Why did I decide to write this book?
There are fewer than 100 pet Oncology hospitals in the US with
15 States where there are none at all.
Ø There
are more than 50 million dogs in the US with some estimates being as high as 75
million.
Ø One in
two will suffer from some form of cancer.
Ø One in
four won’t survive and in some cases, depending on the breed, it is as high as
one in two.
In Rocky’s case, all the hard work by his various vets managed
to provide him with an extra year of quality life, but he was lucky because his
owners could afford to do so. However, there are many dogs who are not
that fortunate. Rocky decided therefore, that he would set up a cancer
trust fund in his name with the proceeds of his book being allocated to help
extend the lives of other dogs. He will be monitoring the donations as he
enjoys his New Life!
The real question though is why is it that cancer is the leading
cause of death in dogs? There are a lot of theories and this web-site is not
being run by oncologists. However there
are many factors that in combination can have an adverse effect. Why is it that
in some cases people who smoke cigarettes live well into old age, and yet other
people who live a healthy lifestyle die in middle age or before? Research in dogs suggests
a combination of the following:
Ø Diet
Ø Environment
Ø Medicines
Ø Breeding
Ø Type
of dog (part of breeding)
Ø Lack
of sufficient funding for cancer research in pets
If your dog (or any pet) has been diagnosed with cancer see our
page on Bad News. Now what?