The high risk factor for Scotties is based on reviewing hundreds of cases from multiple institutions in the Veterinary Medical Database, over a period from 1975 to 1995; the 18 times risk factor was published by Dr. Glickman at Purdue University, by Carole Fry Owen when she was a Scottish Terrier Club of America Health Trust Fund trustee and by Dr. Marcia Dawson, former Health Trust Fund chairperson and Purdue staffer.
Other breeds at a higher than average risk included Shelties, Wire Fox and Westies with an odds ratio of 4.5, 3.2 and 3.0 respectively.

McTavish breeders’ website below talks about the high rate of cancer in Scotties and how breeders are working together to improve the health of Scotties, saying “Scotties tend to be a healthy breed. This happy situation is a result of their long genetic evolution in the Scottish Highlands and the care of the breed taken by fanciers over the years. This is not to say that there are not health problems - there are, and some breeding lines will show more problems than others, but the openness of breeders and the action taken by breed clubs to address the problems are actually improving the breed”.

“Scotties are at high risk for some cancers, particularly lymphosarcoma, bladder and urinary tract cancers, malignant melanoma and gastric carcinoma. Research into cancers is ongoing and early detection is critical in affecting a cure”.

http://www.mactavishscotties.ca/scotties/health.html

This next one provides information on holistic treatment:

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/acancer.htm

This one is specific to Scottie Cancer:

http://www.tartanscottie.com

When cancer hit Piper, we could not believe our misfortune in having it happen a second time, as we had known about pesticides and cigarette smoke and vitamins and exercise. We more were rigorous about avoiding the known hazards than the average Scottie owner, because we were informed.

We made the microwave mistake above about four times in his lifetime, not knowing about the risks to both animals and humans. We no longer even have a microwave in our house, and if I have to use the microwave at work I only use crockery containers. We did treat Piper with Advantage for fleas, and we were renovating, so he might have had one or two exposures to breathing varsol from a distance.

Piper was a different kind of Scottie in that he got four walks per day, including one longer walk; he was not at all sedentary. Piper got no canned food other than very premium canned food very occasionally (once or twice a year). He ate only the food we ate (scary thought), although we never fed him from the table as he had gone through obedience training. He got lots of good vitamins and greens. He never breathed smoke in his life. We would in future give a Scottie nothing but organic food.

Piper developed a bit of a taste for ice cream, and got it from us--even when we were totally silent taking it from the refrigerator and he was in another room he would appear as soon as the lid silently came off of a cardboard ice cream box-- maybe once a month.

Piper received the Wisconsin Protocol treatment at the Animal Critical Care Unit in Burnaby, BC, that does all of the cancer treatment for animals in the Greater Vancouver area. When he got cancer, we originally had the impression on talking to the doctors, that we had a one-in-four chance of remission; this is in the shorthand notes I took during the visit. We didn’t know that remission does not mean the possibility of a normal lifespan, as it does in human cancer treatment. What it means is that we had a one-in-four chance of getting up to two years. This was not at all clear to us at the time. We were in a state of shock when we had to make some critical decisions involving a lot of money, as well as our emotional and physical health, and Piper’s emotional and physical health.

The vets fully informed us, and re-informed us in writing, but obviously they are not going to recommend against a treatment that funds their research databases and is in fact their livelihood. This is part of the reason I suggest that diverting some of these research funds to a breeding program which would expand the gene pool, should be considered; it could achieve more positive results in the short term, while research continues to be done.

We would have done anything to save Piper at that stage. It would have taken more guts than we had to let him die without trying to help him. Our veterinarian recommended that we go for the “very best” treatment for Piper. What was “the very best” was in fact the most expensive treatment administered by the best doctors, but that treatment benefited only the doctor’s research database while extending Piper’s life nine months longer than the two months they said we had without their treatment. Their stated goal was quality of life.

Although Piper was a very happy dog all of his life, having to watch him suffer was very hard on us. I do, however, think Piper would have chosen to live those extra nine months, as he was a great lover of life, and took an avid interest right to the end, in people and events.

On his final day, he woke me early, and we did yoga together on the carpet, me doing back exercises and him rolling on his back and rubbing up against me. Then my husband let him walk free down Eagle Harbour creek to the ocean. Then we went to the vet, and I held his front paws as we all told him what a good dog he was. Although he was very frightened until sedated while hoovering liver treats, he went very peacefully in the end.

If I had it to do over again, I would have used Prednizone only—no chemotherapy—and I would have had the vet come to the house, as by the time of his death Piper had developed an absolute horror or veterinarian’s offices.

At this stage in chemotherapy treatment for dogs, chemotherapy is not the best for the dog or for the owner. Chemotherapy is a very serious poison which the doctors say is necessary because “cancer is an aggressive disease requiring an aggressive treatment”.

While chemotherapy has worked miracles for people, in canine therapy it can actually speed up the death of the dog, which is traumatized and re-traumatized with the treatment. This is particularly true of Scottish Terriers who are very sensitive and intelligent dogs.
There was only an extremely remote chance of a normal lifespan, or even living for another two years, but by the time we realized this, on receiving clarification in writing from the vets, we had started down the road of the Wisconsin Protocol. Although Piper was treated with great caring and love, only a miracle would have saved him.

Do not try to buy hope for yourself, and make your dog suffer through chemotherapy. They will lose their hair, they will throw up a lot, and they will lose their strength and vitality after every treatment.
You will end up losing a dog and losing a lot of money, rather than just losing a dog, which is tragedy enough.

Some breeders, particularly of the backyard variety are a) unaware of the statistically higher risk of cancers in Scotties identified by the American Kennel Club and the Scottish Terrier Club of America or b) previously unaware of the solution or c) taking no steps to prevent the problem by more careful breeding specifically directed at expanding the gene pool safely, d) they think if they ignore it, it will go away, or e) they are puppy mills wanting only to make money and caring little about this great breed of dogs.