When Kathy Bellon’s miniature dachshund, Abby, was diagnosed with aggressive intestinal lymphoma and given only about a month to live, Bellon thought it was the end – until she was enlightened with other options.
“When a pet gets cancer, owners often think there’s nothing that can be done, but actually chemotherapy treatments alone or in combination with surgery and radiation can often be an option,” reports pennlive.com.
Just like in people, not every cancer is treatable. Depending on the type and stage, different protocols are taken. “Owners should at least seek the opinion of someone trained in cancer therapy,” says Dr. Kirmayer, a Veterinarian.
The word “Cancer” scares everyone, whether you’re talking about a human or pet. Once you can move past the word cancer and on to the different forms, you can figure out how to move forward. “With a cancer such as lymphoma, the most common and most treatable form of cancer in pets, there’s an 85 percent change of attaining a long-term remission of a year or more,” (pennlive.com).
Things that owners should consider when deciding whether to treat a pet with cancer include: the type of cancer, the overall condition of the pet and the cost of treatment if they don’t have pet insurance, which owners usually do not. (Click HERE for the recent article on Pet Insurance).
The cost of an average chemotherapy course of treatment varies, but generally 15 treatments over the course of 23 weeks for lymphoma is $3,00-$4,000 (peenlive.com).
Is your pet showing warning signs of cancer or serious illness? If so, schedule an appointment with the Bregman Vet Group. Details can be found at BregmanVetGroup.com.
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