If your Tripawd has bone cancer, there is no right answer to the question: “Should we or shouldn’t we do chemotherapy?”
Only you and your vet know if your Tripawd will be up to the clinic visits and potential side effects. Unfortunately, costs also play a role.
The truth is, nobody can absolutely predict which dogs will do better; those who have chemo treatments or those who don’t. There are survival statistics that doctors can cite, but even those aren’t going to apply to every dog.
Remember, nine out of ten statistics are wrong!
Statistically speaking, chemotherapy will give your Tripawd a better chance at beating the odds. But nobody knows for sure who will get more quality time. Here at Tripawds, we have seen dogs exceed bone cancer prognoses even when they didn’t undergo chemotherapy.
How Many Tripawds Are Doing Chemo?
In our 2010 Tripawds Amputation and Cancer Care Survey (which you can download here ) we wanted to know how many Tripawds who have been diagnosed with cancer had chemotherapy.
Out of 121 surveys received to date and with 94 Tripawds who were diagnosed with bone cancer, here’s what we learned:
Did Your Tripawd Have Chemotherapy?
- 36 dogs had chemo
- 7 dogs did not have chemo
Would You Do Chemotherapy Again?
- 29 pawrents said “Yes!”
- 2 pawrents said “No!”
- 2 pawrents weren’t sure.
If your finances don’t permit doing chemo, please don’t beat yourself up. The only important thing is that your Tripawd is getting the emotional support she needs, and you’re doing whatever you can do to help her fight the disease.
Help us keep our research going, by filling out our 2010 Tripawds Amputation and Cancer Care Survey (if you haven’t already done so). Please do it today so we can keep providing insightful information like this for pawrents of current and future Tripawds.
And, don’t forget, we are always looking for help interpreting this valuable data. If you have any time you can devote to this fact-finding mission, check out our Amputation Survey Project post and download the survey results today. Thanks!