Month: February 2023

Is the Early Cancer Detection Blood Test Worthwhile?

Pam Hogle Ask The Thinking Dog, Main Blog, The Thinking Dog Blog , ,
OncoK9 recommends screening for giant and high-risk breeds at younger ages.
OncoK9’s recommended ages to start cancer screening

If you’ve been in a vet office lately, you might have seen a brochure advertising the OncoK9 blood test, an early-detection cancer screening test.

I first heard of it when I took Cali to a specialist who ended up diagnosing her hemangiosarcoma. By then, we had done the ultrasounds and were on our way to the splenectomy, so I didn’t “need” the test; I knew she had cancer.

The blood test “uses a simple blood draw to detect abnormal DNA released into circulation by cancer cells,” and claims to be able to pick up on these markers before the dog would be likely to have any symptoms. Dogs with some cancers, like hemangiosarcoma, rarely show any symptoms. OncoK9 is said to be able to detect 30 different types of cancer, including several very common canine cancers.

The company recommends it annually for dogs aged 7 and older, with different guidelines for cancer-prone breeds. They suggest starting screening at age 6 for goldens, for example, and age 4 for boxers (see illustration above).

Should you do it?

I can’t answer that, but I can share the pros and cons I see.

An argument for doing the test is that early detection gives you the best chance to treat some cancers.

Now for the “cons.” The test detects cancer markers, or claims to, but it does not give any indication of the type or location of the cancer.

A friend who works for a vet in another state reports that her clinic looked into the test, and her vet worries about the high potential for false negatives — not catching the presence of cancer markers — as well as the smaller, but still present, chance of false positives. Paired with the lack of indication of what type of cancer the dog has, a false positive could send a family on a very costly, stressful wild goose chase to try to identify the nonexistent cancer.

This vet says the test “might be helpful” for a dog with unexplained weight loss and no other evidence of disease; that’s far from a blanket recommendation for an annual check!

Finally, the cost: The test costs $500 at my specialty clinic. Cost will vary by location, but it’s not an inexpensive test. A few hundred dollars (or more) is a hefty addition to your dog’s annual checkup, and it’s unlikely that pet insurance would cover it.

My specialist vet’s office told me that, following a positive test, the next steps would be tests to figure out the type and stage of the cancer. And that anyone with a positive test gets a $1,000 credit toward that testing. I assume that this is because the company that does the OncoK9 test uses the follow-up and test data to refine the test and/or to work on treatments. Either way, the hefty sum tells me that a) the follow-up testing is pricey and b) they don’t expect a huge proportion of positives.

What do you DO with a positive result?

That raises the next obvious question, which is: If I were to get a positive test result, what would I do?

  • If you are not prepared to go down the expensive route of testing to identify and stage the cancer, then treat it … I’m not sure what you gain by doing the test.
  • If you are, and you have a dog of a breed that is likely to get cancer, then early detection and treatment could give you more time with your dog and/or lead you to an early treatment that spares your dog some suffering, depending of course on what additional testing you did, how quickly you identified the dog’s cancer, and whether it was a treatable cancer — all significant questions.

Whether to do the test (and what to do afterward) is, of course is a very individual decision.

Orly is only 1. I am certainly hoping that we have more reliable, less costly ways to detect (early) and effectively treat canine cancer before she’s of an age where I’d face the question of whether to do this type of test. Cali spent her life helping to make that happen; and the many researchers working on canine cancer detection and treatment offer hope for future pups.

Can a Dog Really Be ‘Hypoallergenic’?

Pam Hogle Ask The Thinking Dog, The Thinking Dog Blog , , ,
Maisy, a black standard poodle, sits
Why get a cross when you can have an actual Poodle?

Dr. Stanley Coren, a noted psychologist and dog expert, recently wrote a column about the doodle craze. His take on the popularity of these “designer mutts” that are all some other breed crossed with a poodle, is that people believe all poodle-cross pups to be “hypoallergenic,” or “having little likelihood of causing an allergic response.” His focus is that not all poodle mixes are low- or non-shedding dogs, and therefore there’s really no guarantee that they will be hypoallergenic.

I want to take that argument a step farther and argue that, for many individuals with dog allergies, no dog will be hypoallergenic.

People may be allergic to dog fur or dander; they may also be allergic to components of dog saliva or dog urine. Even a bald dog still has those so … for some people, shedding or not, furry or hairy, any dog will induce an allergic reaction.

