Breast Cancer First Signs

[music plays] >>kelly runyon:breast cancer is the disease not only prevalent in humans, but also with our feline friends.in fact, 85% of mammary tumors in cats are malignant, and they tend to grow and metastasizequickly. on this episode of the paw report, we're joinedby dr. sally foote of the okaw veterinary clinic.dr. foote will talk about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer in our four-leggedfriends. stay with us.[music plays] production of thepaw report is brought to you by... >>rameen karbassioon:dave's decorating center is a proud supporter of the paw report on weiu.dave's decorating center features the mohawk

smartstrand silk forever clean carpet.dave's decorating center, authorized mohawk color center, in charleston.okaw vet clinic in tuscola and dr. sally foote remind you to properly take care of your pets,and are happy to help support the paw report on weiu.okaw vet clinic, located at 140 west sale street, in downtown tuscola.more information available at okawvetclinic.com. thanks for joining us for this episode ofthe paw report. we're joined by dr. sally foote, and our verygood friend ranger has decided to be with us for this episode, as well.and we're talking about, you know, a rather serious topic today: feline breast cancer.and i suppose my, i'll start with cancer is

just not a human disease.>>dr. sally foote: oh, correct, yes.we see cancer and types of cancers in all species: dog, cat, horse, you know, in livestock.all species. >>kelly runyon:do you see a lot of cases come through your office?>>dr. sally foote: we do see cancers in pets, dog and cat.it tends to be a problem more in the older pet, so, you know, in the case of say, a dogover say, the age of 7. certain breeds have more problems with cancersas compared to others. and in cats, when we do see cancers in thecats, they usually are in cats, usually over

the age of say, 10, a little bit older thandogs. now, in the case of cats, there is a problemif the cat has the feline leukemia virus, they can get infected at a very young agewith that. there are cancers associated with that virusthat can show up at a much younger age because they have that virus.>>kelly runyon: how prevalent is it in felines?>>dr. sally foote: you know, we are seeing, first of all, catsare, it's kind of a hard question to answer because yes, more households have pet catsthan pet dogs. yet, and cats are living older than say, 15years ago.

yet, few people bring their cats to the vetbecause cats don't like going to the vet. so, we may not be able to see or pick up onthese problems until either they're well advanced or, you know, maybe the cat, you know, thecat may have passed or something like that. so, it's a little hard for me.you know, we are seeing more of it as pets are aging, but it's a little bit of a, harderto answer that question as well as i would like to answer it.>>kelly runyon: well, i totally understand.there are different types of feline cancers. can you go through the different types thatyou may see? >>dr. sally foote:right, so cancers can occur in any organ system.

you could have a cancer in the eye, you couldhave a cancer in the mouth, the skin, breast cancer was one thing that, you know, we weregoing to talk a little bit about, or the intestinal tract.some of the more common cancers we would see in the cat, especially in our really geriatric,older cats, is a type of intestinal cancer called lymphosarcoma, or lymphoma or adenoma.we can see types of tumors in the mouth, like one's called a squamous cell carcinoma, andthat actually can be associated if there's smoking in the house, cigarette smoking inthe house. as well as, then, in this case you know, we'retalking about breast cancer, say, is another one you can also see.>>kelly runyon:

what do we know about the cause, particularlyin felines, to their cancer? >>dr. sally foote:there's a few cancers that we know there is a cause for or risk factor.so, i mentioned the feline leukemia virus. so, any cat that a person has, when you firstget that cat and at different times in their life, it's good to do a blood test and makesure that they, to know whether or not they carry that virus or not.because, that can increase, possibly, a risk for some cancers.then, things like, sometimes some cats can get a type of a skin tumor related to injection,so this is why a check-up every year is important. even if they're not getting shots, it's reallyimportant to check their weight, check their

body over, look in their mouth, etc.like i said about the squamous cell carcinoma in the mouth, that can also sometimes occuron the ears or the nose. an increase of a risk factor for that wouldbe if there's secondhand smoke, cigarette smoking in the household.so, get the cigarette smoking out of the house if you can't quit, you know.and i've seen people quit for the sake of their pets.yay, everybody wins on that one. but that can be a possibility of a problemthere, too. >>kelly runyon:let's talk about some symptoms that your pet may experience.given all the different types of cancers that

