What can we learn about Cancer in dogs from those who have Lived the longest?

Many think that genetics have a lot to do with it, but that is not true. Experts generally agree that Environmental Factors are most responsible for a dog’s Longevity. These include avoiding exposure to toxic chemicals such as those found in our homes, pesticides, air pollution, Food and tap water to name a few.

I recently searched the internet to see if I could find a common denominator among dogs who had lived to extraordinarily old ages. Of course information about exposure to many environmental factors was not available, however, there was one common thing that all of their owners attributed to their dog’s longevity.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

• Chanel, a dachshund, lived to be 21 years old. Owned by Denice and Karl Shaugnessey in  Port Jefferson Station, New York, they said she is is kept inside her warm home and fed a diet of boiled chicken with whole-wheat pasta and the occasional soft treat.
• Lulu, a beagle, was 21 as of February, 2010. Her owner, Travis Buckley has credited the dog’s longevity to it’s diet of freshly cooked fillet steak, veal and sausages.
• Bramble, a Labrador owned by Anne Heritage from Wales, lived to be 27 years old. Ms. Heritage is a vegan and has brought up her pooch on the same diet regime she herself follows. “She has a big bowl of rice, lentils and organic vegetables every evening,” says Ms. Heritage.
• Jerry, an Australian cattle dog-bull terrier cross, lived to be 27. Jerry’s owner, Waddie Harris – an Aboriginal tribal leader in New South Wales state’s Wilcannia town, put Jerry’s longevity down to his high-protein diet of Outback wildlife. “Jerry has grown up on kangaroo, rabbit and emu as well as scraps off the table,” the newspaper quoted Harris as saying.
• Otto – a dachshund cross terrier from Shropshire, England lived just 31 days short of his 21st birthday. Owners Lynn and Peter Jones attribute his longevity to “good food and plenty of love and affection.”
• Daisey, a Tenterfield terrier from Queensland was 25 as of February, 2010. Her owner, Julie suspects Daisy’s longevity might be due in part to one of her favorite beverages. “She’s likes a cup of tea and that’s one of her treats she’s always had – apparently a lot of dogs in England drink tea and they think it could have to do with their long life,” Julie explains.
• Paco Sosa, a dachshund from New York City was 20 as of last year. He is fed a diet of organic fish and poultry, and walks in Central Park every day.

Do you see the common thread here? The one thing dogs who live to be the oldest have in common is that they don’t eat Dog Food from a bag or a can. They eat the same food we do. There are dogs on the list who ate vegetarian, steak, sausage, fish, kangaroo, and poultry. Some cooked, some raw. Whatever it was, it didn’t come from a dog food factory.

Of course, we know little from what was published about other factors, but I suspect their exposure to vaccinations and toxins like flea collars, spot treatments and lawn chemicals was also limited.

If your dog has cancer, right now would be a good time to only prepare food for them that you would eat yourself. Dogs with cancer have different nutritional needs than healthy dogs and I cover this with anti-dog cancer recipes in Dog Cancer: The Holistic Answer.

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