Jake Shows How to Monitor Health Changes During Chemotherapy

From diet to chemotherapy regimens, keeping track of any dog or cat’s medical needs can be challenging at best. Recently Jake’s Mom Danica posted in Jake’s blog about spreadsheets she’s using to track his state of health during chemotherapy. We were intrigued and asked her if she would share them with the community and she kindly agreed!

Here’s how Danica explains how to use the spreadsheets, which can be used for either dogs or cats.

Let’s all give a big “3-paws up” salute for  her time and energy in helping Tripawd dogs and cats fighting cancer.

How and Why to Track Health During Chemotherapy

“Since I’m an on oncology nurse, I am very familiar with the way chemo effects humans. It’s a little bit different for dogs I’m sure but, same concept. I tell my patients about their lab results at each appointment and encourage them to keep up with the changes pre and post chemo.

Chemo effects the cancer cells but along with that it attacks the cells in the body that replicate fast: GI tract from mouth to rectum, bone marrow cells (white and red blood cells and platelets) and with humans hair. Luckily dogs are not treated with that high of a dose so they have no hair loss. The side effects from chemo like the nausea and vomiting and decreased appetite, are from irritation of the intestines and stomach. When the white cells are low, it puts the dog at increased risk for infection.

Keeping track of your dogs’ vital signs allows you to see signs that your loved one may have an infection. Taking action immediately is key since their immune system is compromised a simple infection can turn deadly. It is considered a medical emergency.

So the vital sign spreadsheet helps monitor for changes. The normal ranges for vital signs are listed at the bottom for quick reference.

Jake’s first lab check is Monday so I will record those and be able to compare his baseline to his counts post chemo. The normal ranges for the most common labs effected by chemo are listed at the bottom for reference as well.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me (or comment below). I hope you find the spreadsheets useful and help make dealing with your precious pup during chemo a little more less stressful.

*By the way, you can create the same spreadsheets for your sweet kitties by updating the normal values for felines.”

Download Jake’s Excel Spreadsheets here
then save to your hard drive:
JakesLab
JakesVitalSigns

If you have a relevant topic you’d like to present to the Tripawds community please contact us today, we’d love to hear from you!