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This article is from Times of India.
Priyangi Agarwal | TNN | Updated: Dec 24, 2017, 09:56 IST

BAREILLY : When Deepak Saini noticed a slight swelling around the neck of his four-year-old German Shepherd, Shadow, he assumed it was a simple case of inflamed tonsils. Much to Saini’s shock, Shadow was diagnosed with leukemia (blood cancer) at a malignant stage. Though Shadow is currently undergoing chemotherapy session at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), one of India’s top veterinary institutes, scientists there have said they cannot promise full recovery. They have also said cancer cases among dogs have been on a rapid rise in the country.

While 94 cases of cancer in dogs were reported at IVRI in 2006-07, the number rose to 209 in 2016-17 — more than a two-fold growth. People from across the country, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and New Delhi, visit the polyclinic at IVRI for treatment of cancer among canines.

AK Sharma, principal scientist, head of pathology and in-charge at the wildlife centre, IVRI, told TOI, “As the only symptom to determine cancer among dogs is the presence of nodule (a small swelling or aggregation of cells in the body), there has been increased awareness among pet owners who have been rushing to veterinarians after finding the hard lump in the body of their pets during grooming sessions. The nodule turns into a tumour, which later develops or spreads in other parts of the body. Scores of stray dogs might have also been suffering from cancer but their cases always remain undiagnosed.”

RK Singh, the director of the premier institute for vet research, added, “The confidence level of pet owners has also increased. They feel that veterinarians these days can manage and increase their dogs’ life expectancy. Like humans, early diagnosis of cancer is important among dogs for better recovery.”

According to scientists, the most common types of cancer among dogs are transmissible venereal tumour (TVT), mammary gland tumour (breast cancer), spleen cancer, skin cancer, lymphatic cancer, gum tumour (epulis cancer) and eye cancer. Scientists said TVT is different from other forms of cancer as it is easily treatable. TVT is transmitted from animal to animal during mating and presence of blood in urine is a symptom to identify the disease.

“There are two stages of cancer -benign (initial) and malignant which is chronic form of tumour as it spreads all over body. If a dog is brought to us at the benign stage, we remove the tumour from the animal’s body through surgery. However, we can increase the life span of the animal and ease out its suffering but cannot promise full recovery at the malignant stage,” said K Mahendran, scientist, medicine division, IVRI.

Medicines and basic treatment of cancer in dogs is similar to those prescribed for humans. “We use the same medicines for both humans and dogs but the quantity of medicine is different among canines, depending on their condition. The sessions of chemotherapy vary from dog to dog on the basis of severity of the disease. However, there is a minimum gap of one week between chemotherapy sessions,” said Amar Pal, head and principal scientist, division of surgery, IVRI.

As IVRI is a government institute, treatment, including chemotherapy, is done at just Rs 30 per session, but pet owners have to buy the medicines.