>Hope might have a cancerous mass close to her lungs.  The vet said she
>could do chemo on her, but I saw my mother go through it and I would hate
>to put Hope through it.
 
When we decided to take Ben to a veterinary oncologist for chemotherapy for
lymphoma, our veterinarians explained that the chemotherapy protocols used
for animals are very different from those developed for humans.
 
The doses are much lower.  Our veterinary oncologist said that Ben was
getting only about 40 to 50 percent of a comparable human dose.  (A dose
is a ratio of mg of a drug to kg of body weight.)  The reason for the lower
doses is to preserve the animals' quality of life during treatment.  Since
the doses are lower, side effects are milder.  Also, animals are given the
treatments once a week as outpatients instead of being admitted to the
hospital for an intensive round of treatment, as humans are.  With the less
aggressive protocols, the chance of a cure is smaller, but the animal has a
much better quality of life during treatment.  With humans, the goal is a
cure, even if the cost in suffering is high.  With animals, the goal is an
extended remission with good quality of life.
 
Clare Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 2432]