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Would you put a 10 year old dog through chemotherapy?

T

Tigress

Member
So... I'm jumping the gun a little bit but from what the vet can tell me the specialist they say she should see is either going to tell me the liver is "old dog liver" cirossis and that we need to give special diet and supplements which is what she's recommending I go ahead and do or that it may be cancer (of the liver). She got pancreatitus a few weeks ago and they recommended we recheck her in a few weeks cause her liver enzymes were high (and apparently the enzymes that were high weren't usually associated with pancreatitus but could be... apparently it sounds like her liver might have caused the pancreatitus judging from the current bloodwork).

She's 10 years old and I'm not sure getting a cancer diagnosis is worth it cause at best we'd just do what we would do now except just baby her for what little she has left (I mean I guess it means I'd just go ahead and give her treats where as now she's going on a strict diet). I mean is it worth putting a 10 year old dog through chemotherapy? It seems like it would be miserable for her and how much more life (quality life) could it give her? Especially compared to what misery it would put her through?
 
S

SirMossyBloke

Member
I've seen people go through chemo and it can be a very hard thing to suffer through. I wouldn't put a dog through it that has no idea why you keep taking them to a place that makes them feel sick.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Buggy Loop

Buggy Loop

Member
No

Chemo is pure hell for humans even when they understand "why" they are going through it and it's their choice. I would not impose than on an animal.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
You're obviously in a lot of emotional turmoil over this, and I don't want to minimize it, but you're asking for opinions here, and mine is no. Not a chance. I can't imagine putting a dog of any age on chemotherapy. Pets are nice, but they don't live as long as us, and that's one of the sad truths about them. They get diseases, they get run over, best case scenario, they live 15 years or something. That's just how it is. Grieve, but come to terms.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
I would listen to the advice of my trusted veterinarian and ask them for their opinion then Mix it with my own.

People on the internet are idiots and just fire off any opinion while eating breakfast. Don't listen to us
 
H

HawksWinStanley

Member
Honestly, I don't think I could put an older dog through that. It would have no idea why it's getting incredibly sick and who's to say the chemo works? That's just way too much stress to put on an animal that has no way of understanding what's happening. I'd probably just enjoy the remaining quality time it has left and once things start taking a turn then it's one last visit to the vet.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
No, I would not.

FWIW I lost my dog to liver cancer last year and I'm still gutted, but he had a great quality of life until I had to have him sedated and put down.

:(

I'm sorry.
 
D

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
I wouldn't put my dog through that, no.

As long as she's had a good life and isn't suffering now I think you can be happy about that.
 
S

SafeinSound

Member
Nah definitely not. Letting go of your pet, when close with them is one of the hardest things in life, but I wouldn't do this. Not at that age.
 
LordKasual

LordKasual

Banned
Bitch Pudding said:
You already know the answer.... I'm sorry.
Click to expand...
^


my 16 year old cat was a tad bit more sluggish than usual and hard of hearing, but otherwise physically she was completely fine, constantly surprised me with how good of a jumper she still was.

cancer of the mouth forced us to put her down in the scope of a month.

It's not easy, but you absolutely need to consider the animal's quality of life over your own.
 
T

TheCthultist

Member
After watching my grandfather suffer through it right up to the day he died, I'm not sure I'd put another human on it; much less a dog.

It sounds like you kind of already have your mind made up anyway. Best of luck with whichever decision you end up making.
 
W

WhereAreMahDragonz

Banned
No.

My dog was 6 or 7 when she developed lung cancer. Really young. My parents decided it just wasn't worth it, considering the severity and the quality of life it may or may not give her, so we just kept her comfortable and eventually had to put her down. I would have done the same if I was in their shoes.
 
D

droppedbear

Neo Member
I would consider it depending on the diagnosis and expected outcome
Important to consider that dogs are not the same as humans and the side effects of the doses used are generally not as bad as in humans
 
B

bennywhatever

Member
OP, Chemo for dogs is not even close to the same thing as Chemo for humans. There isn't nearly the pain or suffering involved with it, and it's totally OK to do. The problem is cost - it is very expensive and requires a ton of follow up appointments.
 
W

Walter White

Member
If your dog is in otherwise good health and money isn't a problem I'd tell you to go for it.

Our 10 year old was diagnosed with cancer. If we did nothing, we were told we'd have 2 months, at best. If we did treatment it would vary, but year and a half to two years. We opted for treatment, which included chemo. In the beginning we did intravenous chemo where we'd go in I think it was every 4-5 weeks for a new round. He took it very well. There was a period of a couple of days after the dosage where he was tired and lethargic, but after that passed he was great.

He took to that one really well and it did a good job of fighting the cancer. So after several rounds of that we stopped and hope he'd be OK. A few months later and it started to come back. This time the doctor gave us an oral chemo drug. That one was pretty rough on him, so after a couple weeks we decided to take him off of that one and just ride out the time we had left.

In addition to the chemo, we gave him cannabis oil. The oncologist was a proponent of it and recommended we give him that after I brought it up one day after I had researched additional treatments. A lot of people out there give it to their pets in similar circumstances and it seems to work well, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

I can't tell you for sure that it made a difference, but I believe it did. Even when the cancer came back and we ended up dropping the oral chemo it was growing and spreading really slowly. I want to believe the cannabis helped.

Anyways, we recently lost him. Not necessarily from the cancer itself spreading far and wide or anything, but from the high calcium levels that the cancer was causing on the side and the complications from that.