you mentioned, what are some symptoms, andhow will those symptoms affect my pet? >>dr. sally foote:the symptoms, first of all, might be related to what part of the body is affected.so, for example, if they may have say, a tumor in the mouth, you may notice that their breathis smelling more foul than maybe it normally does, that they're avoiding say, eating dryfood because it might hurt to crunch down on it, that they might be pawing at theirmouth or you notice some staining say, of saliva because there's a little bit of droolthere. and pets are not going to cry, they're notgoing to moan, they're not going to be like holding, oh, my mouth hurts, like this, untilthey're way super painful.

so, they're not going to show those signsearly on when the problem is already starting. so, that would, weight loss is very common.as any kind of cancer advances that say, may be involving the intestines especially, thekidney, the liver or, you know, main internal organ tissue, you'll start to see them losingweight, which can be hard to judge. but the first thing to do is pet your cat,and what you really want to see is, is he feeling a little more bony, you know?am i feeling like his hips where i normally didn't feel it?>>kelly runyon: or ribs?i mean, are...? >>dr. sally foote:ribs take a long time to show.

they've got to lose a lot of weight to getthat skinny. so, what i tell clients is, "his backbone,you can feel a little bit more, can't you? "yeah, i noticed that."okay, he's lost weight. he's lost like 10 or 20% of his body weight.but because he's small, and they tend to carry it like in the abdomen and around the trunk,that's why seeing the ribs is like when they really have lost a lot of weight.so, again, those regular check-ups where the weight is getting checked, the mouth is gettingexamined, the body's getting felt over. i love people who pet their pets a lot, becausethey find the problems early. they come in, i'm like, "look, there's a lumphere."

and it might take five minutes in the office."i found it the other day," you know. "oh, here it is."it's like, yay, you found it. okay, let's get a marker and circle that soi don't lose it. and maybe we'll just take it off the skinand send it in for biopsy to know. but yay, we found it when it's little.and even if it comes back something kind of bad, then we might be able to do treatmentbecause it was contained to this area, even though it might have been like a mass celltumor, say. that's one type that can spread to the bodyand be bad. but it's contained here.we got it all out.

maybe we only have to do a short time of medicationto prevent it from spreading elsewhere, than waiting until like, oh wow, we've got thisbig lump here. you know, and now the pet's losing weight,and such. >>kelly runyon:well, that kind of led into my next question about a, how do you diagnose, you know, apet that might have cancer, and what can i do at home?and you said self-check, pet a lot. >>dr. sally foote:yes, pet your pets. give them baths, whatever.>>kelly runyon: and then, in your office, if somebody bringssomething in, is it through a series of blood

tests?>>dr. sally foote: yeah, usually we're going to do, besides aphysical examination, we would usually do some kind of general screening blood test.and based on that, then, if there's any specific, say, blood test that can be run, we'll dothat. oftentimes, say, x-raying the chest.we do look for metastasis if we suspect disease, or we had, say, if we took that lump off andwe got a diagnosis, you know, of a type of cancer, then we stage it.and we take say, chest x-ray, or we may do other blood work, or even an abdominal ultrasoundto see if there's spread, and then know which stage is it at.and then based on that, what are our options

for treatment or what's called palliativecare, even, like holding this cancer at bay. if we can't eliminate it, can we do thingsthat will help to stop it from progressing. and we would have, then, the discussion aboutthe pros and cons of say, chemotherapy or not, or other supportive care, etc.>>kelly runyon: let's expand on the treatment.you know, one of the first things we talked about is humans and our animals do share acommon bond in cancer, that we both get them. so, is chemotherapy, is radiation one of thetreatments that a pet owner would consider? >>dr. sally foote:yes, they are. we're very lucky in this area here that theuniversity of illinois has an oncology department,

meaning they have veterinarians who are specializedin the treatment of cancer for all animals. and so, they do offer radiation treatmentfor the types of tumors that it's appropriate for.they do offer chemotherapy or setting up the types they are.sometimes chemotherapy is all just oral medication, tablets and such.sometimes it might involve iv treatment. there may be other things like more advancedsurgery that is needed. so, they can consult on that, they can dothat. they can even work together with the generalveterinarian say, on getting them started. and the primary care veterinarian may monitor,and then just go to the u of i as needed.

