I just read that my Bella, as a Bengal, may run a higher risk of getting cancer. One odd piece of advice was to give her a little cottage cheese with flax seed oil daily. I don't see how that would help, but if anyone has any thoughts please let me know. Also: this must have been a topic here in the past. How can I guard my lovely darling against this awful disease?

Ellen, it is nice to see you back. I honestly do not know if there is anything that can prevent cancer. Or why some humans or animals are more susceptible. I would not give a cat cottage cheese. They don't digest dairy all that well. And I don't believe it would help. I eat a ton of cottage cheese and I've never heard that it will help prevent cancer.

Honestly? This is not something you should stress over! Yes, many cats do get cancer. All breeds. I would not think bengals are more prone to cancer than any other breed. Many of us on Facebook are familiar with Scott Hunt's Ace, who is very prone to getting tumors. He had part of his jaw removed due to a tumor. He recently had his leg amputated due to tumors. He gets them and they are aggressive. Scott checks him daily. Now Ace is receiving chemo and the tumors are gone -- but I'm sure stopping chemo would bring them back.

Nobody wants their pet getting this horrible disease. You can probably read thousands of articles on Google about this. Naturally, an annual checkup with the vet is necessary and if you spot anything on Bella that seems suspicious. you make sure she sees the vet.

First, I believe the premise that Bengals have higher risk of cancer is false. Never heard that mentioned before, and I've even seen some risk charts (from an insurer and on animal planet) that don't list that. From memory though, I believe the higher risk that bengals have is heart problems.

To me, part of not losing sleep over that is to get pet insurance. Pet insurance obviously doesn't prevent bad things from happening, but at least if something really bad like that happens you can treat it aggressively.

I agree with Sherry on the flax seed and cottage cheese thingy. It sounds misguided at best, and possibly dangerous at worst, to me.

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The little monsters 3

I will risk offering some "misguided advice", but I too am skeptical that it is unlikely that Bengals are more predisposed to cancer than other breeds .

That said, I am personally an advocate for iodine supplementation for cancer prevention. Iodine is key in promoting cell apoptosis, which is natural cell death. Cancer is the opposite, where cells don't die off on schedule. Despite the widespread use of iodized salt in human diets, many people are iodine deficient. This is because we are exposed to other elements from the right hand column of the periodic table called halides, which compete with and displace iodine. Bromine is probably most widespread in the environment for humans. In the states, it is present in brominated flour (bleached flour), hot tubs, pools and lots of other things. Fluorine and chlorine are also in the group of elements and are everywhere in our environment.

I don't know how to supplement iodine safely for a cat. Elemental iodine is poison when ingested. What I do for myself is apply iodine tincture topically so I absorb it transdermally. I paint it my belly and often use it to heal minor cuts. Health food stores offer some pricey iodine supplements in forms that are safe to ingest.

I am also mindful of including iodine rich foods in my diet. Eggs, potato, fish. Sea vegetables like kelp are rich in iodine, and I believe kelp tablets and kelp powder is available as a supplement. These are probably better options for a cat.

I am not a veterinarian or a medical professional. You will want to do your own research to see if you think kelp and other foods for iodine supplementation make sense for your bengal.

Or you can try to figure out a way to get rid of the bromine, chlorine and fluorine in the environment.

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Likewise I haven't heard anything about them having a higher cancer risk. I've heard incorrect comments/articles saying they are immune to the feline leukemia virus, but that was only why the breed was created and it was not successful ( thus, we have our adorable monsters ).

The actual diet being referred to with Cottage Cheese and Flax oil is part of the Budwig diet. It uses Omega 6 and Omega 3 acids from both of those ingredients in combination with removing meat/animal fat and processed foods from your diet. So unless your Bengal is a vegetarian, this advice is only part of a larger lifestyle change that doesn't necessarily translate to feline digestive tracts or eating habits.

Omega 6 is found in poultry
Omega 3 is found in fish and eggs

Both of which are quite common in the foods your cat normally eats in volume.

I just wrote a post and guess I failed to actually post it. Salt/iodine is a requirement in humans and cats. Check the ingredients in your cat food and you will find "salt" is listed. It's a necessary supplement for thyroid function. However, I would NOT supplement over and above the food you are feeding unless you may be feeding a raw diet. And if you're so consumed by trying to prevent cancer in your cat, you might as well hop in bed and stay there for the next 100 years. Things happen. I still stand by my earlier post that your cat receive annual examinations by your vet, which should include the vet checking for lumps and other signs, and if your suspect something, then take your cat to the vet ASAP. One cannot dwell on this.

If only we all knew the secret of preventing cancer. Unfortunately cancer risk increase for everyone with age and we cant keep our kitties young forever (we wish we could!).

Best thing I feel you can do is regular vet visits and a good diet and low stress life. Some people do yearly blood tests which can catch some diseases early.

Unfortunately there is no magic pill and risk has a lot to do with genetics and environment. We can't change genetics so just give her the best life you can and lots of love.

I recently lost my Bengal mix at a rather young age to lymphoma, and I did have discussions about why this happened to him with several vets. None of them brought up breed specific risk factors. More likely, it was because he was very sick when I got him and this created a weakness.