I had a dog with cancer, not sure what type, but due to age deceided to have her put asleep before she suffered. Our choice, others have to make their choice. Did go thru one surgery, but cancer came back within a month.

No, I'm sorry. Our beloved Jetson had bone cancer
and we put him down immediately. I'm sorry, Chubbs..
is it one of your babies?

My DH had gone thru chemo treatments for several years, and now my DD who has breast cancer may have to go thru that. It is not fun or easy on anyone. Could your dog loose it hair? get sick/diarrhea/ etc I do wish you the best for your pet.

I haven't CR but I know dogs tolerate chemo unlike humans. I would have to weigh age and prognosis. I hope you don't have to make this decision.

Chemo in dogs with lymphoma is really not the same as for humans; it's different drugs and a different process. At best, you are 'buying' 6 to 9 months of quality of life. That's it. Many of my friends have been thru this. No one I know has had a dog "cured". Most owners say they would not do it again.

Yes it's one of my babies.It's my dear,sweet Miss Emmie.The mother of Ricky and Buddy.She's only 7 yrs old.She's at the vets right now getting a blood transfusion.She's very anemic.Just over Christmas week end she was fine,playing, just being her normal sweet self.Then BAM! she refused to eat on Mon....Tues we took her to the vet.It's not normal for Miss Em to not eat. They checked her really good,her spleen and lymph nodes are enlarged.Yesterday when I came home from work,she was down,couldn't stand up.Rushed her to the vet again.Her blood counts fell so much overnight some stuff didn't even register.2 vets agree it's probably lymphoma.One reccomends euthanasia soon.The other says chemo.They said we could buy her 6 to 9 months but it won't be "quality" life.I know what needs done,but damn! my poor Miss Emmie.She's such a sweet gentle soul.I HATE this!

YES unfortunately my beautiful Great Dane developed lymphoma shortly after we moved here to Houston, I had a wonderful vet and we did try some meds, prednisone included but since he was already 11 yrs old which is old for a Dane she did not thing chemo would be a good choice for him.
He did very well for several months, I cooked good food for him to have every day, I wanted him to enjoy the things he could while he could. We had to put him down 1 year ago Nov.2nd. It was one of the worst days of our lives. But he did not suffer.
My beautiful Great Dane and my other tiny dog, they were best buddies

Raven - your Dane is beautiful- and I love his little buddy. What a pair they must have been.

Chubby Rat- Even when you're sure what the right decision is it still isn't easy. One of our dogs developed lymphoma and even though DH is an oncologist and could have administered most of the drugs here in our home we both decided against it. I still remember my DH saying that just because he could do it wasn't reason enough. He didn't want to subject our dog to the frequent injections, blood work, side effects, trips to the vet and confusion that it would cause. It was an awful time, but as Raven said - we wanted our Bud to enjoy as many days as he could and when we could see that things were getting worse we made the decision to put him down.

Oh Deb.
Dang it I am sorry to hear that about Miss Emmie!
I don't have any experience with it but wanted to tell you how sorry I am.
((((Chubby Rat and Larry)))

So sorry Deb. Our Kobi may have had cancer, but we never got a firm diagnosis. When I knew he was starting to have pain is when we let him go.. if we had known it was cancer I wouldn't have treated it if the treatment involved chemo. From what I've read most cancer treatments do not add many good months to the animal's life.

Saying a little prayer for Miss Emmie.

I'm so sorry, CR. Having a sick baby is just the worst thing in the world. It's a hard decision to make, I know.

(((((CR, Miss Emmie and family)))))

I will not let my Miss Emmie suffer...we will see how she is tomorrow.As for today,her blood counts are up,she's eating and walking.She has to stay at the vets again tonight.But they told us it may not last.If her counts go down again,we will say our goodbyes.It's breaking my heart,but I can guarentee you,my sweet girl will not be allowed to suffer. I don't think we'll opt for chemo,they told us it won't cure her,just buy a few months.And if those few months aren't going to be good ones,we'll let her go.It's a hard,hard decision but we will do what's best for her,not best for us.My eyes are so swollen,I look like I was in a fight.I had to go sit in the truck while Larry paid last night.I couldn't believe what they were telling me.I have cried so much for my dear sweet Miss Em.She never hurt anything or anyone......why her? Why,why,why????
This is Miss Em with her sons,Ricky and Buddy.

Our dog Annie developed lymphoma when she was five. We did the chemo. Our vet said chemo for lymphoma cancer in dogs is designed to slow the pace of this cancer, not to knock it out entirely. And to expect six to 12 months of 'good' life before the cancer got out of hand. If I remember correctly, they use some of the same chemicals as for humans but in relatively lower dosages, so many dogs tolerate the treatment pretty easily. Annie never lost her appetite, and I think she enjoyed the extra car rides to the special vet's office. I forget how much we spent -- maybe $2,000? and Annie lived another nine months. She was active, playful and behaving normally until one day she didn't quite finish her dinner. The next night we gave her a full piece of salmon (her very favorite), and the next afternoon we arranged for the vet to put her to sleep. Overall I think it was worth it because Annie died in the Fall, rather than in the cold Winter, which made me feel better.

