My pet has cancer…are they in pain?

As an oncologist who sees many pets with cancer this is one of the questions that I sometimes find the hardest to answer.  A few years ago I found a very small swelling under my armpit that hurt when I touched it.  My doctor told me “not to worry…if it hurts it probably isn’t cancer.”  Fortunately for me he was right, but for a lot of our pets with cancer their tumors are more advanced when we find them, so they often are painful at that point. 

How can you tell if your pet is in pain?  There are some signs you can look for.  If your pet is limping it almost always is from pain.  If your pet has a tumor that is damaging bone anywhere in the body this is painful.  If your pet is acting abnormally in any way they may have pain.  For example, if they have an oral tumor and they won’t eat this is likely due to pain.  If your pet’s tumor is red or swollen or they are licking, scratching or biting at the tumor it probably hurts.

However, it is important to remember that some pets will never show these signs, even with a painful tumor.  Not that long ago dogs and cats were wild animals and their natural instinct is to hide pain… or be eaten!   Cats may hide more or have a decreased appetite when they are in pain but most cats show no signs of pain.  Many large breed dogs such as retrievers will wag their tail and beg for food, even with a tumor that we know would be horribly painful in a person.

It is very important to try to identify whether your pet is in pain because controlling that pain will improve their quality of life and in some cases can improve their response to treatment.  The best way to get rid of pain from a tumor is to get rid of the tumor.  Surgery, radiation or chemotherapy may help achieve this, but in cases where the tumor cannot be removed or controlled, pain management is important and veterinarians are getting much better at it.  Currently there are many more choices for pain control in pets than there were in the past.  Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, pain killers like buprenorphine and gabapentin help keep animals comfortable.  Also radiation can be very effective in controlling pain for certain tumors.  In some cases acupuncture may be used.

So if your pet has cancer of any type, whether you are going through treatment or you just want to keep them comfortable, ask your veterinarian to help you determine if your pet is in pain, and discuss what you can do to make them comfortable.

John Farrelly, DVM, MS, ACVIM (Oncology), ACVR (Radiation Oncology)
The Veterinary Cancer Center

   

Cody's Legacy

For me there have always been three types of “expenses” associated with the treatment of cancer. There are the financial, time, and emotional expenses; each one of these, unfortunately having to be considered when making decisions relating to whether and how to treat a pet with cancer.

When I found out that my 12 year old Rottweiler Cody had cancer I was devastated. Tough decisions needed to be made, but being a part owner of The Veterinary Cancer Center in Norwalk, CT, these were not decisions I needed to make alone. I had a team of the best doctors, with access to the best treatment modalities and, the latest in cutting edge clinical trials.

I was able to focus my attention fully on Cody’s care and deal solely with the emotional expense and was able to do so without being weighed down by the burden of the other expenses—financial and time-- associated with her treatment.

Because of all I was able to do, Cody's outlived her prognosis by almost 9 months-- something that few dogs with her type of cancer ever do.

When Cody did finally pass in July of 2009, I set out to honor the most miraculous and marvelous dog I had ever known. In a moment of support, Dr. Post, my partner, reminded me of how lucky I had been to be in a position of being able to do everything possible to help my beloved dog and that there were many people that could not afford the expenses associated with her treatment.

It was at that moment that I knew what I wanted to do to honor Cody. Although I could not help people with all of the “expenses” associated with cancer therapy, I could help them with the financial aspect of treatment. I could do this by co-creating a foundation that would raise money to help offset the costs of treating animals with cancer.

The Riedel & Cody Fund is not just about raising money. It is about giving knowledge and hope; about giving people the tools and the place to help one another. It is a community that embodies all the values that we should emulate from our pets; one of unwavering dedication and compassion. A community that we hope will connect people in need with those with generosity of heart and of spirit.

For more information about The Riedel & Cody Fund click here.

David Duchemin
Chief Operating Officer, and Practice Co-Owner of
The Veterinary Cancer Center

Co-Founder, and Treasurer of
The Riedel & Cody Fund

 

Can my pet with cancer get his or her routine vaccinations?

Recently, I have received many questions regarding whether a pet with cancer should receive routine vaccinations. The short answer is, it depends.
 
The long answer is:
 
If a pet has a type of cancer that arises from the immune system I recommend that vaccinations be limited as stimulating the immune system MAY cause the cancer to progress or potentially come out of remission. Examples of a few common cancers that arise from the immune system include: Lymphoma, Mast cell tumors, and Plasma cell tumors. Many other types of cancer do not arise from the immune system and so there is less concern for the above.
 
Now, this in no way means that every pet with cancer should be exempt from vaccinations. Vaccinations are very important and serve to benefit your pet by protecting them from numerous infectious diseases (some of which have very serious consequences even including death, such as with the Rabies virus).
 
