PET CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Cancer is an illness never far from my thoughts since Annie's Christmas and New Year surgeries. Do I consider my baby a cancer survivor? Now that we are approaching the post-surgery six-month mark, yes, most definitely I do consider her a survivor. Every day I wonder how much longer Artie and I will be fortunate to have her in our lives. She is our joy, our comfort and our unconditional love.

Yesterday I came across a few articles mentioning May as Pet Cancer Awareness Month. Current research figures indicate that approximately 30% of older pets succumb to cancer and it does not matter if they are pure bred or mixed breeds. That percentage is very shocking to me. I remember a day when the words 'cancer' and 'pet' were never spoken in the same sentence.

What causes cancer in pets? My guess would be the same things that cause them in humans. Do they come from the environment, cleaning products, additives in foods, exposure to the sun, a glitch in the reproduction of aging cells? The fact is we do not know.

Personally I feel cancer can come from all of these things and probably more. My concern is to try and prevent it from occurring in the human and animal members of my family. That is why I began a home cooking program for Annie and Buddy; to improve their health and give them longevity. 

I would consider Buddy a success with 2 years 9 months of renal failure made smooth sailing with home cooking and the proper medical protocols my little man had the best quality of life until the end. Buddy was also a cancer survivor, living almost 4 years after amputation of his tail. (The location of the growth did not leave enough area to obtain good margins.) Annie's urinary tract infections have been less frequent with home cooking. The cancer diagnosis was upsetting but if cancer is caused by what we eat, Annie has only had the benefit of home cooking for a few of her 10 years.

My cousin recently lost her 13 year old dog to cancer. We lost our dog Buster to Lymphoma just a few months shy of his sixth birthday. Devastating does not begin to describe Buster's loss to us. What we thought was a case of swollen glands swiftly became a cancer diagnosis that ended with his death 3 months later. The diagnosis was particularly hard on my father since Buster and my Dad were inseparable buddies. Buster's death was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry. That was more than 20 years ago. If Buster received the same diagnosis now, he would have a fighting chance with new medical advances.

Our furry family members need what our human family members need to prevent cancer - for all of us to be aware and to work towards a common goal of eradicating cancer in our lifetimes.  Start educating yourself about cancer in pets by following this link to The American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation website:

http://www.akcchf.org/canine-health/your-dogs-health/canine-cancer/

Also, The Magic Bullet Fund website, an organization dedicated to educating people about pet cancers and providing assistance is a good source of information as well: http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/

The ASPCA has information on cancer in cats and a corresponding page on cancer in dogs: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/cancer.aspx

TAKEWAYS POST SURGERY

What did I learn from this experience with Annie?

• If the consequences of the medical issue can be profound, always get a second opinion even if you agree with the diagnosis. We should have done this from the very first time the subject of the lump was discussed. An earlier surgery would have translated into less anxiety and worry for us, less of an ordeal for Annie and probably lower medical expenses.
• Don't lose sight of the bigger picture. I convinced myself everything would be OK, losing sight of the worst case scenario. I'm not advocating doom and gloom here, I'm just saying that hoping for the best but preparing for the worst might be the best course of action.
• Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. And did I say ask questions? Ask 'em until you're blue in the face; ask 'em until you have satisfactory answers you can live with and enough information to make intelligent decisions.
• Stay calm and carry on. The British motto from the days of the blitz holds true when dealing with medical emergencies. The stress of a major medical crisis is the same as being under siege. If you don't stay calm you won't think clearly, act rationally or make solid decisions.
• If you're uncomfortable with any aspect of diagnosis, treatment, etc. talk it over and talk it out until you are comfortable.
• Above all, love your animal and try not to communicate your negative feelings. Our pets really do sense what we feel. You want to stay positive, calm and loving so your pet won't be stressed any more than necessary by their medical emergency.
• Finally, don't spend time beating yourself up. You are only human after all, there is only so much you can do and as long as you are doing the best you can be easy on yourself.

Annie's saga is by no means over. Our little family will  have to relive the possibility of another cancer diagnosis with every 3-month Oncologist visit. Another medical emergency came back in force and it will be the subject of the next post.

DOGGIE PRESCRIPTION

One of my friends told me about a pharmacy for pets in Manhattan. New Yorkers are really wrapped up in their pets and apparently one pharmacy on the Upper East Side took it as a call to action.

Best Pet Rx carries all kinds of personal needs and has the standard prescription drug counter but this traditional drug store took it one paw further by catering to pets. The personal needs items are most likely for dogs, cats or birds. The pharmacists fill prescriptions from veterinarians.

