What do I need to know about having a dog on palliative chemotherapy?

[Goldmandra]

Our 11YO JRT has just been diagnosed with cancer. It has already spread and he starts his first chemo tomorrow.

My 14YO DD2 has autism and he is the centre of her world (and she his). They are joined at the hip so this is going to be really hard for her.

She is adamant that he shouldn't be put through any treatment that affects his quality of life and the vet has reassured us that this won't happen.

He seems happy and comfortable at the moment. Loves walks and cuddles and is eating well.

She's planning to interrogate the vet tomorrow about every aspect of his treatment and prognosis.

Does anyone have any advice that might help make this a little easier or at least stop it being harder than it has to be?

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this

Your DD sounds wonderfully mature and sensible; wise beyond her years. It's really good for her to ask all her questions at the vets - I'm in a totally different line of work but also dole out advice on life changing subjects; I always enjoy a good 'interrogation' from one of my 'customers' as it shows they're engaged and it means I have to think on my feet!

Perhaps after the vet visit you and DD could sit and talk about specific scenarios when you would call it a day (e.g. not eating, no longer voluntarily going for walks, no longer chasing a ball) to allow her to think about what might happen and when might be the point where he no longer has an acceptable quality of life.

How did the vet visit go?

Having been reluctant to let my first cat go when They had cancer (She had an operation as an old cat)I would pts as their quality of life ent improve and just deteriorates. Everyone's upset now, prolonging the agony is nt in anyone's best interests imo.

The thing is, as soon as the word chemotherapy is added it becomes this issue where people suddenly see it as something to avoid (obviously worse if your DD is a rigid thinker anyway).

But, it’s just medication, all you really need to know is exactly the same as for any other medication, what’s involved? What’s the likely outcome if you do use it or don’t use it? What possible side effects are there? and are the most likely ones reversible if they happen and you stop it?

The point of chemotherapy for animals is to keep a good quality of life for as long as possible, it’s not about throwing really strong stuff at them like they do with people.

Thank you for the advice. We've had a difficult couple of days.

DD2 quizzed the vet and then sat us down and insisted we talked through every eventuality.

We've agreed that the treatment will only continue as long as he seems happy and talked about what not happy might look like. His next dose is in three weeks.

He was quite quiet yesterday and cried a bit during the evening but he does that if he thinks he's getting his dinner too late or our other dog has gone for a walk without him so I'm trying not to over-react.

He seems fine so far today.

He's getting spoilt rotten. All the rules have gone out of the window as far as both DDs are concerned and he's getting cuddles on their beds, treats of (suitable) human food and they are very attentive about keeping the log burner stoked to keep him warm.

This is him JRT with brown and white patches) enjoying the bean-bag in front of the fire with our other dog who has to settle for the floor.