Advances in health care and nutrition have considerably increased our pets’ life expectancy. As our pets age, however, the normal process of cell division is increasingly likely to become deregulated, and the body’s natural protective mechanisms can fail. Cancers reportedly account for the death of some 45% of dogs over the age of 10. This is a significant figure and merits closer examination.
In some cases, a specific cancer is easy to diagnose, because its symptoms are readily visible (e.g. a subcutaneous mass). In other cases, cancers are harder to spot, because their manifestations are subtle and their systemic symptoms can be non-specific. Just as in humans, several diseases can present similarly. It takes experience, a meticulous physical examination and diagnostic tests to identify the true cause of the health problem.
Cancer sometimes reveals itself through paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS). These systemic manifestations of changes or disruptions caused by tumours can be the first symptoms of cancer. Some of them are characteristic of certain tumours. However, paraneoplastic syndromes are not necessarily associated with cancer, which is why the presence of one or more symptoms of PNS requires a thorough examination and a number of diagnostic tests.