Natural Pet Health

There are always some cancer cells in the body, which the body can effectively kill on its own if the immune system is strong. Despite this fact pets still develop cancers that need treatment. Cancer in dogs and cats may not be a very common condition but it can be as problematic and fatal as in humans. Pets cannot speak about the discomfort that they are facing and therefore, it is upon the pet owners and veterinarians to use their observation and knowledge to establish prevalence of, say, symptoms of liver cancer in dogs and cats among other health conditions.

Feline cancer can occur in any part of the body. If cancer has been diagnosed in certain specific areas, radiation therapy is one of the treatment options that should be considered.

Cancer is a disease that we all associate with loss and that carries with it very serious omens. The ‘big C’ however does not just affect humans and can also affect animals, including cats. Cat cancer, or feline cancer, is sadly just as serious as the human equivalent but needn’t necessarily spell the end if you can spot the symptoms early enough and get your pet the appropriate treatment.

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells in any organism’s body. Essentially wear and tear will break down the cell wall (often via the bombardment of free radicals). This will then result in a ‘mutation’ where the DNA of the cell is changed. As this cell reproduces however that imperfection will spread and replace healthy cells with damaged ones.

For cat owners, there’s nothing more terrifying and distressing than to find out that your beloved feline companion has developed a malignant tumor or tumors. In order to give your cat the best chance to survive a case of feline cancer, it’s important to seek treatment as soon as possible. Also, having a basic understanding of cat cancer and the steps involved in fighting the disease can help make the process of diagnosis and treatment less confusing and overwhelming.

What is Cancer?

While pursuing longevity for domestic pets, the medial fraternity did not probably bargain for the accompanying risks of cancer, which is mostly seen in older pets. Moreover, as long as we feed an unnatural diet to our pets and abuse the environment, pet owners are likely to continue facing problems with cancer in their pets. Seeing pets die slowly killer diseases like dog liver cancer and lymphoma in cats is indeed not something that any pet lover would want.

Many of us do not realize that it is natural for animals to resort to ‘self treatment’ in the wild. Most of them nibble at things that are actually not their natural diet. It has been seen that this happens only when the animal is not completely healthy and therefore is actually a means of herbal self medication. This forms the basis on which herbal and natural medicine for pets is based.

Symptoms and signs of cancer in pets and humans depend largely upon the organ or the tissue that has developed cancer cells. For example, the symptoms of liver cancer in dogs and cats are far removed from the symptoms of oral cancer. Cats with cancer of the digestive system will show signs of vomiting, diarrhea and anorexia while a lump in the peripheral skin indicates lymph cancer.

Some cancers are highly progressive and spread very fast. The first tool in your hands is to educate yourself and be aware of all the symptoms properly. Timely approach to treatment is the only way to prolong and make life comfortable for your cat.

Cancer is an abnormal growth of malignant cells and can virtually affect any part of the body. The abnormal growth can take various forms like tumors. Tumors are solid masses of cancerous cells that can spread to other parts of the body. Metastasis (spreading) is one of the main reasons that results in disorders in other organs.

Symptoms of cancer in cats vary according to the type of cancer that the animal is suffering from. However, each type of feline cancer has a certain set of symptoms that are easy to observe. These are:

Whichever treatment for cancer in dogs you may opt for, the major aim of all cancer treatments boils down to eliminating cancerous cells by all means. The best cure for cancer in dogs is one that kills cancer cells, does not kill normal cells and at the same time ensures that there are no or manageable side effects. This is not possible in all cases as practically all therapies have drawbacks in one sphere or the other.

The most common therapies for cancer treatment include:

* Surgery, a partial or total excision of a tumor, has limited success ratio in cases where cancer has spread to various organs in the body.
* Chemotherapy, the use of drugs to kill cancer cells, has serious toxic side effects.
* Radiation therapy, the use of high intensity radiation, cannot guarantee that only cancer cells will be targeted.

Breast cancer constitutes almost all of glandular feline cancers and up to 80 to 96% of all malignant tumors in cats. It is also the third most common form of cancer in cats after lymphoid and skin cancers. Although breast cancer in cats is not breed specific, Siamese and Japanese breeds are more vulnerable than others. Obesity too seems to be a high risk factor. Spayed cats, however, carry a significantly reduced risk of developing mammary tumors.

Mammary tumors may either be floating or attached to the skin or the underlying muscles and are commonly found in the front set of mammary glands. Swelling, pain or infection in the glands and fever are among the most common symptoms that may indicate prevalence of mammary tumors.

Just like the human body, your pet’s body too is a complex system of processes that are interdependent upon each other. These processes are controlled by organ systems that control almost each and every function in the body. The endocrine system, for example, is a system of glands that produce endocrine secretions that control the metabolic rate of the body.

Pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, is the master gland of the endocrine system. Pituitary adenomas, a glandular tumor, is one of the less common types of cancer in dogs. Although most of the pituitary tumors are benign, these tumors can increase in size and compress brain tissue. This happens primarily because the space in the skull is limited. As the pituitary tumor increases in size the neurological disturbances affect a dog’s health in many ways. But unless benign tumors reach a particular size they are not treated as dangerous.

The spleen in the body is the storehouse of blood. It also functions as an organ for destroying old red blood cells and holding blood for emergencies. It is an important part of the body’s immune system. Located just below the stomach, in emergencies such as a hemorrhage, it springs into action to provide blood for replenishing the loss. Even though life can be normal without a spleen, its absence, however, predisposes infections.

The spleen constitutes of a red soft surface containing two different types of pulp – white and red. While the red pulp functions as a mechanical filter removing unwanted substances from the blood, the white pulp helps to fight infections.