Treating cancer in dogs and cats!

Intubated and fully anesthetized, Kennedy, a 9-year-old basset hound, undergoes radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11143/1148240-114.stm##ixzz1N9tDI6sm

Veterinary care is every bit as advanced--for those who chose to utilize it--as for humans... Logical, when you take a moment to realize that procedures are generally worked out on animal models well before they get to humans. I only wish that every human could likewise obtain the level of care that those with sufficient means can obtain for their dog, cat, horses...

My sister works with rescued feline leukemia and feline HIV cats. They last a whole lot longer than the two years vets used to give them.

Including cancer, successfully I might add.

following his cancer surgery. I wish I could say it turned out well, but here is is less than 18 months later and the cancer has returned. It cost her tens of thousands of dollars she could ill afford.

extend my dogs' lives. It would not cover radiation treatment, for sure. That number also goes down as the dogs get older.

This is just outrageous. Why put an animal through this torture? Can you imagine how terrifying this would be to an animal? I love my pets too much to put them through this. And this dog is already 9 years old which is getting up there for a Basset.

Our beloved Sam had been diabetic for 3+ years, at 16 years old he developed cancer in his mouth. We decided that we would not put him though the pain and terror of operations, recovery and radiation. We worked with his doctor and when it progressed from the point of discomfort to pain we arranged for him to pass peacefully in our home. It was not about the money, we spent plenty on pain meds to make sure he was comfortable and trips to the vet to monitor his progress, it was about what we thought was best for him not us.

I'm still not sure I made the right decision. I didn't (and don't) have the money, and I will be paying off that credit card probably long after the animal is dead. I never expected it to be that much. But, you're in for a penny until suddenly you're in for a pound.

I have a live cat who I think would rather be alive than dead. But what do I know?

It's a tough call, but one has to consider that if the life is worth living it is probably worth saving. People forget sometimes that this is a tough, and sometimes cruel world, and that small pair of eyes may be the only friendly ones a person ever sees. Of course one wants to protect that. The fact that you could be replaced, for a short time, anyway, with a nice helping of chicken or bacon is irrelevent ;)

It's not a choice between humans and the animals we have chosen to take care of - they are both important. One day, if we can end the so far endless wars and figure out how to squelch the rapacious vultures that suck resources out of our system for themselves at the expense of other people, perhaps such care will be possible for everyone.

treatments we use now for cancer as barbaric. Radiation and chemo are about a half notch above blood letting and leeches IMHO.