Animals and Skin Cancer

**Orleander** · 10-04-10, 06:14 PM

Do animals get skin cancer from sun exposure like people do? If so, wouldn't this guy be at a greater risk?

**John Connellan** · 10-05-10, 06:42 PM

Red sweat: hippo skin oozes antibiotic sunscreen

**~~Mr MacGillivray~~** · 10-06-10, 05:38 AM

Most animals do not have health insurance or comprehension of the fact that there is a healthcare system for animals. Moreover, most animals do not have the monetary resources to pay for this healthcare. This is especially valid for animals in the wild.

Hence they are never diagnosed with cancer. They just die.

Melanomas are commonly encountered in the veterinary practice though. For dogs melanoma accounts for 7% of all malignant tumours. In cats it isn't that common, but then again in grey horses it is apparently so common it is considered to be inevitable.

a reference.
http://vet.sagepub.com/content/39/6/651.long

**tejoey** · 10-19-10, 04:10 AM

I don't know, maybe the thickness of their skin help them in preventing themselves from skin cancer. As far as I know, there are also albino animals right? So more or less, that is possible; however, not yet proven scientifically.

**~~Mr MacGillivray~~** · 10-19-10, 05:11 AM

you don't need science to show a hippotamus can have skin cancer. You just need a veterinarian do a diagnostic survey.

There is no reason why a hippo cannot have skin cancer. They have other cancers as well.

http://vet.sagepub.com/content/4/6/5...=spvet;4/6/553

Sixty wild hippopotami killed at random on Lake Edward, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda were autopsied. Schistosomal hepatitis and its complications, biliary coccidiosis, and fascioliasis were the most significant findings. These diseases may be of ecologic importance. A case of congenital bronchiectasis and one of bilateral pheochromocytoma were found. A tumor-like mass, possibly of viral origin, was found in a thyroid.

Moreover, the hippotamus might be producing its own sunscreen lotion.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...a.html?lang=en

What is the function of these pigments as far as the hippopotamus is concerned? Their spectra in the ultraviolet/visible range (200–600 nm; see supplementary information) indicate that they may act as sunscreens. The red pigment 2 also has antibiotic activity: at concentrations lower than that found on the hippopotamus's skin, it inhibits the growth of the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa A3 and Klebsiella pneumoniae (see supplementary information).

**thepradagirl** · 06-07-12, 10:27 AM

Absolutely, yes. White animals, especially. I have seen white cats with their ears eaten away by cancer. I have had, among our many horses, three white ones through the years. ALL three have had skin cancer/melanoma. Much slower to kill on horses; they can live years with it. But white is NOT a good color for animals!