Is Age An Issue For Cancer Treatment Of Dogs?

Has your dog contracted cancer at an advanced stage of its life? If so, it could be natural for you to ask if age is a factor in treating them the same.

You may wonder if they are too young to withstand the cancer treatment. Pet parents sometimes wonder if they should go ahead with the treatment because it can always come back later.

Does age matter in dog cancer treatment?

There is no definite answer to this question as such.

There needs to be some explanation for you to understand this well.

Age is not an ailment in dog cancer treatment

Several well-known veterinary doctors have said age is not a factor in treating cancer in dogs. Being old is not a pre-existing condition such as heart disease or diabetes.

It is about your dog’s health when it contracts the dreaded disease. Age has no greater bearing on your dog’s cancer diagnosis than the color of the fur on their paws or the color of their eyes.

Just because your dog is old does not mean that cancer your dog is suffering from and its prognosis – the expected disease outcome – will be automatically worse.

Age is just an indicator of how much time your fur baby has spent on the planet. If cancer gets detected in a young dog, the disease can be much more aggressive than it can be in an older dog. However, this is not a universal truth we are discussing here.

It is always better to talk to your vet in these cases. Now we will delve into how age can become a factor in treating the disease.

Read Also: 10 Steps to Take When Your Pet Has Cancer

Taking age into consideration while making decisions on cancer treatment in dogs

Age may not be a factor as such. However, you do need to take age into account. Age is considered when making crucial decisions on how you would get your dog’s treatment. It can be helpful in you making the right choices in this regard.

It can also decide the extent to which you can be assertive in these cases. For example, if your dog is older, it would not be able to deal with surgery like a younger dog.

They would need more time to recover from the same. They could also find it harder to recover following such surgery. It is also highly likely that they would have a pre-existing condition somewhere in their body, such as their kidney or liver. This can make it almost impossible for chemo drugs or medicines to be administered to them.

Senior dogs have lower mobility. That creates problems for any amputation that needs to be performed. On the contrary, if your dog is young, you might think you could go ahead with aggressive surgeries or other protocols. After all, they are young and have vitality and strength.

There is a high chance they would bounce back in a short time from such a procedure. With younger dogs, there is a lower risk of other health complications.

What you can do if your dog has cancer

There is a lot you, as a pet owner, can do. Start off by making changes to their diet. Therefore, you do not have to take your bundle of joy again to the hospital. Or even spend thousands of dollars on treatment. It does not matter if you go with the traditional forms of treating cancer in dogs, such as radiation and chemotherapy.

Great vets have done commendable work over the years, proving that having cancer does not mean an automatic death sentence.

The importance of typical life expectancy

How long your dog would live depends on its breed and weight. It is essential to know such things as it would help you get a better point of view on the unique case of your dog.

Thus, it can help you make those all-important decisions regarding their treatment. Let us say that your baby would gain a year more with such treatment.

Depending on the expected life span of your dog, it could be between 10 and 14% of its natural lifespan.

Read Also: Feeding Your Dog During Cancer Treatment

Is it cold-hearted to think about age?

We all want our dogs would live for an eternity. For most of us, the thought they would die someday is one we would not like to think about. It is a thought we cannot bear with. The thought they could die from cancer feels so crazy, wrong, and awful that it is stupid.

Therefore, thinking about their age and lifespan data may feel cold-hearted. Knowing your dog’s age and comparing it with its expected lifespan would help you get an idea of what you would be fighting for.

Conclusion

Read books dealing with how to help your dog and yourself face the future in case your baby has cancer. A significant part will be the emotional management techniques that help you face such situations bravely and calmly. It can help you make decisions with confidence.

It is natural to feel overwhelmed. But you should know that even if your dog gets cancer at an old age, there will be plenty of ways to treat them. When you know you made all the effort to get your pet better, you can accept the results of your work.