If we face cancer with another dog, we'll see what the circumstances are. If possible I'd take the dog to a animal cancer specialist for advice. For me the main points would be first minimizing the pain to the animal, and second maintaining a realistic financial situation.

need to add: My sympathy to you and anyone else facing this!

How heart wrenching. Huggs go out to you and to your family as you face this terrible time. (((((HUGS)))))

Nanny

The vet told us it all depends on her blood counts,if they don't stay up they can't even do the biopsy to be sure it's cancer.They will let us know tomorrow.They told us the cancer may eat the red blood cells up so fast they won't be able to do anything.They think it's really advanced.But she never showed any signs til Monday.I don't understand that part.How could she be so bad but never show it?They also told us that it's a possibility she may just pass on her own before they can do anything.

My Dane was not showing signs either we had been fighting a sore on his back leg that would not heal, well it would heal go away then come back. It was during this process that I noticed one of his lymph nodes in his rear thigh was about the size of an egg, he had had that happen before and gave us a scare several years earlier but upon biopsy it was not lymphoma and it reduced on it's own. Once I found the one this time I took him to the vet and she did a full body lymph node inspection and all of them were very enlarged, she took biopsies immediately and sent them to Texas A&M oncology, we got the answer back in just a few days it was positive and it was already in stage 4, they gave him 3 to 4 months. He did not act sick, he had a great appetite, but he began to not be able to get up and down and then would lose control of bladder and bowel, which embarrassed him so much he was such a good dog. When his face began to bloat up and he could not get up we decided it was time. Our wonderful vet and her entire staff came to our home to do it so he would be at home and surrounded by love. It was very peaceful and he is now buried under the big oak tree out back. It was hard on us for a while but knowing it was the right thing to do made it a bit easier.
That picture I posted is shortly before we had to put him down he had lymph nodes at that time about the size of oranges all over his body. but he was still playing with little Mia.

I know this will be a devastating time for your family, you at least have some of her still with her offspring that is so fortunate. Remember all those great times you shared!
I feel your pain and am shedding tears with you.

Lymphoma is what Dakota had. I never knew she had it until after I lost her. Had I have known she had it, I would not have put her through chemo. I would have just wanted her to live out her life, happy and pain free for as long as she could. At the point I felt she was suffering, I would have let her go. I loved her too much to ever let her suffer.

I just now (after I typed that last paragraph) read the rest of the replies and saw your reply about your dog. What you're describing hits home alot. Dakota did almost the same thing. She was fine one day, not eating and sickly the next, her lymph nodes were enlarged and her counts were low. I'm so sorry you are going through this. I know how much you love your babies. It's heartbreaking when we're faced with making a decision. I commend you for not being selfish and not allowing her to suffer.

My thoughts are with you.

(((Chub))) I'm sorry to learn this. I was gonna say that my cat, Lucky, died from that. One day he was fine, next day not. Took him to vet and that's what he said he had. Left him there for IV's and pain meds. Glen and I wanted to bring him home but before I got there, he was gone. He wasn't even 8 yrs old.

hugs, charlee

I'm sorry you're going thru this. I think I'd opt not to have the chemo. If it can't be cured, I think I'd end it before she suffers. I know how gut wrenching this is. These sicknesses that come so quickly are even worse.

I lost two dogs to two different cancers within two years. One was sudden and one was diagnosed.

Sushipup said it well. I would never put a dog through chemo. The prognosis even with chemo is not that good.

I get really tired of hearing (even from specialists in the veterinary field) that chemo for dogs isn't the same as for humans. Yes there are differences but like with humans the responses to chemo are different. Dogs are stoic. They can suffer greatly before they show it.

Sushipup I am not referring to your comment. I agree with you. I mean those who try to sugarcoat the treatment.

When the quality of a dogs life changes for the worse, it's over as far as the dog is concerned. They live in the now. Not what was nor what will be or what we wish for them. For me I choose quality for my pets over longevity.

I'm so very sorry you are having to go through this CR. I believe you are being very loving and considerate of your little furkid by what you've written.

CR, I am so very, very sorry to hear about little Emmie. My heart breaks for you. (((((Hugs)))))

Sorry to hear about this. My cats have had adenocarcnomas. Lymphomas in cats would have been preferred according to the vets as prednisone would offer some hope. Can not say for dogs but from what I understand, treatment may buy months of improved quality of life. animals hide pain well so do we really ever know how much pain they have. it is pack animal survival instinct not to shown as weak. You will know when it is time, whether you go the chemotherapy route or not.

You are putting your dog first even though your heart is breaking. That is comforting in itself.

Chubs, I have non hodgkin lymphoma and didn't have a
single sign that anything was wrong (the first time around0
until they nodes were pretty big, and then I did have
some pain, but not AWFUL pain, and sitting differently
or sleeping (on my side) took the pain away. THIS time
around, I didn't have a SINGLE clue. Not one. nothing.
And a couple of my nodes are HUGE. She probably was
feeling just great, until she wasn't, if you know
what I mean. lol

I'm in tears. My heart aches for you. We all know what you are going through and how much it hurts. It's especially difficult when it seems to come on so fast. Hugs to you and Miss Emmie.