Cancer among dogs on the rise in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: The dreaded C-word is increasingly getting identified with dogs as well. Veterinarians and animal experts in the city say that several cases of cancer among dogs are reported from the city. Though experts cite several reasons from increasing levels of pollution to changes in food habits, like in human beings, the exact reasons of cancer among dogs remain a mystery.
Dr S Venkateswaran, a senior veterinarian at the Cotton City Pets Poly Clinic, says that they get around 20 to 30 cases every month. "They (dogs) can be affected with various types of cancers from the more common transmissible venereal tumours (TVT) to lymphoma," he said. Dr S R Srinivasan, director of clinics at the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, says they too get several cases. "However, the cases we get are at an advanced stage which makes cure difficult," he said.
The treatment can ranges from a few doses of drugs to surgery and chemotherapy. Though radiation will help in some cases, the facility is not available in the country. However, like in the case of many humans, cancer among canines too is usually detected at an advanced stage making cure difficult. The ailment comes to light only when the dog is brought to the vet for refusing food or suffering from pain or constipation. A scan is done usually after other treatment fails. In some cases like the TVT, the cure is easier, and it is even preventable, as with mammary and prostate cancers. But for others like leukaemia to lymphoma, cure is difficult unless it is detected at an early stage, doctors say.
TVTs, which are quite common among stray dogs, can spread through sexual contact or even when the canines lick the wounds, doctors say. These dogs will have wounds and bleeding in its genital parts. This can be cured with a few doses of medicines. Doctors say they are more common in the months of November and December and in June and July, which are the more common mating seasons. Veterinarians easily identify them from their profuse bleeding. Osteosarcoma or bone tumour can be cured if detected at an early stage. But the affected limbs may have to be amputated to prevent it from spreading and, later, the animal has to undergo chemotherapy.
Then there are cases of lymphoma which causes the swelling of the lymph glands. Unfortunately, the cure rate is less. So is it with leukaemia cases. Dr Vishnu Gurubaran, veterinarian with the Humane Animal Society (HAS), says that sniffer dogs especially those with the law enforcement agencies are seen to have these cancers. "As they sniff narcotic substances and drugs, cancers are common among them," he said.
Most cancers, doctors say, occur in the middle ages of the dogs. Mammary or breast cancers are reported in female dogs usually after middle age.