Of course there is a huge range in the symptoms and severity of allergic reactions, and a dog with much-reduced shedding, and who is groomed and bathed often and lives in a home that is vacuumed and dusted very frequently, may cause few or no symptoms in many allergic individuals. So there are good reasons for people with mild dander / fur allergies who love dogs to look to non- or low-shedding breeds.

But poodle crosses are not the only or most reliable option. To Dr. Coren’s point, without testing your individual pup against your individual allergy, you won’t know. And several breeds do not shed or shed minimally, starting with actual poodles and including large and small dogs of all temperaments.

When choosing a dog, it’s important to do your homework, whether you’re buying a puppy or adopting a shelter dog, and whether your concern is allergies, temperament, health, or all of these.

The ‘Leave It!’ Cue Is More Important Than Ever!

Pam Hogle The Thinking Dog Blog ,

Yellow triangle with skull and crossbones to indicate toxic substanceAs more states legalize recreational marijuana, vets are reporting enormous numbers of visit from dogs who are stoned.

The symptoms, which include wobbliness and disorientation, can look like the dog is having a stroke. The dog might lose bladder control or vomit and will likely be lethargic.

Depending on the size of the dog and how much THC the dog ingested, the dog could recover without veterinary assistance — or become very ill.

Dogs obtain their “fix” in a number of ways. As people who had illicit marijuana — in whatever form, whether a plant, a joint, an edible, or something else — may know, dogs’ noses are drawn to the scent, and they will ingest what they find, whether live plant, dried bud, or edible.

However, as more places allow recreational marijuana, dogs are more likely to happen upon it on a walk or hike — a discarded butt, a dropped gummy, a bit of a pot brownie found in the trash.

A “leave it!” command is useful for more than errant drug-detection drugs, of course. All dogs should know to respond immediately to a stern “Leave it!” to keep them away from danger or simply stop them from enthusiastically greeting a non-dog-loving stranger.

But the stronger the Leave it!, the more likely it is to become an automatic default (like a magic sit!) — an ingrained behavior of not looking for and eating random stuff off the ground. This is also more likely with dogs of some breeds and temperaments — and nearly impossible with others.

Alas, golden retrievers tend to be in the latter category. But there’s plenty of individual variation, and Orly seems far less inclined than other goldens I have known to vacuum the ground. Unless the birds drop bird seed, her current addiction, that is. Fortunately, the only side effect so far has been copious, interestingly textured droppings.

 

Listen to Your Dog

Pam Hogle Main Blog, The Thinking Dog Blog , , , , ,

8 month old golden retriever Orly smiles for the cameraA Washington Post columnist, having failed a a dog-training class with a golden-doodle puppy (and with several previous dogs) notes that it’s actually the human’s failure, not the dog’s.

This should be obvious, but I know that it isn’t.

“Training” class is really just how a human and a dog learn some new ways to communicate — and, to be really honest, it’s mostly about the human learning to understand the very clear and consistent communication the dog is and has always been using. And about the human learning to (try to) be more consistent and clear in how they communicate things to the dog.

As my first dog training instructor loves to say, when there’s a training failure, it’s always the human; never the dog.

As a Washington Post journalist, this writer did not stop with their own epiphany; no, they interviewed several top-notch dog trainers to find out what makes for a successful trainer.

The upshot is what the Thinking Dogs have used this blog to tell you over several years — pay attention to your dog’s communication, collaborate with your dog, and have a relationship.

Old-style obedience training, still sadly common, instead demands instant obedience to random (as far as the dog is concerned) and arbitrary rules and commands. No relationship there; just human ego.

The other point the writer raises is about “pet-parenting style.” Describing three styles, the writer encourages developing an “authoritative” style. Authoritarian is too rigid; permissive parents don’t set clear expectations. Authoritative parents are clear about what they expect, warm and loving, firm but adaptable.

Unsurprisingly, dogs (and children and students and employees and …) do well in this authoritative environment; they have strong connections with their people, are persistent problem-solvers, and are “more resistant to stress and recover from stress more quickly.”

Who doesn’t want that for their dog?

Of course, what the writer doesn’t share is the magic formula to enable all of us regular humans to become those authoritative, clear-communicating, warm, adaptable, and consistentdream dog moms and dads.

I’m doing the best I can, Orly!