Vet Specializes in Animals That Suffer From Cancer

What would happen if your Chihuahua came down with breast cancer? If the police department’s prized drug-sniffing dog was diagnosed as having leukemia? Your mother’s kitty had skin cancer?

Chances are, despite the fact that increasing numbers of pets are afflicted with cancer, your veterinarian would be unable to offer treatment, recommending instead that the animal be put out of its misery.

Besides, even if there were a veterinarian who would treat cancer, who would want to plunk down as much as $2,000 to save a 13-year-old mutt?

Dr. Justin Quecke has found that plenty of pet owners in Southern California would--and do.

Spurred by a frightening bout seven years ago with melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer that required surgery on his arm, the 25-year veterinary science veteran opened what he believes is the nation’s first private practice dedicated exclusively to the costly treatment of cancer in dogs and cats.

“It sounds corny, but I thought the technology and capability exist. Why not use it to help these animals?” he said.

Animal rights activists may take heart that animals, which have been unwitting guinea pigs for cancer research for decades, are finally reaping the benefits.

Quecke, who employs 25 staff members, offers diagnostic screenings for $35 and a variety of treatments including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

The doctor has seen 200 animal patients and treated about 50 since opening the California Veterinary Oncology Group in Fountain Valley, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Most fellow animal doctors have shied away from opening a cancer-treatment practice for animals because of the high cost of equipment.

Quecke (pronounced “quick”) has invested more than $1 million in sophisticated equipment usually reserved for humans: A CAT scanner, a cobalt machine for radiation treatment and a sensitive X-ray device known as an orthovoltage machine.

The veterinarian tells of a Laguna Hills couple who paid $1,400 to save their 13-year-old Chihuahua afflicted with breast cancer and a Seal Beach woman who paid $1,000 in savings to have a cancerous growth removed from her aging cat.

Quecke donated his services to treat Anaheim’s drug-sniffing police dog, Cliff, for leukemia. The canine sleuth needed about $2,000 in treatment.

Animals Living Longer

Quecke said studies show that more of America’s animals are contracting cancer because they are living longer, thanks to improved nutrition and health care.

“Cancer is a disease of older animals,” he said. “Animals are living longer and as a result, we’re seeing more cancer.”

The two most common cancers in dogs and cats--the only pets Quecke treats--are skin cancer and leukemia.

Like Americans, pets are getting too much sun, either during their roamings around the neighborhood or in their shadeless yards. Skin cancer usually shows up on dogs’ noses and ear tips, and Quecke recommends applying sun screen to animals that spend a lot of time in the sun.

Quecke said extensive studies have shown that cancerous animals are not contagious to humans. But human habits, such as smoking, may contribute to an animal’s cancer, according to Ralph Richardson of Purdue University, president of the Veterinary Cancer Society.