Cancer is the leading cause of death in older dogs, affecting around 50% of dogs over ten years old. Understanding diagnosis, treatment options, and palliative care improves welfare outcomes for affected animals.
Canine cancer welfare spans the entire journey from diagnosis through treatment to end-of-life care. Diagnosis causes significant owner distress, which transmits to dogs — maintaining routine and stability reduces anxiety in affected animals. Treatment decisions require balancing potential benefit against treatment burden: chemotherapy in dogs is generally well-tolerated at lower doses than human protocols, with most dogs maintaining good quality of life during treatment. Pain management is central to cancer welfare — osteosarcoma causes severe bone pain requiring multimodal analgesia including opioids, NSAIDs, and sometimes radiation palliative therapy. Knowing when to transition from curative to palliative intent requires honest communication between veterinarians and owners. Quality of life assessment tools help owners and clinicians make this determination compassionately. Palliative and hospice care for dying dogs is an emerging discipline ensuring comfort in final weeks.