and what's really valuable about, i think,talking to the oncologist or having that consultation is really having that discussion about qualityof life for your pet with taking these medications and things.what is the success rate, you know, of either eliminating the cancer or preventing it fromspreading. you know, having that conversation and gainingthat, and getting that information and knowledge. because, this is an area that is expandingand growing because our pets are getting older, we are seeing more cancers, and we have peoplewho are frankly just much more bonded to their pets, and willing to consider these optionsfor treatment. >>kelly runyon:radiation and chemo, are they really the only

two treatment options?>>dr. sally foote: no, sometimes there might be things that aresurgical. there are some kinds of cancers that thereare actually vaccination for to help stop or to help hold at bay, if you will.and there are a couple of, just maybe two or three, but there are a couple of medicationsthat can help stop the progression of a cancer that can be a very good alternative to goingon say, with chemotherapy. because, the trade-off is the chemotherapyis also going to affect them. the dosages we use in animals are lower ascompared to people. we're not always trying to push the animalto total cure because the amount of drug you

have to take can make them really ill, justlike with people. but say, if you or i had breast cancer, andthey said, "hey, you know, go through those six weeks of chemo, and then go through yourwhatever, six or eight weeks of radiation, and we can get you cleared of this."you could have another 30 years of life ahead of you, right?well, if my dog has this, when we go through say, all that, he might have one or two yearsjust because their lifespan's shorter. so, it may be more of an option sometimesin veterinary medicine that we've done a surgery, and we do some chemo, and we do some radiationto minimize it and like, as they say, kind of put the lid on it, and help relieve painor suffering from that.

but it's at lower doses, so we're not gettingtoo as many of the side effects of like, you know, lack of appetite and things like that.>>kelly runyon: and we'll talk about side effects here injust a bit. but what is the survival rate?do you feel comfortable...? >>dr. sally foote:it depends on the type of tumor. it really depends on the type of tumor.and secondly, it also depends on how the rest of the body's health is of that pet at thetime we found this tumor, we took it off, and we've got the diagnosis.so, again, early detection. i mean, i have had pets who have totally beatthe odds.

you know, i have had some pets where theyhad a type of a tumor, took it off, got the report back, it's aggressive, it's nasty,it's bad. you need to do this big, huge other surgery,like take off half the jaw, etc. and the client said, "i'm not doing that."like, okay, okay. let's talk about getting them on a good diet,let's just talk about keeping them healthy, and maybe using, there are some supplementsthat are used. actually, some of these mushrooms, you know,like the shiitake mushroom type supplements, like i said, they can help just sort of holdthe lid on that, you know. and i have seen some pets, because we're supportingthe rest of the body, and the rest of the

body is kind of in this race with cancer.so, if the rest of the body is staying strong, it's helping to prevent that cancer from overtakingit. i've seen some pets go like a year or a yearand a half, where the oncologist said, "eh, you'd be lucky if you get six months beforethey're really suffering from this tumor." not all the time, but sometimes you can.so, i think, again, going back to early diagnosis. please don't be afraid.i think that's the one thing, is a lot of times people are afraid of what they're goingto hear from me if they feel this lump, or like oh, he's old, it must be cancer.she's just going to tell me i have to put him down.>>kelly runyon:

i've been there.>>dr. sally foote: yeah.>>kelly runyon: it's scary.>>dr. sally foote: exactly, and i understand where they're comingfrom because 10 years ago, 15 years ago, yes, that would have been all we could have toldthem, because we didn't have as many choices. and so, if your pet's 15-years old, the lastpet you had was 15 years ago, and that's what you heard.so, you don't know the difference. but there is a difference and especially,too, in a lot more advances in, pet palliative care means we're going to keep you comfortablewith what you've got, okay.

we're not driving and pushing to cure, andwe are going to be very, we're going to have a very open and honest discussion about qualityof life and how to check that and assess that as their pet is getting older.it's like pet hospice. and we vets have always done it, we just neverhad a title for it really. but there's a lot more that can help supportyour pet, and help reduce and prevent pain, so they can still have good quality days inthe face of some of these things. and so, please ask your veterinarian aboutthat. and if they're not really comfortable workingthis way, there are other veterinarians who are, that actually almost kind of specializein this, too.

