Should Healthy Dogs Get Routine MRIs for Brain Tumors?

Should Healthy Dogs Get Routine MRIs for Brain Tumors?

Cancer is the leading killer of dogs; purebreds are particularly susceptible to cancer, and that includes brain tumors. When my parents’ German shepherd was diagnosed with a brain tumor via MRI, the veterinary neurologist said, “I see this all the time.” An MRI is the gold standard for diagnosing brain tumors in dogs.

A vet tech at the general vet clinic told me that brain tumor risk really goes up once a dog hits 6 years of age. Dogs are very prone to cancer, and once they reach age 10, there’s a 50 percent chance of developing cancer.

By the time the MRI was taken of my parents’ dog, the brain tumor was “fairly large,” said the vet neurologist, and that the brain tumor had “been there for a while.”

This got me thinking: Had the dog been getting routine MRIs annually, the brain tumor would have been detected when it was smaller, and thus treatable, perhaps the size of a pea, even.

A dog can be the look of health, picture perfect, romping around like a puppy, with a ferocious appetite and a vivid soul pouring out of its eyes  –  and all the while have a tumor growing in its brain, producing no symptoms, which is why just a few months prior to the German shepherd’s diagnosis, the general vet declared him healthy as a horse.

A “fairly large” tumor that had “been there for a while” was certainly there a few months prior to the MRI finding.

Is it practical for dogs to get routine MRIs to screen for brain tumors? After all, many pet owners think nothing of spending outrageous amounts of money on elaborate doghouses complete with custom made leather furniture, oriental rugs and other high-end fixtures. I asked Dr. Michel Selmer, DVM, of Advanced Animal Care Center in Huntington, NY. He responded:

“Although you may find that people are willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money on their dogs, if you did a study you would find that only 5 percent of the pet population will spend over $1,000 per year on the their dog’s medical expenses directed toward wellness and prevention…. I believe if their pet was having seizures they would definitely have an MRI done. I am hard-pressed to believe that if you asked them to have an MRI yearly, proactively to look for a tumor, they would say NO to the $1500 bill. They do love their elaborate doghouses, Gucci and Hermes collar and leash sets though…. sad, isn’t it…”

Are routine MRIs safe for a dog? Dr. Selmer explains, “Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structure of the body. MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than computed tomography (CT) does, making it especially useful in neurological (brain), musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and oncological (cancer) imaging. Unlike CT, it uses no ionizing radiation, but uses powerful magnetic fields.”

A yearly MRI for your dog’s brain tumor screening is medically smart, and can ultimately save you tons of money (canine cancer treatment is wickedly expensive) because the earlier a malignancy is caught, the less extensive will treatment be; that $1,500 yearly investment could save your dog’s life.