Recently Dogster and the Morris Animal Foundation joined forces on a fundraising campaign to fight canine cancer.  Since this devastating disease is so prevalent, killing 1 in 4 dogs, it is imperative to keep raising money for canine cancer research. Hopefully, eventually changing this statistic.

I’m always looking for relevant articles on canine cancer research and I came across an article about NC State University.  Their Veterinary Medicine department is going to start offering bone marrow transplants on dogs with lymphoma.

The university’s College of Veterinary Medicine plans to begin performing the procedure within about four weeks, said Dr. Steven Suter, an assistant professor of oncology. Suter arranged for N.C. State to accept three donated leukophoresis machines from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The costs for this procedure are not going to come cheap. You can expect $15,000 alone on just the bone marrow transplant. On top of that there will be vet bills and chemotherapy, needed to send the disease into clinical remission.

Many dog owners already spend a huge amount of money for treatment, in excess of $10,000, with a survival rate of only 12-16 months.  This new procedure will at least give them a 50% chance of survival.

The process of extracting the stem cells is painless for dogs, though it might not be so for owners. Consequently, NCSU is seeking donors to help underwrite the cost of treating ailing pets.

“We really understand this is a lot of money for a lot of people,” Suter said. “We’re looking for some corporation or some person to step up and help these clients.”

The university will start off treating about one dog a month.  However, not all dogs will qualify for this treatment.  The dogs must be at least 55 lbs. and the procedure is specifically for those dogs with lymphoma.

With standard treatment about 80-85% of dogs will eventually die. Dr. Steven Suter, an assistant professor of oncology, stated “I got tired of watching that happen. I decided the time had come to try something different.”

The picture that I chose today is in memory of one of our very own Dogster angels.  Maxie, a beautiful girl, was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of ‘07 and crossed over Rainbow Bridge on July, 14, 2008.

I know certain breeds of dogs are predisposed to having certain conditions but I had never given it much thought as to why.

A new study from researchers at Imperial College London shows the extent of inbreeding in purebred dogs and how this reduces their genetic variation.

Inbreeding in pedigree dogs arises because certain dogs, prized for exhibiting the characteristics desirable for that breed, are used to father many litters of puppies. When dogs from these litters come to be mated, some will be paired with dogs having the same father from other litters. Over generations, more and more dogs across a particular pedigree are related to one another and the chances of relatives mating increase.

The researchers’ analysis showed that, for example, Boxer dogs were so closely related to one another and had such little genetic variation between them that genetically, 20,000 dogs looked like a population of about 70. In the Rough Collie breed, 12,000 dogs looked in genetic terms like a population of about 50.

Interesting stuff.

For those of you that get the BBC One, the researchers will discuss the study on “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” which airs on Tuesday 19 August 2008 at 21.00 BST.

We all know that when you’re in a room and one person yawns it will set off a series of yawns.  Now, according to a scientific team from Birkbeck College at the University of London, dogs can also “catch” a yawn.

The copying activity suggests that canines are capable of empathizing with people, say the researchers who recorded dogs’ behaviour in lab tests. Until now, only humans and their close primate relatives were thought to find yawning contagious.

Dr Senju and his team were questioning whether dogs could read the human yawn signal, which could support a finding that dogs have the ability to empathize. The team set up a study using 29 canines.

The team found that 21 out of 29 dogs yawned when the stranger in front of them yawned - on average, dogs yawned 1.9 times. By contrast, no dogs yawned during the non-yawning condition.

The researchers believe that these results are the first evidence that dogs have the capacity to empathise with humans; although the team could not rule out stress-induced yawning - they hope to in future studies.

That is good news.  Lisa and I figured  Bo, Copper, and Logan were yawning because they thought we were boring.  Perhaps, that isn’t so.

Finding out your dog has cancer, or as we call it in our house “Madge”, is one of the greatest fears pet owners have. If you’re wondering why we call it “Madge”, the answer is simple, doesn’t it sound a lot less intimidating.  Plus, I bet it made you smile.

I came across an interesting article to help alleviate some fears and/or answer some of your questions.

DENVER, July 11, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Dog owners and lovers in the United States view canine cancer as the greatest health threat to their beloved pets. They are correct. One in four dogs die of cancer. Cancer is the number one cause of death in dogs over the age of 2. Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) has posted on its Web site, http://www.MorrisAnimalFoundation.org, a canine cancer exclusive of special interest to dog owners and dog lovers everywhere.

We can also give our support to help fight this disease.

MAF has launched an unprecedented global campaign to raise funds to cure canine cancer in the next 10 to 20 years, and while seeking the ultimate cure, to develop more effective treatments for dogs suffering from cancer today. MAF is funding canine cancer research at many of the top veterinary colleges in the world. Learn more about the campaign at http://www.CureCanineCancer.org.

If we all put our paws together hopefully we will beat this disease once and for all.