Being the animal lover that I am I had to put my 2 cents in too! We have 2 Akitas (Blaze and Nike) and a cat named Jazz (he looks like a cross between Morris and Garfield). These "furry" kids of ours gave us so much comfort while my husband was battling this disease. It's amazing how in tune they are with us emotionally. I can't imagine life without animals. I tend to spoil them a little....so much so that my father in law says after he dies he wants to come back as one of my pets!

Shelley

I have had pets all my life and I never had one to get cancer. It is surprising, no dishearting, to me how many of these posters' cats and dogs have/had cancer. Man I'm tired of cancer!!!

I totally agree,

We have 3 cats. One of them wants nothing to do with my wife or myself. Loves the kids though.

When I was going thru treatment, he would sit on the bed and let me pet him. I mean he was always there. It made me feel better but also a little like he knew something I didnt. Which was a little freaky.

Ever since I got out of treatment, he is back to being distant.

Cool huh!

Take it easy,
-rh

Scary statistic -- of dogs that reach 10 years of age, 50% will get cancer. (This from NCI). When I started in dogs, it seemed to be rarer -- now more common, and our vet oncologist says mixed breeds as well as pure-breds, so most of these cancers are not genetic.

Gail

My dog Cody, a 13 year old cairn terrier, is my best buddy! He has been through so much with us and loves us all the same!!!!Carol

My wife came home this afternoon and told me that she just saw something that brought tears to her eyes. Knowing it had to have something to do with animals, I asked "what?". She said she just passed a little old man at a bus stop with a cat in a cat carrier and she felt so bad she almost cried. Thinking that my wife had finally started having feelings for the human race, I said "sweetheart, at least the little old man has a pet that keeps him company. He'll be fine." She looked at me and said "I don't care about the old man, I want you to go back to that bus stop and rescue that cat. What type of person would take a cat on a bus!!" Oh well, at least she is consistent.

Three years ago I got my full grown (3 to 5 yr. old) mixed breed dog from the humane society. He had been rescued from a kill shelter. He's medium size and appears to be a mixture of some sort of hound/terrior/sheltie. He was obviously abused in the past and we worked through many issues. He has been my constant companion and has helped me through my darkest days of treatment.Looking back prior to my diagnosis I can distinctly remember my dog Hecter sniffing at my ears and sometimes my nose. On several occasions as I bent down petting him, he would sniff my ears in a strange sort of way as if picking up on a scent which I thought was so odd. He did it so often that I kept cleaning my ears out thinking he could smell wax. Now in hindsight I wonder if he detected the cancer but was unable to tell me. During treatment he stopped that behavior of sniffing at my ears and nose. Now I purposely get close to his face to see if he reacts to any scent of mine. No reaction from him. This may sound weird but I try not to stress so much before a check up because my dog is not alarming me. I've even considered putting him through some sort of training where he would be trained to pick up on cancer. Has anyone else experienced anything like that from their animals? Barbara

At our recent Standard Schnauzer Club National Specialty, we had an educational program given by Drs. Jim and Dianne Walker of Florida State. They are working on the ability of dogs to detect cancer, and also, the level at which dogs can discern odors. Their Std. Schnauzer "Stormy" is a protege of the famous cancer-sniffing SS "George".

Their reserach has found that dogs can detect odors at tremendously low concentrations, in the parts per trillion range, and have olfactory sensitivities 10,000x or more better than ours.

They have worked on melanoma but are now studying bladder and breast cancer detection. Bladder is detected from urine but breast cancer is detected in the breath! Thus some factor (what it is has not yet been identified) makes it from the cancer to the bloodstream to the lungs and out. They are not sure if the dog actually detects the cancer, per se, or some by-product of cellular breakdown, metabolism or even immune reaction. This is all being studied. They gave us a very impressive demo and also, showed video clips.

"George" famously detected residual melanoma in a patient who had been declared cancer-free -- complete excision of the target skin area and thin-sectioning revealed microscopic cancer. But the dog knew it was there.

So it is not at all unlikely that your dog smelled "something wrong" -- there are many anecdotes about this.

Gail

In addition to my husband, my baby girl and my family, my dog Molly (a 5 year old, 42 lb black lab-mix) was constantly by my side throughout treatment. I have always been amazed by how intuitive she is-sensing everything that is right or wrong with us. She would follow me from the front door to the bedroom and lie on the floor next to the bed every evening.

A couple of years ago, she had a lump under her arm and I immediately thought the worst. Thankfully, it was not cancer, but I was a nutcase for days (it was a Saturday when I found it and we couldn't get into the vet until Monday afternoon). I told my husband that if we had to put her to sleep that he might want to ask for a "2-for-1 deal" because I didn't know how I would be without her.

What a terrific topic! During and after treatment our black cat "Snowball" stood constant watch over Kenny. During his worst days it was difficult to get her to leave Kenny long enough to eat. I am sure she helped save his life. As Kenny finally began to heal, I found myself needing the comfort of a pet (Snowball is definitely Kenny's cat!). After having to put down our Chesapeake Bay Retriever a few years ago, Kenny swore we would never have another dog (broke his heart). Anyway, I ended up adopting a Boxer in March (a birthday present to myself). After only a couple weeks of puppy love from Jax, Kenny was hooked! In June Kenny rescued a female Boxer (Daisy) and we are now one big happy family.

So - here's to the pets that have provided warmth, comfort and love! They deserve so much credit that they never seem to get.

Thanks for sharing!
Carol