Cancer in Pets Seems so Much more Common Now?

[Anonymous]

I recently became aware of two more people who's dogs have cancer. That five I've heard of in the past year or so. I have had both a cat and dog succumb to cancer.

It makes me wonder, because years ago cancer in pets didn't seem common - at least in my world. Is it breeding, the pet food, flea and tick meds, vaccines?

[Anonymous]

It's probably people spending more money on diagnostic tests.

[Anonymous]

People spending more money on pet healthcare. 30 years ago, people would just put the dog down and bury it in the backyard. No way in hell people would try to have their dog "fight" cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People spending more money on pet healthcare. 30 years ago, people would just put the dog down and bury it in the backyard. No way in hell people would try to have their dog "fight" cancer.

Yup, I agree.

[Anonymous]

Or maybe pets are better taken care of, so dying at an older age of cancer rather than being hit by cars, dying of distemper, infections, kidney disease from poor nutrition, etc.

[Anonymous]

Plus there has been an enormous proliferation of designer pet breeds that are inherently less robust than a farm mutt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's probably people spending more money on diagnostic tests.

This. Before the dog just died and you didn't know it was cancer. We've had two lab-mix mutts and both died of lymphoma, which we did not treat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus there has been an enormous proliferation of designer pet breeds that are inherently less robust than a farm mutt.

Yes. It used to be very rare to own a pure bred dog. Before WW II, this was something for the wealthy.

[Anonymous]

I think it's probably a combination of two things.

For one, in the past, the diagnostic tests were either not available or more expense than average people would pay for a dog.

But I also think that, even with that, cancer rates have probably gone up.

I don't think it's the food.

I think that it might have to do with weight. A correlation between weight and increased cancer risk has been made in humans. And I do believe I've read that more pets today than in eras past are overweight.