I am driving along the other day in my truck listening to National Radio and there is a bit on dogs and cancer.
The vet said that 70% of dogs die from cancer and that bigger dogs die between 7 and 9 years of age. I say to Red [that's the dogs name ] bloody hell your living on borrowed time mate, he is 9 1/2.









Well to cut along story short he gets a bit of a limp and off to the vet he goes and after an xray he is found to have a cancerous tumour in his back leg and was put down last Monday.

Why do 70% of dogs die from cancer ?

Is it what they are fed all the processed crap are we better off feeding our dogs a natural diet ?

Awesome photos there Salmoner, I'm sorry to hear about your mate.

Im not sure I agree entirely with what the person on the radio was saying. Certainly some breeds might have a shorter life expectancy (Rotties, Newfoundlands, boxers for example) but it is very hard to get figures to apply across the board, also an "average" for a breed is only that, an average so the majority of dogs will be one side or the other of a set figure.
I would say 7-9 years is lower than average even for large breeds and might only be true of giant breeds.

Its interesting that across breeds dogs and cats are likely to be living longer now than previously and modern nutrition is actually considered part of that mix!

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33076736/ns/health-pet_health/t/life-dog-years-many-pe...
“The most short-lived breeds are giant breeds. They tend to live to be 6 or 8 years old,” says John Berg, a veterinarian and professor in the department of clinical sciences at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, Mass. “Large breeds like shepherds, Labs, goldens probably live 10 to 13 years and the medium and small breeds 12 to 14 years. Mixed breeds in general tend to live a little bit longer than pure breeds.”

Also I wouldnt agree that 70% of dogs die due to cancer, my understanding is across all breeds approximately 25-50% of dogs die from cancer but within some breeds the number is higher.

My anecdotal experience would support this. In clinic we may have a slightly skewed view of all dog deaths as we only see those brought in for euthanasia yet I would say advanced arthritis would be at least as common a reason for euthanasia as terminal cancer.

As to causes of cancer, there are a lot. Cancer can arise from virtually any cell type in the body and each cancer may have its own triggers.
For example squamous cell carcinoma is mainly a disease of white haired pink skinned cats and dogs from sun damage, but bone cancer is much more common in large breed dogs (especially rottwiellers) in the long bones of the leg , in rotties one study suggested that desexing also increased the risk for that breed.

Theres a good paper on canine cancer here:
http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/vs/2013/941275/
This chart from the paper might be of interest in particular:
http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/vs/2013/941275/tab1/


Just like in humans with cancer research there are certainly genetic factors and there is a lot we dont know about triggers.

+1 salmoner, very sorry to hear that mate.
i have lost two of my english setter bitchs to breast cancer

Geez that's a bit rough Salmoner. Very sorry to hear that news. R.I.P. Red. 

Sorry BBW have just seen your question.

He fell out of my maimai and limped for a few days and then tried to jump up on the deck of my truck and didn't make it and again fell on the side he was limping on. Waited for a bout 10 days and then took him to the vet and he went on painkillers and about 10 days later took him back where he was diagnosed under x ray.

My GSP is going on 11 this year,deaf as a post but still going strong otherwise..should get at least this duck season out of the old boy I reakon,still feel mean when I leave him behind on the deer hunts tho an take the pup instead..

White coat with pink skin around nose and ears does predispose to skin cancer, even so its more common in cats than dogs. Squamous cell carcinoma is the usual culprit, it starts as spots that scab and then it starts to eat tissue away. pretty horrible cancer, tends to invade locally rather than spread through the body but hard to remove around the nose when well established, best caught and cut out +/- cautery early. Ear tips can be removed if affected.
Melanomas can also occur particularly around the mouth, not sure they are always associated with sun damage in dogs - lumps that may be black or even pink colour. Not as common as squamous cell carcinomas tho in my experience.
You can get animal sunscreen to rub on nose and ears for those with the susceptible skin type.

Hi Ethos,

Your a good man to have on the forum.  Thanks.