[SophieB]

Does anyone else think that the incidences of various cancers are happening far too often these days, say in the past 20 years, especially compared to when my parents had several Bassets (and like me, always Bassets in twos or threes) when we were growing up (and grown up) and never ever did any of our dogs get cancers of any kind, there was rarely the need for vet visits and they all seemed to stay fit and well until their faces went white with old age.

In those days, there didn't seem to be all the cocktails of vaccinations that vets are all to keen to pump into our dogs year after year, if people are gullible enough to believe they need it every year - £62 at my vet three years ago, most probably it's a lot more now! There are lots of elderly people in my town who have their dogs done every year and vets send them 'annual reminders'!!! Why aren't sope vets being honest in telling these people that most vaccines have a 7-year to lifelong protection and others a 3-year protection?

For a few months, out of interest when I have met people walking their dogs, especially the elderley, for whom their dog might be their best friend, if we're in a discussion about dogs, as often happens, I have brought up the vaccination subject and elderly people seem to have their dogs done every year and are afraid not to!!!

I do wonder if these 'chemicals' could be contributing to the cancers (also skin problems and ear infections) because we have had several Bassets with cancer and ear problems over the years, having rescued quite a few of varying ages and I must admit, we did used to respond to the 'annual' boosters every time the vet's card appeared, but having read many books, articles, websites etc about the over-vaccination of our dogs, we decided with our Basset sisters we got just over three years ago, to only have their puppy jabs and booster and see how we get on... and thankfully they have been very healthy and happy and long may it continue!

Another thing, in the 'old days' we never fed our dogs the popular dried concentrated foods and I often wonder if this food has anything in it that could lead to health problems. What do other people think because even on this board, I am reading more and more about Bassets with cancer and it always makes me feel sad and wonder why there is so much of it around nowadays!

Our local Basset Hound Club is taking part in a UK wide survey into the health of Basset Hounds and everyone all over the UK is welcome to fill in a form for each dog, including those who have died in the last 15 years.

Quote from form: "We ask your help in completing this survey on the general health of our breed. This will help us pinpoint the most important health issues affecting our Basset Hounds today. The survey is completely anonymous as we just want facts and figures, no names. Audrey Carter has kindly offered to help collate this information together with a veterinary surgeon. We will publish results on the web so you are kept fully in the picture. The list of problems may seem rather long and worrying - this does not mean that all Basset Hounds suffer from them! We just want to find the most prevalent problems affecting our breed so we can investigate further."

Please complete one form for each hound. Further copies can be downloaded from many of the Basset Hound Club websites. If you know someone with a Basset Hound please give them a form to complete - the more information we have the greater our knowledge. Only tick a problem box if a condition has been diagnosed by your vet - We need our survey to be factually correct so no guesswork please! If you are unsure please contact your vet. You can add further details of a particular problem, or one that is not mentioned, at the end of the survey.

We are also including Basset Hounds that have died in the last 15 years. Please complete this form even if your Basset Hound has never had any of the conditions mentioned - we need healthy details as well!

If anyone in the UK would like to participate, please download a form to fill in for each of your Bassets and return to the address on the form.
http://www.southeastbasset.org.uk/features/healthsurvey2011.pdf

 

[bubbad]

I've heard it said that it is as common for Bassets to have cancer as it is for Boxers and Golden Retreviers,who lead in canine cancer.

 

[shallhb]

I think your local veterinary medicine school might have some useful statistics on this issue. However, there probably are more dogs who die of cancer now than say 30 years ago because dogs are living longer, and are less
Likely to die of other causes, like infectious diseases and heart worm. Cancer is a disease that is strongly associated with age, so if we have more older dogs living who have not died of other causes, it becomes more likely they will develop cancer. In earlier years, they wouldn't have lived long enough to develop it.

 

[Princess Buttercup]

Well said Shallhb!!

 

[Mikey T]

Cancer is a disease that is strongly associated with age, so if we have more older dogs living who have not died of other causes, it becomes more likely they will develop cancer. In earlier years, they wouldn't have lived long enough to develop it.

which is the same reason cancer is on the rise in humans as well.

 

[bubbad]

I'm not so sure that holds true in many breeds this day and age.There are an awful lot of dogs passing from cancers at much younger ages the last 20 years or so.My Bubba was 3,Grace 8 ,I believe more environmental factors are a problem today in causing cancers in younger animals. When is a dog old 8-9-10-11 or is the new old 5-6-7.

 

[Mikey T]

,I believe more environmental factors are a problem today in causing cancers in younger animals

Personnally I do not think that will bear out with the perponderance of young dog cancers link via breed rather than location it is much more likely that there is a genetic link. and unless and until those factors are determined it is very hard to breed against cancer but the very nature of cancer is preprogramed into cell and as such very likey to have some genetic components. I know most breederd do not want to here this but shince particular cancers are more prevelent in one breed than another it is most likely genetic factors involved, and that is the case with many breed and IMHO more so in cancers that occur at a young age.

 

[bubbad]

To some extent I agree and unfortunately we may never know how much environmental factors do hurt our dogs which could take them before a genetic componet kicks in,or are they predesposed to cancer because of genitics and environmental situations,such as pesticides being in the air or on the ground so we compound the effects and they develop cancer earlier than at an older age.

 

[SophieB]

I've heard it said that it is as common for Bassets to have cancer as it is for Boxers and Golden Retreviers,who lead in canine cancer.

Not just Bassets... all dogs... I said Bassets because we are all Basset owners, but I should have said that I meant it to be ALL dogs!

