I am the first to admit that I tend to go a little too far to take care of my pet. After all, as an animal lawyer for life, I saw too much inhumanity, too much suffering, too much suffering for those animals that didn't want to pour it into my house. I have also seen how extraordinary, resistant and stimulating they can be. Even for me, however, some treatments may seem too extreme for some pets. When faced with a serious medical decision, it can be difficult and stressful to decide what is right.
Recently, I found myself in a situation like this with my dog, Fiona. I hope my story can help you in the future.
Meet Fiona, a former puppy breeder
Meet Fiona, perhaps the worst candidate for treatment (or at least I thought). My little Fiona is a former 11-year-old puppy breeder who spent the first 7 years of her life in a cage pumping waste from Italian greyhounds (bad breed). While his puppies were probably sent to families across the country, he spent 7 years interacting, in love or without medical assistance. When he managed to save, he was so emotionally dazed that although he was smaller, younger and healthier than many other adoptable dogs in New York, he spent two years in foster care. She continued to be adopted and returned because she was so afraid of living like a normal dog.
I met Fiona shortly after his second birthday with K9 Kastle, a large rescue group with whom I volunteered. I hired Fi as a caretaker to help him socialize. I was hoping I could work to take her to a place where she could connect with other people. In the end, Fi and I took her there, but in the end we undeniably fell in love on the road. So I "failed" as an adoptive mother and became the permanent "mother" of Fi.
Fiona's fear of treatment
Two years later, Fi left the terrified puppy in search of refuge whenever someone moved, approaching strangers on the street. (Thanks, Delicious Bacon!) As always, he loves hugs and scratches on his chin, but now he's looking for them with people he doesn't know. He also started dancing and running after the poo in the morning.
Fiona is not without her scars. Recurrent urinary problems and frequent stress colitis are two of the most serious problems. It took more than a year to find a secondary babysitter with whom she would have felt comfortable when I was traveling to prevent her from developing bloody stools with a stressed heart. He never learned to play, but found comfort in padded kong and chewing gum.
Treatment with Fiona can trigger it, so your veterinarians often opt for the "wait and see" approach when something new happens. It's not that they don't want to treat it; is that treatment has often compounded the problem.
So, Fiona didn't seem to be the kind of puppy that would be a good chemo candidate. When we discovered a rare form of mast cell carcinoma in her gum, I thought treating her would destroy any quality of life she had left, which I was not willing to do.
My decision to treat Fiona
I had never had chemotherapy with my dogs or cats before. I knew other people who had tried it, with different results. However, secretly, I always thought that chemo would be a little extreme, even for me and especially for a dog like Fi. And luckily or not, every time I fought the big "C" with pets, chemotherapy was not a good option.
But then Fi's diagnosis came back and, once again, he started teaching me to throw all my hypotheses into the wind.
The cancer was unusable, but the growth was slow
A chemical released from the tumor made her sick
The chemo offered a small chance, but a bigger one than I thought
It had to be treated for nausea and side effects of cancer in both directions
I was sent a BIG reference to an excellent oncologist and I followed an accelerated treatment in mast cell tumors and in chemotherapy for dogs. The conversation is open and Fiona will soon start chemotherapy.
Fiona's extraordinary reaction has changed all my hypotheses
Fiona has spent two weeks and, surprisingly, is doing better than she has been for months. his
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