The best approach to determine which vaccines your pet with cancer should receive is to partner with your pet's general health care veterinarian and with us at the VCC. Instead of a blanket recommendation for every pet I emphasize the importance of looking at a pet's individual risk and benefit profile regarding each vaccination. Here is an example to help clarify: a pet that lives in an area that has a high prevalence of Lyme disease and who hunts all day in the woods would benefit from the Lyme vaccine due to that pet's personal high risk of contracting Lyme disease. In contrast, for a pet with an immune system cancer living in a geographic area that sees very little Lyme disease I would not recommend this vaccine as the risk of the vaccine would outweigh the benefit in this pet.
 
A titer can also be run on some vaccinations. A titer is a blood test that is used to determine if the immunity imparted from a particular vaccine is still high in your pet. If a titer is run and it shows that a pet still has strong immunity to a particular disease it may not be necessary to re-vaccinate for that disease. An example of a vaccine for which a titer can be performed is the distemper vaccine.
 
There are also some legal implications to consider when deciding whether to vaccinate a pet with cancer. Certain vaccines are mandated by state law for the protection of the individual pet as well as the protection of other animals and of people. The best example of this is the Rabies vaccine which is required by state law in CT. In some cases an exemption letter can be written to allow an individual pet exemption from the vaccine, however, this decision needs to be made very cautiously.
 
So unfortunately there is no short and easy answer to the question put forth above.  It is imperative that you partner with your pet’s general health care veterinarian and with us at the VCC to make the best decisions for your individual pet based on his or her risk/benefit profile.  Utilizing a team approach with input from your pet’s general health care veterinarian, your pet’s oncologist, and you (the pet’s parent) will allow for development of the optimal vaccination plan for your pet.

 

GinaOlmsted, DVM

The Veterinary Cancer Center

Mommy, Can I Keep Him?

As some of you know, we participate in many clinical trials at The Veterinary Cancer Center (VCC). One of our current patients, a Golden Retriever named Finnegan, is currently participating in one of our clinical trials. This specific trial is one month long and there are weekly treatments and blood work. Unfortunately, Finnegan’s owners live about four hours away, so he has been staying with us for the duration of his treatments.

I had the opportunity to take Finn home one night—the owner was so pleased that her dog could go home with me. It was such a wonderful experience to have Finn at our home, he brought such joy to me and my son. Finn is an amazing dog! He is 11 years old and you would never know it with the amount of energy he has. He will take any attention he can get.

Finnegan’s stay with us is coming to an end and it is a bitter sweet moment for me and I’m sure everyone here at The VCC. After coming in every morning for a month and seeing his adorable face and wagging tail it’s going to be hard for all of us when he leaves. He has an amazing family and I’m sure they’ve missed him very much and will be happy to have him home. I hope we get to see him again and we wish him and his family all the best.

Kim Strazza - Senior Technician
The Veterinary Cancer Center

Veterinary Oncology? ...Where’s the proof?

I always find it interesting when being introduced to people who have never heard of veterinary oncology or in layman's terms, “cancer treatment for animals”. Sure, one might say that my current occupation in the veterinary field may have something to do with my knowledge of the subject, but in any event, I’m still perplexed every time someone cocks their head to the side like a puppy after hearing about veterinary oncology.

Of course it’s natural for people to have differences in their appreciation for animals and therefore interest in any related subject, but i’d say 90% of the time I get one of the following responses; “I never knew that! Is it like human cancer treatment? How successful is it?”. I have come to realize that many people do not know about Veterinary Oncology or how it goes beyond the realm of dogs and cats, and few are aware of its effectiveness. That said, people need to be made more aware of the physiological similarities that exists between us humans and our four-legged friends. In fact, we so closely resemble each other physiologically that many of the current oncological advancements in human oncology began with the treatment of pets.

To a certain degree I can understand how some people may be skeptical of my prior statements, such as those individuals who find things hard to believe unless they’ve experienced it firsthand -- But it is difficult to provide visible proof of the relationship between the physiological response of man and “man’s best friend”. Although I must admit that, even working at The Veterinary Cancer Center, chemotherapy and radiation sometimes seem a bit like wishful magic.

For example, about one week ago I was inadvertently presented with the perfect testimonial -- a bold form of evidence that not even Houdini could replicate. Seven days earlier, Dr. Farrelly had asked me to take a picture of a rectal mass on one of The VCC patients he and Dr. Post are currently treating . A week later, he requested that I repeat the same exact thing to the very same patient, except this time he asked me to upload the images to the patients file.

It was then that my neurons started making the necessary connection, and I thought “this is the perfect testimonial.” In the original image the tumor was approximately the size of a golfball, but in only one week it had noticeably decreased in size to nothing more than a pea. The dog was happier, The VCC was proud, and I got my proof. Now, whenever I meet someone who needs to learn a thing or two about veterinary oncology, I begin by showing them a side-by-side view of the two images; the before and after pictures of a rectal mass. Isn’t irony great?

Give me paw,
Alex