Pot for Dogs?

In an effort to ease pain from arthritis, cancer, and other diseases in dogs, the Seattle company Medical Marijuana Delivery Systems is developing a "pot patch".

The product, to be called Tetracan, received patent rights in February of 2011 and could reach the market by the middle of 2012. This patch would be an alternative to pharmaceutical painkillers which have proven harmful, sometimes fatal in animals.


Maybe it will be sold with a box of milkbones?

Cancer Sniffer

A specially trained black labrador retriever, Marine, has been trained to sniff out cancer with stunning accuracy.

The nine-year-old female successfully identified people with bowel cancer more than nine times out of 10 after being given samples of their breath or feces to sniff. The discovery suggests that chemical compounds associated with specific cancers circulate in the body, opening up the prospect of developing tests for a range of cancers that could be applied even in the early stages of the disease.

Marine was trained at the St Sugar Cancer Sniffing Dog Training Centre in Chiba, Japan. She began in 2003 as a water-rescue dog – trained to save people from drowning by dragging them to the shore – but in 2005 was switched to cancer detection. Over four years she learnt to distinguish the smell of a dozen different cancers including breast, stomach, prostate, bladder and skin cancer.

In a study published this year in the medical journal Gut, Marine completed 74 tests in which she was given five breath or stool samples from patients to smell. In each test, only one of the five samples placed in front of her was cancerous. When she smelled a cancer sample, she would sit, alerting her handler.

According to the study, when Marine was smelling breath samples, she was 95 percent as accurate as a colonoscopy in detecting cancer. With stool samples she correctly identified 98 percent of samples with cancer.

If the odor is identified, they say that it could lead to the development of new methods for early detection of colorectal cancer, the most common form.

Cancer Sniffing Dogs - Part 2

Not only do dogs enrich the lives of their humans; they may also be trying to save our lives without us even realizing it! Dogs are detecting cancer; some are trained to do so, and others instinctively know something is not quite right.

Just because your dog is intently sniffing you does not mean you should run with alarm to your doctor. A dog's nose is 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than that of a human. A dog also has a larger portion of brain and nervous system devoted to the olfactory sense. Thus, a dog's interpretation of his surroundings is greatly affected by the information obtained from his nose. Sniffing you is telling your dog where you've been, who you met, what you ate, how you're feeling, etc.

However, if your dog seems consistently and considerably concerned about your body - beyond sniffing you to learn about your day – you may want to consider taking it seriously. He may be telling you something. Dogs can even smell cancer on your breath, particularly breast and lung cancer.

So, what are dog's detecting when they smell cancer? They smell a metabolic waste that is excreted by cancer cells, but not normal cells. It seems that some dogs naturally find this chemical to be a concern, or, at the least, interesting. Dogs can detect these chemical traces in the range of parts per trillion, making them able to smell cancer even during the early stages!

Dogs are currently being trained to detect cancer, similarly to how a dog is trained to detect drugs or bombs. A treat-based reward system is used, along with samples from healthy and cancer patients. The dog is rewarded when he sniffs the cancer sample. Eventually the dog learns to alert to the cancer sample by lying down or sitting when he comes upon it. Cancer-detecting dogs are often trained and capable in a matter of a couple weeks.

Studies around the world are proving that dogs can be extremely accurate in smelling and identifying cancer. This could be a huge benefit in the early detection of cancer, possibly saving countless lives. Researchers hope to incorporate dogs and their talented noses (literally the best odor detectors known to man) into physical exams in doctor's offices, alerting doctors to possible cancer concerns.

Think of all the things our best friend does for us – provide therapy, guide the blind, protect and serve those in law enforcement and the military, search for our missing loved ones, alert us to bombs, guard our homes, detect our cancer... provide unconditional love. Such an incredible creature.

Cancer Sniffing Dogs - Part 1

When you consider that a dog's sense of smell is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 more sensitive than ours, it may not sound so surprising that dogs can smell cancer. Dog's natural scent abilities make them great candidates for detecting different scents, including cancer.

I found a great video that shows dogs in the UK that can sniff out and find cancer. This video is only a few minutes long but definitely worth your time.