my mother died from the disease. Even so, cancer was not one of my foremost fears or experiences with the Salukis.
I had indeed been shocked and saddened to learn of a beautiful 4 year old show-winner succumbing to the disease but dismissed it in my mind as a rare case. Apart from routine visits for vaccinations and minor problems affecting my Salukis, the most serious reasons for seeking veterinary assistance for our hounds had been to treat injuries sustained while out running free, exercising their natural hunting instincts. During a particularly difficult time for us we had failed to recognize the warning signs of pyometra (serious disease of the womb) in my first female hound, Yasmin, and she only just survived by prompt veterinary action and spaying to remove the infected uterus. Other than this many years passed with only the occasional rush to surgery with blood-spattered hounds from ripped shoulders etc. and/or from the quarry still in their mouths.
There were, though, two other similar serious incidents that required surgery and one of these, it is my personal belief, left a trauma site which in time allowed cancer cells to develop. Until we moved to Cyprus, all our dogs were able to run free across countryside and after the great storm of 1987 in England Yasmin impaled herself on some remaining debris. She pulled herself off a foot long piece of wood and, had she not been spayed, would have bled out. Again, prompt veterinary care saved her to make a complete and rapid recovery with no long-term consequences. Some years later, however, our young male Saluki, Rowan, sustained a similar injury from which he seemed to make a full recovery aside from a very slight turning in of a back foot when he was tired. It was only years later, when the leg disintegrated and a form of bone cancer was diagnosed, that I felt there had been a connection between that first accident and the later development of cancer. We were living in the Holy Land near Jerusalem at the time and in my memoir of those years, ‘Ineffably Beautiful’, I recall the vicissitudes of the Salukis along with our own fortunes. Extracts from the book and the story of how we dealt with canine cancer both in that land and with another case when we retired to the island of Cyprus can be found by clicking on 'Healthy Solutions'
The ‘I’Word
Dogs suffer from many of the same kinds of cancers as humans and are treated similarly, following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy protocols or surgical removal. However, in some canine cases the treatments used for humans are too aggressive to be successful without weakening the animal to the point where survival is unlikely. So much can be done in this modern age to alleviate and even cure all forms of cancer but we had to experience the horrible moment when we heard the diagnosis attached to the ‘I’ word – Incurable – and this not once, but twice, although the cancers were quite different in each affected Saluki. These stories don’t have miraculous happy endings but they do present minor miracles along the way and encouragement to others facing the probable loss of a beloved pet. Our experiences affirm that, even in the worst cases, it is possible for the canine sufferer to have an extended life span and pain controlled quality time with their companion owners. Our stories are recorded here but we invite other owners to share their own.
For details of the types of canine cancers, please go to the Common Cancers or Mast Cell Tumour pages.