We put our large breed dog through chemo b/c he was 7 yrs old and regret it to this day. It was cruel and painful. The few extra months of having him with us was not worth it at all. Poor guy.

My 14 year old golden retriever has had "incurable" cancer for four years now. Other than being covered with many small-medium sized tumors, he is fine. He eats good and still can move and play a little. He takes prednisone for allergies and a thyroid pill. We feed him good food, and treats. We have done no treatments. I don't think they can truly gauge how long a dog has. They gave him 3 months when we found out. We also stopped immunizing him when we found out. From what I understand that can prolong their lives. They most likely have immunity to all the viruses at 10 years old after getting shots all their lives. Every day we tell him we love him and we sit by him or lay down by him and tell him how special he is to us. Even if it is only for a few minutes. I truly think that this helps him live longer.

Chemo is really hard for animals. It's unpleasant enough for humans, but at least we can understand.

Source: my parents' dog had cancer when I was a toddler (I don't remember any of this). They did a lot of medical treatments for him, but say they would not do it again.

Anonymous wrote:I watched my husband go through chemo. Hard enough if you understand why you are being tortured.

No way no how. It is cruel to do it to an old dog with a terminal illness. Make her comfortable and put her down when her good days are outnumbered by bad.

me again: and I should add that two years later, my husband is still carrying around emotional and physical baggage from the experience. Don't do that to a dog.

I watched my husband go through chemo. Hard enough if you understand why you are being tortured.

No way no how. It is cruel to do it to an old dog with a terminal illness. Make her comfortable and put her down when her good days are outnumbered by bad.

Nope. Our 9 year old large-breed dog had some sort of cancer, but we opted not to go down the route of extensive testing and treatment. Part of it was that we just really could not afford it at the time, but even if we could have, I don't think I would have put him through all that for what likely would only be a short increase in life expectancy. Even if the treatments themselves are not as devastating to a dog as to a person, at least a person can see the big picture and understand why they are being put through it. (I say this as some one whose dog really hates the vet, and also as someone who witnessed my mom undergo four horrendous years of chemo). We opted for a few months of lots of romps in the woods and long belly rubs, and put him down when the time came. Sorry you're going through this.

Absolutely not. That's cruel.

No way.

At 13 we were faced with your dilemma. We didn't do it. Our dog lived out the rest of her life very peacefully and when it was time to go, we took her to the vet for a very peaceful passing. I think we did the right thing. It was hard losing our dog, but the end of her life was so peaceful.

I would not do it. I would just give her comfort care for as long as that was feasible.

We have a 10 year old and have had two cancerous tumors removed. We are not going to do chemo. Not only can we not afford it, but I don't think it will be giving her quality of life, even if it extends it by a few months. She's otherwise happy and we're just going to let her live out her doggy life as peacefully as possible.

No.

We did chemo for our young dog and I wouldn't do it again unless it was very likely to be successful. It was very hard on her and ultimately didn't reduce the cancer. I would rather not have put her through the trauma. For a few months for an older dog I wouldn't.

I would definitely not do it.

My older (12) large-breed dog has incurable cancer. Do not want him to suffer at all, but if doctor says he could have a few quality months, I might do it if the treatment itself is not hard for him. Doctor said dogs handle it better than people, but I had one dog before who got very sick from chemo and we ended up euthanizing her rather than continuing the treatment. Can anyone else share experiences? Thanks.