How to help a pet with lung cancer live longer and comfortably?

It’s important to keep her quiet with minimal stress. Your veterinarian may decide to switch from the metacam to prednisone at this stage as it may reduce the swelling that may ease her breathing and eating. Unfortunately this sounds like a life threatening cancer at some point so give her lots of love and enjoy every minute with her. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Moosh.

Hello, I am so sorry to hear this about Niza. Typically, cancer is in its final stages when it has metastasized throughout the lungs. This means that preparations for palliative or end of life care need to be made. Medically, the focus shifts to keeping Niza as happy and comfortable as possible. This may involve pain managing medications or cough suppressants. My own dog has had cancer for a while, and I am experiencing some of the same heartbreak and anticipation grief in my own home. I would recommend consulting with your vet that gave Niza this diagnosis to come up with the best possible plan for her. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You will be in my thoughts.

Unfortunately once cancer has spread to the lungs, there is no treatment that can prolong his survival rate. Your vet is right in the sense that spending thousands of dollars doing radiation therapy and surgery (risky now because Ceasar has lung lesions) is not the best course of treatment. Palliative care (making him comfortable) is the best treatment for him at this stage of his cancer. I am so sorry your pet has cancer and I wish you all the best in the days to come. Take care.

It depends on whether or not it is a primary lung tumor metastatic disease. Ideally, you should take your pet to see a veterinary oncologist to discuss the best treatment plans(surgery vs. chemotherapy). Discuss referral with your veterinarian.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While in theory anti-inflammatory medications can help to reduce the blood vessels feeding the tumor, this is only when combined with a chemotherapeutic agent such as cyclophosphamide given in a metronomic fashion. However, we have not found this to result in a better outcome in patients with metastasis (spread of the tumor). While those herbs are unlikely to be harmful, they unlikely to help. You can always however try the herbs and focus on her quality of life at this time. I would encourage you to seek a consultation with a veterinary oncologist that can review the case in detail and make recommendations. Good luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry to hear about the cancer diagnosis. While this cancer is unlikely to be cured, there are other strategies you could consider such as radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy which may help prolong Odie’s survival with good quality of life. I would recommend you check in with a local veterinary oncologist who can review the case and make further recommendations. Have a great day!

Poor girl. : ( Tumor can develop at any rate in pets so yes 6 months is plenty of time for a tumor to develop and show up. However, if there is a lot of fluid there, a tumor may not be readily visible on an x-ray. A CT or MRI scan is more sensitive to picking up small tumors or tumors that are obscured by fluid. A lung tumor or advancement of her heart condition are two likely possibilities to these symptoms. We have to keep in mind that heart disease can't be cured but only managed to a certain point with medication. It is possible that these symptoms are simply an indication that the heart condition may have surpassed medical management capabilities. If you are however still looking for options and cannot commit to advanced imaging (CT, MRI scan), then you can inquire with your vet about possibly increaseing China's medications. Lasix has a wide range of therapeutic index so it may be able to be increased. Another heart medication called Pimobendan also can be added to her treatment regimen. I am not sure if you meant to include this with your list of medications, b/c one of the medications seems to have been autocorrected to say "veterinary". Best of luck with your pet China and I hope that you can get her stabilized soon! Take care.