During Buddy's illness, I injured my ankle and couldn't go to Hope Veterinary Clinic to pick up refills of his IV supplies. Doctor Young gave me prescriptions and my local neighborhood pharmacy filled them.

It looks like Pet Pharmacies will be the wave of the future.

SHELTER PETS

In one of our free newspapers I came across a 3 panel cartoon by The Shelter Pet Project illustrating the plight of a cat turned over to a shelter by an owner who accepted a job overseas. I decided to look up their website theshelterpetproject.org just to see what they're all about.

I encourage anyone who is thinking about adopting a cat or a dog to visit The Shelter Pet Project website as part of their search. It's easy - just put in your zip code and you will see pictures of pets at shelters near you along with their vitals and bios.

A great way to start a search and find some furry love...

NEW YORK CITY'S FERAL CATS

We're all spending more time outdoors now that summer is here which only serves to highlight the feral cat problem in New York's five boroughs. I'm sure everyone will admit this crisis is more evident during the warmer months especially when ferals and strays are breeding. There are many facets to this issue so I hope this post will cover all aspects of the situation.

My own sweet Buddy was a stray, tossed out by his original owners and that is part of the problem - irresponsible owners. Anyone who cannot care for their cat should realize they are not doing their feline a favor by turning them out. Fighting for food, looking for shelter, searching for water, dodging traffic and trying to escape from dogs or people who will harm them isn't preferable to turning them over to rescue groups or the ASPCA. Yes, euthanasia is a terrible prospect but a hard, uncertain life on the streets with a painful death is not a mercy either. And this act of abandonment, if coupled with the pet never having been spayed or neutered increases the homeless cat population, territorial fighting and injured male cats.

If you have a cat make your pet a house-cat. Keep your feline friend inside at all times to avoid communicable, incurable diseases, to prevent fighting or accidental injuries or death. If you are fortunate to have a backyard, invest in a cat containment system so your cat can enjoy the yard without escaping. You can find several different kinds on the internet. Don't want to spend the money or only have a porch or balcony? Consider a cage of some sort for your feline but remember it is very important to provide sun and shade simultaneously along with water and constant supervision. Buddy had a collapsible mesh cage, Annie would keep Buds company on our back porch and I would check on both of them every 10-15 minutes without fail. Don't have the resources or the time to do this? Open a window that has a built-in screen, attach a perch inside and your cat will be happy as can be to get that basic contact with the outdoors. if you live in an apartment building or have more than one floor to your house, watch out for high-rise syndrome which is the subject of yesterday's post.

City government does not have the funds (grants are running out) nor do they really care about the cat overpopulation issue. That's where we all come in. If you are a cat lover, think long and hard about managing a local feral colony. Remember this entails TNR (trap, neuter/spay, return) as well as providing food, water, shelter and medical care when needed. You could consider this even if you aren't interested in having pets or you could do this in addition to caring for your own pets. TNR will lower the amount of kittens turned into shelters and in turn the feral colony members help keep the rat population (another urban problem) in check instead of becoming euthanasia statistics.

At the very least anyone interested in helping in some small way can donate to low-cost spay/neuter programs or get in touch with the ASPCA, Humane Society, the Toby project and Maddie's Fund to find out more. Surf the internet to learn more about TNR, maintaining feral colonies and all other issues related to stray and feral cats:

http://tobyproject.org/

http://www.maddiesfund.org/Resource_Library/Maddies_Institute/Using_Data_to_Solve_Problems_and_Save_Lives.html

http://www.aspca.org/

http://humanesocietyny.org/

LOST PETS AND SUMMER

Summer is officially here and many families include their pets in their summer travels and activities and once school is out families relocate in an effort to settle into their new home and community before the start of the next school year.

Now is a good time to consider giving your furry family members the extra-added protection of a microchip. ID tags are fine and good but isn't identification under the skin better? Granted, nothing is 100% foolproof but using whatever options are available certainly makes sense in terms of optimizing coverage and giving you peace of mind. And remember travel to some foreign countries will require your pet be micro-chipped as a requirement for entry.

We're not just talking about dogs here but also about cats and any other pet such as birds, horses, etc. The microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and can be implanted by your veterinarian during a routine office visit.

If you are interested in reading about microchip implantation in general or have specific questions that need answers, the Wikipedia and American Veterinary Medical Association websites are excellent sources of information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal)

http://www.avma.org/issues/microchipping/microchipping_faq.asp