All said, we bought him 16 months. 16 good months. We have no regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat. You'd be surprised how strong dogs are and how they handle trauma. Much better than a lot of humans. They are truly resilient creatures.
 
T

Tigress

Member
TheCthultist said:
After watching my grandfather suffer through it right up to the day he died, I'm not sure I'd put another human on it; much less a dog.

It sounds like you kind of already have your mind made up anyway. Best of luck with whichever decision you end up making.
Click to expand...

I kinda do. I mean she's not diagnosed with cancer yet. But from what I understand having her see an internalist would just tell us if she has cancer vs. cirossis (cirossis being something that we'd pretty much do what the vet is recommending I do in the meantime. Though the vet says she's a bit young for that to start happening but possible). I don't think the vet knows if there is any other possible reason the internalist could tell us (she said she'd ask for me).

But if it is pretty much those are the two likely causes, I may even skip out on the internalist cause if it's cancer, I pretty much don't want to put her through that so the only reason to go is to get confirmation (I don't make enough money just to know for sure when it's not something I'd do much about other than make her happy). But yes, I wanted confirmation that I wasn't just taking the easy way out (I'm on a tight budget and I admit that also influences me... even seeing the internalist with an ultrasound and biopsy which is what she said they'd probably do sounds like a lot of money. The pancreatitus was already a ton of money).
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
SirMossyBloke said:
I've seen people go through chemo and it can be a very hard thing to suffer through. I wouldn't put a dog through it that has no idea why you keep taking them to a place that makes them feel sick.

Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure which direction I would lean, but I've heard that animals take to chemo much better than humans do.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
I think it depends on the breed. I grew up with dogs that only lived 10-12 years (big ones) so probably not if they don't have much longer.

And bigger dogs also start have trouble walking when they get older. Chemo would probably make that a lot worse.

So bigger dog, no, smaller dog, probably.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
My uncle is putting his 12 year old dog through chemo. Dog is queasy and kind of out of it for a couple days after and is more normal for the rest of the week. I haven't seen the pup immediately after so I haven't been able to judge for myself how severe the illness is, but an even split of illness vs normal days has been worth the extra months in their eyes
 
M

Morat

Banned
No. Chemo is a horrible process even for humans, and we at least know why it is happening and that there is a chance of a recovery. I would not do that to any animal.
 
G

Goldenroad

Member
I don't know. I just don't know. It would depend highly on the chances of success. I can't put a price limit on my dog's life. She is just 10 and was very recently diagnosed with kidney disease, and there really are no cures for her. There are treatments, which we are doing (diet and medicine), but if there were a way to potentially cure her...I'd be looking into it for sure anyway. god damn...stupid thread making me cry.
 
R

RevoDS

Junior Member
Chemo for a dog is crazy talk.

Dogs' lives are so short, even if chemo somehow manages to extend his life by a few years, the quality of life will drop so much as to not make it worthwhile. It makes sense on humans because they might extend their lives by potentially decades with chemo and still manage to live without chemo once the treatments are done (or at least that's the hope). That's not the case for your dog.

At 10 years, your dog is also really close to the average dog's life expectancy (12-13 years on average).

Best to let go, OP. I'm sorry.
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
No, we had this a few years ago. It started small and got worse once our girl stared hitting suffering point we took her in and had to end it. I can't imagine having the dog, go through chemo
 
C

callhitman

Member
Nope. To far along in there life. Can't put anything threw that kinda pain just to get maybe another year or two. Better to make the dog as comfortable as possible.
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
catfish said:
I would listen to the advice of my trusted veterinarian and ask them for their opinion then Mix it with my own.

People on the internet are idiots and just fire off any opinion while eating breakfast. Don't listen to us
Click to expand...
You should listen to this guy. There are trained professionals who would be able to give you a lot more information than anyone here (Unless of course we have a vet on GAF), and it would definitely be more accurate.
 
A

adamantypants

Member
Sorry OP it's a really hard decision, but no

Years ago one of my dogs got cancer. He received treatment for it for a few months. It was our first time taking care of an older and sick dog and I wish we would've gotten more perspective. If I had another chance, I wouldn't have done it and just let him go peacefully and painlessly.
 
S

Schwowsers

Member
Yes, and I did earlier this year. Dogs handle chemo better than humans thanks to less aggressive treatment, and your specialist will tell you as much. The people here saying no based on the experiences of human's don't know what they're talking about.
 
S

secondspace

Member
No. People have things they want to do, friends to visit and children they want to see grow up for more years. A dog's life is a routine of food, sleep and play that always ends too soon for us.
 
K

kirblar

Member
No. For pets, surgical options are the only ones worth considering in the vast majority of cases. And even then there are limits.

At 10 years old, sadly they're on the back end of a doggie lifespan already.
 
A

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
Naw. Pain and suffering for the dog would be immense, not to mention the cost.

I love my dog but at the end of the day she's still a pet and I have the luxury of considering hers and my own quality of life in instances like this.
 
P

pluginbaby121

Member
I just had to put my cat down after 13 years together. Back in may we discovered a lump on her chest that looked like a nipple that was scabbed. Took her in and they said to monitor but nothing came back pointing to cancer. Earlier this month it grew exponentially and turned a brownish red. The surgery was expensive and even with it would come the chemo. I couldn't do that to her because she isn't aware why I'm doing it, why she's sick etc. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but even though they aren't suffering now, they will be later with or without the chemo. Don't do that to a friend. It's a tough choice but it's for the best. Sorry you're in the position. It sucks
 
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