Kevin Toman, DVMFounder, Helping Pets Live Longer · Veterinary Longevity Specialist

The BEST form of cancer in pets? That’s easy. It’s EARLY cancer. #caninecancer #petlongevity

9 Dec 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:40

In this short monologue, Dr. Kevin Toman urges pet owners to proactively detect cancer in dogs and cats by performing monthly self‑exams. He explains how to inspect the mouth for gum bumps and palpate the body for new or persistent lumps, recommending marking suspicious spots with nail polish or a hair clip to track changes. He stresses that lumps that remain and grow are concerning and should be evaluated by a veterinarian, who can perform a fine‑needle aspirate to examine cells under a microscope. Dr. Toman highlights that smaller masses are far easier to remove than larger ones, underscoring the therapeutic advantage of early detection. He concludes with a call to action, inviting viewers to comment, sign up for a free Longevity Strategy session via his website helpingpetslivelonger.com, and offering his support.

Chapters

Sometimes being a veterinarian sucks, like when I have to tell a pet parent that your dog or your cat has cancer. So I have one ask for you today. As your veterinarian, please help me detect your pet's cancer as early in the game as possible, because the earlier we catch it, the easier it is to treat. So once a month or so, check your pet's mouth looking for any any bumps on their gums. Run your hands over their arms, their legs, and their body, feeling for any lumps or bumps that weren't there last time around. If you find one on their body, daub it with a little fingernail polish or cut a little chunk of hair off so that we can keep track of it, because many bumps and lumps for your dog or for your cat will come and go, and those aren't the ones that worry me. The ones that worry me are the ones that stay there and gradually increase. If you do find one of those bumps, take your dog or take your cat to your veterinarian and they will stick a little needle in there and pull back some cells, have a look at them under the microscope, and they'll very easily be able to tell you whether you're running into a problem or not. But it's much easier to remove a mass when it's the size of a pencil eraser than it is a softball. I'm Dr. Kevin Toman. I run helpingpetslivelonger.com and these things matter to me. If they matter to you too, and they should, please drop a message into the comments below or sign up for a free Longevity Strategy session with me using the link I'm gonna put in the comments section. We're all in this together, and I will help you if I can.