>>kelly runyon:how can you nurse your pet? we talked about side effects, and there willbe most generally with the medicine that they're on.so, side effects, and how can we as pet owners make sure that our pets are comfortable athome, going through this? >>dr. sally foote:i always like to say to my clients, "think of the five things your pet loves to do.and that's going to be a measure of how good is today."so, first of all, you really need to know your pet on what makes a good day for yourpet vs. a mediocre day or bad day, aright? and secondly, so we want to keep those daysgood, and we want to think about what would

help my pet say, to eat.if i had to take a bunch of mouth tumor, you know, a bunch of stuff out of the mouth, andyou may not have pain, i'm going to say to my client, "i want them to eat."say, "here's the canned food, but put it in a blender, and i want you to blenderize thatso it's like baby food consistency, so they can lap it up easier."now, you might not have thought of that because you might not have thought of even like cannedfood being kind of chunky to take in your mouth, and if it was a little hard on yourmouth. but blenderizing it may be all that they need,and they'll lap it up, and then they'll be able to eat and keep their hydration up, andkeep their nutrition up and stay feeling good.

this is when things like a little bit of junkfood might be okay. >>kelly runyon:some ice cream. >>dr. sally foote:yes, exactly. i mean, you know, we're pretty open aboutsaying, okay, look, if you have to top, dress it with some chopped chicken, that's alright.if we have to put barbecue sauce on it so he'll eat it, that's okay.pop it in the microwave. anything that comes out of the microwave,they usually think is your food. that might be all it takes to get them towant to eat it. if ranger, to help him eat, had to sit inmy lap, you know, just that comfort of sitting

in my lap and me petting him would help himwant to lick his food, that's what you do, okay?you're not babying them and coddling them. that's just an extra comfort step, like yousaid. making sure like that, if they normally laid,you know, jumped up on a bed here, but they might have, you know, aren't as, they've lostsome weight, so they aren't strong enough to get up here.well, how about we just put the bed here, you know.keep it in the same area, but let's make the bed for them, make it comfy for them.it's like kind of try to look through life through your pet's eyes, you know.and think, get creative.

you can get very creative.>>kelly runyon: you can.can you prevent feline cancer? is there anything that pet owners can do tominimize their animal getting the disease? >>dr. sally foote:there are some that we can, like we talked a little bit before about some risk factors.so, first of all, if your cat does not have feline leukemia, and then there's anothervirus, too, feline aids, and you're going to say, allow your cat to roam outside, someget them vaccinated. that will protect them from say, those relatedcancers. early neutering, especially for breast cancerin the cat, is essential.

female cats that are neutered by, certainly,6-months of age or a year of age, we rarely if ever see any kind of breast cancer in them.when the female cat has not been spayed say, for a couple years, and she's had a few litters,now her risk of cancer is much higher. and breast cancer in the cat is very aggressive.it's always very aggressive. we do see it in the dog, too, but there canbe non-aggressive and aggressive states in the dog.i talked about smoking in the home. don't.flat out don't. yes, inhaling those kind of toxins.we don't really have much data on other toxins in the home that they can inhale, possiblycausing other cancers, in that specifically.

but, and then the last thing is take yourpet in for yearly check-ups. don't skimp on that.you know, they're aging seven years. ranger's gaining seven years for every yearon this planet, you know. we're probably, yes, we're close in our agenow, ranger. he's about 8.that would put him about 56, and i just turned 55 last week.[laughing] >>kelly runyon:oh, well, that's true. that's true.you know, are certain breeds of cats more prone?or is it just a...?

