Pet Cancer Prevention Month: What You Can Do To Keep Your Dog or Cat Healthy

Help protect us from cancer!

November is known for lots of wonderful things: Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, beautiful fall vistas, and for me,  relief from a brutally hot summer! But there’s an even more important event in November, especially for animal lovers , and it’s relatively new: National Pet Cancer Awareness month.

2010 marks the 6th year that the veterinary industry is doing its best to call attention to this horrible illness that affects pets of all kinds. The National Canine Cancer Foundation website says that one of every three dogs will develop cancer in its lifetime and that half of those will die from it. And the Animal Cancer Foundation says that pets – particularly dogs and cats – are developing cancer “at an alarming rate”; up to 60% of breeds are affected. It’s scary. According to their website, the most common forms of cancer being detected are lymphoma, bone cancer, breast cancer, bladder tumors, leukemia, brain tumors and sarcomas.

Not wanting to cast a pall on the upcoming holidays, let’s stay positive and talk about prevention, the single most powerful weapon in your anti-cancer arsenal.

Really scary.

Okay, so what can we do to keep our pets (and ourselves) healthy? According to DogChannel.com, there are several ways to help keep your dog cancer free:

1. Give your dog pure water rather than tap water, which can contain dangerous chemicals.

2. Don’t let your dog become a victim of second-hand smoke.

3. Don’t use cleaning products, pesticides, or other hazardous chemicals in a poorly ventilated area of your home.

4. Don’t allow your dog to become overweight.

5. Spaying or neutering your dog reduces his/her chances of contracting cancer.

They also recommend using natural flea and tick products, and while they’re safer for your pet, they’re not always as effective as chemical products and you need to do a lot more maintenance in your home and on your pet to make sure they’re flea/tick free.

You Can Help Further The Fight.

The National Canine Cancer Foundation‘s website states that they’re a “non-profit corporation dedicated to eliminating Cancer as a major health issue in dogs by funding grants directly to Cancer researchers who are working to save lives, find cures, better treatments and accurate, cost effective diagnostic methods in dealing with canine Cancer.”

The Animal Cancer Foundation website explains their goals as developing and supporting “research that advances the prevention and treatment of cancer for people and pets.” They’re partnered with other organizations who donate all or a portion of their proceeds or organize walks to help fund ACF’s research.

There are other organizations in the crusade against cancer as well – find a way to help one you like and trust!

In Memory of 9/11, To All Our Heroes, Human and Canine

Thank you. Thank you for putting the welfare of others before your own. For jumping to action and putting yourselves in harm’s way while the rest of the world watched from a safe distance. For those we’ve lost and those who live on, dealing with the horrors they saw….thank you.

Take a moment to remember our fallen heroes, the fallen victims, the suffering survivors, and the families left behind. Stay as devoutly American in the future as you were on that dark day. And don’t ever let that day be forgotten.

Canine Memorials:
World Trade Center’s Heroic Dog Yearbook:  http://www.dogsinthenews.com/issues/0206/articles/020601y.htm

World Trade Center’s Heroic Rescue Dogs:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/980774/posts

K9 Task Force:  http://k9taskforce.com/portal/ – 9/11 and beyond.

General:

New York Museum World Trade Center Rescue Recovery Response:  http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/wtc/

Kennel Club for Hybrid/Designer Dogs like us!

Specialty kennel clubs aren’t just for purebreeds anymore!! Now Designer Dogs – also called Hybrid Dogs – can be part of an exclusive organization too (they should be, they cost at least as much as purebreeds)!

Designer Dogs Kennel Club (http://www.ddkc.org/designerdogskennelclub.html) is open to over 500 breeds of hybrid designer dogs. This appears to be a new organization, and it sounds like more stuff is in the works. Their site says that they’ll have education and other events in the future.  The breeds now being accepted are listed on their website, so you can see if your dog is there.

There are some pretty strict rules for confirming each designer dog’s heritage, and right now it seems like it’s mainly a way for breeders to certify that their litters are the pure hybrids they claim them to be, but there may be more to it because they do discuss ways to register a single puppy or dog. It’s only a couple of years old and the website seems pretty new, so you may have to contact them to find out more. But if you’re in the market for a hybrid dog, this seems like a good way to be sure you’re choosing a registered breeder.

And mixed breeds also have their own special club too, the Mixed Breed Dog Clubs of America (http://mbdca.tripod.com/). Looks like they’ve been around for at least several years. I have a special love for mixed breeds – our last dog was a shelter dog and was a shepherd/collie/husky mix, and she was just the sweetest, nicest pet around.

The MBDCA gives mixed breed dogs the opportunity to show off their many inherited skills in various competitions; they’re even attempting to arrange for mixed breed dogs to compete in some AKC events!