Cisplatin and Dogs

[Hosscrazy]

Has anyone used Cisplatin in treating their dogs, and if so, what kind of success rate did you find? Would love to hear other's personal experiences from those who have used it.

Liz N.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Used it with success and failure, but such is the way when treating cancer.

This should be a question for your Vet. He/She will have access to all sorts of information concerning median survival time and percentage of adverse effects. If your Vet can't answer these questions then I would encourage you to ask referral to a Vet Oncologist for a second opinion. The first Vet can still do the work if you'd prefer, but more information is always better.

I wish you and your dog success.

Dr. Taylor

 

[shorthorsemom]

I had a friend try with her dog. She felt it prolonged the dogs life and she was quite happy, but for me as a friend observing from the sidelines, I felt the quality of her dogs life for her particular case was rather poor. The quality of life during cancer treatment is an individual thing and differs from dog to dog and from owner to owner. I found myself wishing she would let go and say good bye but she was tickled pink that she got 3 more months of life from her dear dog. I had another friend that did chemo treatment with a golden but the cancer was rather aggressive and again, I couldn't really tell if the dog was holding on due to the treatment or just for the owner. Dr Taylor is right, treatment is rather an individual thing and if you have a close relationship with your vet like I do, you will be able to be able to fine tune a treatment option that will be the best for you as an individual, and also for your dog as an individual and can differ greatly depending on the type of cancer. I once had a dobie with a splenic tumor. My options for treatment were just to make the dog comfortable my vet really didn't think she would survive more than a few weeks. We opted to just make her comfortable with medication and do a wait and see for stress and weigh in her quality of life vs. my love of my dog and wanting to keep her with me. When it was time, we said good bye and "gave her wings" amazingly 6 months after diagnosis. Cancer is a tough call. My vet and I work very closely together with quality of life as priority. My vet also knows me well and knows that I could not afford high dollar treatment options to prolong life on my dog for a few months. That doesn't mean I love my dogs any less. So what I write to you is this... Look at your dog and "listen" and observe. Your dog will tell you exactly what to do. Communicate with your vet and weigh your odds vs. all the factors involved. Write down the pros and cons on a paper and look at it. If I thought an option would give my dogs years of life to come.. I would probably jump on it. If I thought it would only buy me a few weeks or months, I would opt for making them comfortable and say goodbye when it was time. I hope this helps, written from the heart, but difficult to communicate just in a typed message. Know I am sincere and not judging your situation whatsoever. My friends wouldn't have traded those few weeks for anything. I see things a bit differently. take care and hope this helps.

 

[Hosscrazy]

I am working with and have a very close relationship with one of the best oncologists at one of the best small animal hospitals nationwide; I also have a great relationship with my regular vet.

Shorthorsemom, thank you for sharing your personal stories with me, I really appreciate your thoughtful reply. Your response helped me quite a bit...so thank you.

Liz N.