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6A Daily News – Saturday, February 9, 2013 Pets health&activities Health goes to the dogs By ELIZABETH DEVITT Santa Cruz Sentinel (MCT) SANTA CRUZ — Jasper, a 7-year-old rescue dog from San Jose has a personality that endears him to everyone — even to cats. He also has lymphoma, a cancer that sprouts from the body's defense system and is similar to non-Hodgkin lymphoma in people. Right now, Jasper's treatment plan is based on laboratory tests, ultrasounds and the expertise of his veterinarian, Linda Fineman, a cancer specialist at the SAGE center in Campbell, Calif. Although he's doing well after his first round of treatment, the hardest part is not knowing how long it will help him, said his owner, Catherine Jacobsen. In the future, however, tests on Jasper's DNA could determine the best medications for him and show how long they'll work, according to scientists who study the DNA of dogs. And those researchers are increasingly discovering that cancer and other diseases are caused by the same genetic mutations in pooches and people. So as scientists develop new therapies for canine cancers, they're also finding more effective methods to treat similar problems in humans. "The key to unlocking some of nature's most perplexing puzzles in human health has actually stood right next to us, wagging its tail," said Matthew Breen, a genomics professor at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Scientists got a huge new asset when the first national canine tumor bank opened at the end of October, Breen said. Researchers now have a one-stop shopping source of samples from the bank, developed as part of the Canine Comparative Oncology and Genomics Consortium in Bethesda, Md. Our four-legged friends are good models for studying human disease because they share our environment, so they're exposed to the same factors that may lead us to develop cancer, said geneticist Heidi Parker of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda. "They're living life with us and getting old like the rest of us," she said. But the shorter lifespan of dogs means they get cancer faster, so scientists don't have to wait decades to find out which treatments work better, said Michael Kent, co-director of the Comparative Cancer Center at the University of CaliforniaDavis School of Veterinary Medicine. Centuries of close breeding in canines have made it easier to hunt for genetic links to disease. When breeders select for specific features in dogs — a curly coat or a stout body — they unwittingly choose other traits, Parker said. In time, certain maladies became linked with particular breeds: Dobermans frequently have blood clotting disorders, and dachshunds get day blindness. Once scientists find the location of DNA that causes a disease in dogs, they also have a better idea of where to look for the faulty genes in people. With a common genetic basis for disease, researchers can use similar tools to fight cancer in canines and humans. Osteosarcoma is another disease in which canine research has already boosted treatment for people. This cancer is common in big breeds, such as great Danes and Irish wolfhounds. It usually attacks the leg bones and then travels to the lungs. In people, it's often a pediatric disease, afflicting fewer than 1,000 patients a year. It's hard to study in children because so few get the disease, but more than 10,000 dogs are diagnosed with it annually. Even after surgery to remove the cancer, osteosarcoma still spreads to the lungs — in dogs and people. Researchers, however, discovered that this cancer changes the DNA of dogs in several ways. With that information, they found more effective cocktails of drugs and lowered the rate of the cancer spreading to the lungs. These findings led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fast-track approval for similar medications for people, leading to longer life expectancies, said veterinarian Cecile Siedlecki, a cancer specialist in San Leandro, Calif. who also consults with physicians. Disposables By RONNIE CASEY We have become a disposable society. If something no longer suites us, becomes inconvenient or simply does not meet the needs we thought we had, the solution is to discard it. Whether the object is inanimate or alive, we leave it behind and move on. Often without a second thought or feelings of remorse, we discard old shoes and spouses with equal abandon. It is often also the same for pets. These past weeks puppies dumped by the side of the road, dogs with the infirmities of age and animals adopted once and returned because they became too much hassle arrived at the local shelter. They are but a few of the living disposables of society. Puppies bred to make a quick buck which were not sold, old dogs/cats who for many years were loyal faithful companions and pets acquired that perhaps needed just a little extra attention were given up. Not taken into the equation is that they are living, breathing entities capable of emotion. They simply became too much trouble to deal with. We expect someone else to deal with our difficulties. We wish someone else to solve our problems. We refuse to take responsibility for our actions. How often do we hear it is society's fault, it is because of the way I was raised, and I did not have the same opportunities as someone else? The list goes on. In the mirror, we do not see ourselves as the perpetrator. These actions, however, result in overcrowded shelters that are often underfunded and understaffed. Again, it is not Special Hours for Valentine Shopping GAUMER'S Jewelry • Museum • Lapidary Open Saturday, February 9 10am-4pm 78 Belle Mill th our problem. Volunteerism is at an all-time low. The economy today, makes donations difficult to come by. Budgets are tight and costs for goods skyrocket. We lament about how we are unable to do anything because of factors beyond our control. Solutions to large problems are often not easy. However, allencompassing fixes do not need to occur immediately on a monumental scale. Instant gratification and quick fixes simply may not occur. How can we begin? We begin by accepting responsibility for our actions. We begin by understanding that our commitment to our pets is more than just a "feed and water" situation. We begin by educating ourselves and learning that indiscriminate breeding can end with the loss of the lives we allowed to happen. We begin by understanding that commitment to an animal means for "better or worse" not "only while it is easy". We begin by raising our pets with as much forethought as we do our children. You ask for solutions. Many potential fixes are: spay and neuter your own pets; Trap, neuter and release (TNR) a feral cat; take your new puppy to training class; educate your children early about responsible pet ownership; fight for stronger legislation against animal abusers; volunteer... again, the list goes on. Any one of these actions taken by an individual is a step in the right direction. In many instances, incremental steps can solve large problems. All you need to do is take that first step. Ronnie Casey is a volunteer with Providing Essentials for Tehama Shelter. You can read her blog, Mutts & Moggies, at redbluffdailynews.com. Red Bluff Daily News Call 527-2151 Website: redbluffdailynews.com E-Mail: advertise@redbluffdailynews.com Road Red Bluff, CA All makes and models. 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