>>dr. sally foote:somewhat, and it's not the cat and specific cancers, you know, risk, increasing risk becauseof breed is not as much that we see as compared to dogs.in the dog, golden retrievers, we see a lot of cancers at a young age in our golden retrieversnow. and there actually is a golden retriever longevitystudy being done. one of my, my practice has signed up for thisprogram. and boxers are another breed of dog that wetend to see a lot of say, skin tumors and specific tumors, at a much higher rate ascompared to other breeds of dogs. and frankly, right now i cannot think in myhead of a specific tumor to specific breeds

of cats.we don't have as many breeds of cats as compared to dogs, and so, therefore, we don't havequite as much of the, you know, really focused or inbreeding that we see as compared withsome of the, you know, canine breeds we're seeing.>>kelly runyon: so, the magic question is: how do i know thatmy pet is cured? >>dr. sally foote:well, on a lot of these, we monitor them. so, we would say, reexamine every three months,every six months physically. we may repeat blood work or repeat say, ifit was a mass say, on the liver, you know, a tumor on the liver, we might say, re-x-raythe abdomen to see is there any evidence of

regrowth.and you know, mris can be done. that has to be done like at the universityof illinois. they do offer that there.but pretty much like how they check a person. you know, we check the pets the same way,too. and remission depends on the type of tumor,but we pretty much consider like if our pets are cancer free after a year to two years,that they are cured. they give us five years.you know, they say you've got to be in remission for five before we say you're done.but for most of our cancers, we look at a year to two years, depending on the type oftumor.

>>kelly runyon:this may sound silly, but we'll kind of wrap up our discussion with this.is there any, you know, problem with other pets in the house?let's say ranger has cancer and is going through treatment.is there any chance for a risk of another pet in the household getting it, or a familymember being exposed to something? >>dr. sally foote:about the only one that could be possibly, you know, transferrable.there is one, those related to feline leukemia virus.and ranger, you want to go wandering off the set.because, that is a virus that is contagious

among cats.feline leukemia virus, feline aids virus, those could be.there is a type of tumor of the urogenital tract in dogs that can sometimes be transmittableand shared if they're mating at all or have contact in any way like that.there aren't many. there are few.and i think the most important thing is that we have all our pets checked regularly.and then, we also make sure that we are talking to our veterinarians about exactly how, likewhere we take our pets, how we live with our pets, you know, and that sort of thing.because then, that helps us to know if there’s other risk factors or things like that.>>kelly runyon:

i think that's a great way to wrap up ourdiscussion today, is to get your pets checked. and you said it very early on in our discussionis, have your cats checked, too. a lot of people don't think to do that.>>dr. sally foote: we'll see cats that haven't been to the vetin 15 years. >>kelly runyon:you are kidding. >>dr. sally foote:no, because they were house cats, and well, what's his risk of getting, you know, anydisease? it's not any.and he's acting and being fine, so there's not a problem.so, they're thinking just more in terms of

problem driven than preventative.please, don't. >>kelly runyon:dr. foote, thank you so much for joining us today.and ranger, you've been great. even took a little nap.i guess we were boring your throughout this discussion, but we're glad that you were heretoday. thanks for joining us.>>dr. sally foote: oh, thank you very much.it's always a pleasure to come. >> kelly runyon:if you're a veterinarian, trainer, groomer, specialist,rescue organization, or shelter that would like to partner with the paw report by providingexpert guests for the show, please contact

us by emailing weiu@weiu.net, or call 217-581-5956.if you have a topic you'd like to see on the show or questions for our experts, contactus with those, too. have a video or a photo of your pet doing something funny or absolutelyadorable? we'd love to share it with our viewers hereat the paw report. email it to weiu@weiu.net, and you can seeit on our show! just make sure it's a video taken by you,or that you have permission to share it. for more information about how to get thatvideo or photo to us, email or call 217-581-5956.did you know full episodes of the paw report areon youtube? they can be accessed at youtube.com/weiutv.then, just go to the paw report playlist,

and select the episode you want to see.more information about the show is also available 24/7 on our website at weiu.net, under thetelevision tab.production of the paw report is brought to you by...>>rameen karbassioon: okaw vet clinic in tuscola and dr. sally footeremind you to properly take care of your pets, and are happy to help support the paw reporton weiu. okaw vet clinic, located at 140 west salestreet, in downtown tuscola. more information available at okawvetclinic.com.dave's decorating center is a proud supporter color center, in charleston.[music plays]