If your pet is treated with drugs known to cause side-effects, we will give you instructions on what to do if there is a problem. This varies, depending upon what type of cancer we are treating and which drugs we are using. The treatments are usually repeated weekly, every other week or every third week. It is most important that you, as an owner, are committed to treatment and bring your pet in when scheduled for therapy. The duration of the chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and stage.
Chemotherapy is resumed when there is a tumor relapse.
We usually recommend that every patient receive at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy and then be evaluated for response before we decide to continue the treatment, change the drugs, or discontinue chemotherapy. In many cases, we are not able to cure our patients with cancer. We are often talking about palliation, i.e., prolonging your pet's life and slowing down the progression of the disease. From what we know about the type of cancer your pet has, we may be able to give you a prognosis about life expectancy with chemotherapy. We want to give your pet a long life while striving for a good quality of life.