I think your local veterinary medicine school might have some useful statistics on this issue. However, there probably are more dogs who die of cancer now than say 30 years ago because dogs are living longer, and are less
Likely to die of other causes, like infectious diseases and heart worm. Cancer is a disease that is strongly associated with age, so if we have more older dogs living who have not died of other causes, it becomes more likely they will develop cancer. In earlier years, they wouldn't have lived long enough to develop it.

I'm not sure we have heart worm in the UK... or I have not heard of it.

I have discussed this with a lot of dog owners and many people have said their parents' dogs lived to a greater age than some of their own dogs (all breeds) from the past 20-30 years, so it's not all dogs that are living longer... I had a 7-yr old rescued Basset with Glaucoma and a huge growth that vets tried removing and couldn't as it was joined to shoulder muscle... sadly all the money for various treatments we spent couldn't save him.

We also had two sweet female Bassets sadly die of cancer aged 9 and nearly 11 but we have also had Bassets who have live to 15 (rescued Bassets that didn't appear to have been so 'highly bred' -- if that's what you could call having champion Bassets in their family, as my two did who died aged 9 and 11, when there seemed to be Bassets mated to relatives, when the same name occurred several times in the five generation pedigrees, which I suppose is what happens.

 

[SophieB]

I'm not so sure that holds true in many breeds this day and age.There are an awful lot of dogs passing from cancers at much younger ages the last 20 years or so.My Bubba was 3,Grace 8 ,I believe more environmental factors are a problem today in causing cancers in younger animals. When is a dog old 8-9-10-11 or is the new old 5-6-7.

Bubbad, this is exactly what I have found when chatting to other dog owners when out walking... so many people have lost very young dogs who should have had another 8 or 10 years of life, yet had cancer at relatively young ages, so for people who say dogs are living much longer... try talking to every dog walker you meet about their previous dogs and see how many have lived to 15 or 16... most of the ones that do (and even 18) are mainly cross-breeds or terrier/collie types rather than expensively bred pedigree dogs like our Bassets....

Edit... not Basset related, but this time last year, a good friend of mine lost a very costly champion Leonberger aged only six to the horrid cancer and a neighbour's 4 year old Pug has a tumour on its leg!

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

This is an interesting coincidence--the organization I work for breeds livestock guarding dogs to give out to livestock farmers in southern Africa. They've found that something like one in five of the dogs develops lingual squamous cell carcinoma at a very young age. At first they thought it was genetic, but mongrels in the area had the same abnormally high rate. So we applied for a grant from the Morris Animal Foundation to study other potential factors, and luckily we got the grant. But the interesting thing is that no one I talked to knew of any research that would indicate if the incidence of certain types of cancer had increased over the last 20 years or so. Anecdotally, everyone says yes, but I was surprised that there wasn't more research into that. Somewhere I found a list of dog breeds and what their average age was at death and the cause. The average age for bassets was 13 I think. I can't remember what the most common cause was. I'll try to find that study and post a link to it.

 

[Mikey T]

I'm not sure we have heart worm in the UK... or I have not heard of it.

heartworm is a mosquito carried disease like malaria it does not appear to be a major problem in the UK but there are hot spots on the continent

 

[Mikey T]

Review of the Epidemiology of Cancer in Dogs


Breed Related Disease Chart from:
Mortality in North American Dogs from 1984 to 2004: An Investigation into Age-, Size-, and Breed-Related Causes of Death

this is a study plublish just in april 2011 as far as basset cancer =37.8% of deaths
nurological most likely to back issue acount for 15.2 percent which is on par with beagles another dwarf breed even though they do not look like a dwarf minature poddle again anothe dwarf breed that does not look like it at high 13% ranges but far less than the 40% for dachsund both mini and standard

the highlight and themes generated by the dtudy can be found here
Breed-Specific Causes of Death in Dogs Revealed in Landmark Study

The researchers found that larger breeds are more likely to die of musculoskeletal disease, gastrointestinal disease and, most notably, cancer. Smaller breeds had higher death rates from metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and Cushing's disease.
Promislow said dogs are an ideal species in which to explore the genetic basis of disease. There's an unparalleled degree of diversity among breeds -- compare Chihuahuas to Great Danes, for example -- yet all dogs are of the species Canis lupus familiaris. Within breeds, on the other hand, dogs are genetically very similar.
Scientists first mapped the dog genome in 2003 and have since compiled data on genetic variation at single points on the genome for more than 80 breeds. By combining the genetic data with the data from their study, the UGA team can search for genes that influence the risk of diseases such as cancer

 

[FlowerGirl]

This is very interesting. My not-quite-3 yr old basset was diagnosed with cancer last year. The surgeon said bassets are not known for being susceptible to cancer, and the oncologist was surprised to see it in such a young dog. I've been unlucky enough to have two dogs with cancer in the last 15 years (one basset, one mixed breed) but I honestly can't think of anyone else I know who's had this happen. I know none of my other family members did.

 

[bubbad]

Flower girl I too lost a 3 year old to cancer in 2002.I know the line very well that my dog came from and I know he was the only one in his litter to die that young. Bassets are lost to cancer all the time it seems to get more and more frequent .I believe there has to be some way of keeping track at least by reputable breeders of the dogs in their lines getting cancer before age 10.I know it has been hush, hush, among breeders because when I told the breeder about Bubba's cancer she said don't spread it around.In general no one wants to step up and admit maybe their line has a problem and they need to change their breeding program.This is a question puppy buyers will soon be asking. "Is there is any known dogs in the pedigree that have died from any type of cancer." So, do we as breeders,(not everyone in this forum is a breeder) start lying to save a reputation or tell the truth and start saving our dogs? I know it could deminish the dogs used for breeding but isn't improving our breed as important as we make it out to be.