Cancer is a leading cause of death in dogs over 10 years. Evidence-based welfare guidance helps owners navigate treatment decisions with their dog's quality of life as the priority.
Cancer care decisions for dogs require a welfare-centered framework that prioritizes the dog's quality of life over either owner preferences or treatment completeness. Canine veterinary oncology has advanced remarkably, offering dogs with cancer meaningful treatment options that extend life while maintaining acceptable welfare — dogs on chemotherapy protocols rarely experience the severe side effects common in human chemotherapy. But treatment is not always the right choice: for dogs with painful cancers like osteosarcoma, aggressive pain management may be more welfare-positive than curative attempts. The welfare principle is that treatment decisions should be evaluated on their impact on the individual dog's quality of life — neither automatically pursuing all available treatment nor reflexively declining it. Quality of life tools provide structured assessment that makes these difficult decisions more systematic.