A
dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied. ~ Irish Proverb
My biggest fear about subjecting my dog to chemo treatment
was the unknown side effects. I
heard that chemo doesn’t affect dogs the same way it affects humans, and I also
heard that they don’t push dogs as far with chemo as they push humans. Both proved to be true for us, and Superdawg
Asa tolerated it quite well… with a few quirks:
It’s dangerous
As I previously mentioned, Asa has been taking maintenance chemo at home everyday since he finished his IV treatment in the fall of
2010. It’s called cyclophosphamide
(a type of metronomic chemotherapy), and I should have noticed that the vet
oncologist’s slang term for it is “cyclotoxin.” Yes, I am administering a hazardous substance at home on a
daily basis. A compounding
pharmacy in North Carolina ships a supply of pills to my house each month, and they come with a month’s supply of those blue hazmat gloves. The bottle and the accompanying literature warn me not to
touch the pill without the gloves on, and they instruct me to dispose of the
gloves immediately in a sealed plastic bag.
It stinks
Holy overwhelming, smelly dog poop! Let’s be honest – it doesn’t smell like
roses to begin with. All dogs have
stinky waste and toots, and it’s just part of their “charm.” Well, throw a bunch of hazardous
chemicals into your dog’s body, and it takes on an entirely new level of
dizzying grossness. I can’t begin
to describe the smell, and I’m sure you don’t need a detailed description. It’s just gross.
Leave no man behind
Confession: One reason I bought a house as a single
girl (instead of a cute condo or townhouse in the cool part of the city) was to
get a big backyard where my dogs could run and play and poop freely. No more leash walks just for doing
“bizness,” no more picking up after them every single time, not for this girl!!
Life’s little way of
putting you in your place:
Since chemo makes Superdawg’s poop toxic, guess who’s back to scooping
and bagging? In her own backyard no
less! My neighbors now think I’m
weird, but they never ask.
Even more fun: Stinky, toxic poop must be
double-bagged and safely disposed of.
Under a microscope
All of the above add up to laughs and inconvenience. The bigger challenge for me has been
the emotional toll of the monthly oncology checkups. When your dog is poked and prodded and sampled and examined
so often, they find things. Lots
of things. Even more so because
Superdawg is well past the average life expectancy for a dog his size.
For example, he was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia, and
the wear and tear on his kidneys has been exacerbated by the NSAID he takes to
complement the chemo. On a good
note, though, the heart problem is controlled by a small pill twice a day, and
his kidney issues (which could have been helped by the kidney diet dog food
they prescribed but he wouldn’t eat) have been mitigated by fish oil
pills. Yep, the same ones you take
for your brain and heart and whatever other reasons.
I get way more information than I bargained for at these
monthly checkups. I honestly can’t
decide if it’s good to know every little thing that goes wrong. I focus on the issues that cause him
discomfort or pain or could be fixed by a non-invasive intervention. I’m not willing to subject him to
another surgery or uncomfortable experience.
Tell me about your experience:
- How have you found humor or encouragement when dealing with your dog’s cancer?
- What side effects has your dog experienced? How did you handle them?
- What are the monthly recheck appointments like for your dog? For you?
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