LA Veterinarian Clinic

Chemotherapy for Pets

Humans love their pets more than anything. Pets are treasured companions and can frequently serve as substitutes for children or other loved ones. Unfortunately, like humans, pets are not immune from developing cancer. The news that a beloved pet has cancer can be devastating. Fortunately, the options for chemotherapy and cancer treatments for pets are becoming more accessible for people.

Cancer treatments for pets, unlike those for humans, do not have the aim of a complete cure in mind. They are designed to force the cancer into remission and give the animal a higher quality of life while alive. For this reason, the chemotherapy pets undergo is much less severe than that for humans. Humans undergo chemotherapy with the plan of completely eliminating the cancer. This makes doctors pursue their goal with a large chemical cocktail. Human doctors can do this because of bone marrow transplants and other measures. Animals don’t have these options, so the goal is to force the cancer into remission.

The goal is remission, meaning that the animal does not suffer like a human going through chemotherapy does. While the treatment does not typically cure the cancer completely, it will give the pet a higher quality of life and may extend the animal’s life by a few happy years. In some cases, forcing cancer into remission effectively cures the pet.

Contact a Los Angeles Veterinarian

For more information on chemotherapy and cancer treatments for pets or to find a vet offering cancer treatments, contact a Los Angeles veterinarian.