Finding out that your pet has been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma is terrifying. Squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant cancer that needs immediate and aggressive therapy in order to arrest it. The disease usually affects older animals, and is more often found in animals with light-colored coats or very short hair. There is a definite correlation to the amount of sun exposure.
There are several different forms of squamous cell carcinoma:

• cutaneous, characterized by skin lesions usually found on the belly or genital area
• subungual, which affects the nailbed of the foot
• oral, which is found in the mouth area but may also attack the bone

The treatment of choice in most cases is excision of the affected tissue. This treatment may also be followed up by chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Squamous cell carcinoma is not an automatic death-sentence for your beloved pet. If caught early enough, squamous cell carcinoma can in many cases be controlled, and your pet’s life can be extended with pro-active treatment.
Since early diagnosis is so important, there are steps you can take to prevent this disease from striking. Examine your pet’s skin monthly and keep your pet out of intense sun.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.