Cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs over 10 years old. Navigating treatment decisions with a focus on quality of life is central to welfare-positive cancer care.
Canine cancer welfare requires honest integration of treatment burden, disease burden, and quality of life assessment into decision-making. Unlike human medicine where patient autonomy drives often-aggressive treatment, canine cancer medicine should be guided by the dog's quality of life rather than owner attachment. This means being willing to pursue palliative care over aggressive treatment when the latter would impose significant suffering without meaningful quality of life benefit. It also means not dismissing active treatment when a dog has good quality of life and realistic chances of meaningful remission. The most welfare-positive approach involves a genuine partnership with a veterinary oncologist, honest quality of life tracking, and willingness to prioritize the dog's experience over the owner's grief about the prognosis.