My dog with lymphoma won't eat or take meds. Time for euthanasia?

I am so sorry about the diagnosis for you and Diamond. This is a cancer of the blood so it can go anywhere. Typically without chemotherapy and only prednisone the survival time is 30-60 days. You can try low fat yogurt, lean ground beef, turkey, chicken and rice and baby food. Typically they will feel nauseated and sick and will not have an appetite towards the end. The swelling from the lymph nodes can interfer with their comfort and breathing. They will drop weight drastically. When they are too weak to walk anymore and have no appetite or keep vomiting then it will be time for you to discussed euthanasia and quality of life with your vet.

I'm sorry to hear Max is suffering from lymphangiectasia. This can be a very debilitating condition. Currently is diarrhea his only symptom or is he vomiting and losing weight? Has your vet started him on other medicines along with the diet change? If you feel that Max's quality of life has deteriorated, and with your vet's help you've exhausted all the common therapies, then euthanasia may be a valid decision. I would urge you to consider having a consultation with an internal medicine specialist if you haven't done so already, just to ensure you have tried all possible treatments before making that final decision. I am so sorry you are going through this.

Poor Scruffy. There are some good anti-nausea drugs. I would talk to your vet about giving her a shot of cerenia or something similar for nausea. Sometimes they need the shot first to get it in their system then you can follow up with the oral version of it every day. I hope this helps!

I'm really sorry to see this...I'm sure it must be very difficult for you and your family to see her like this. If she has not drank in four days, then this is very concerning for dehydration. With dehydration they can feel sick, which will also make her not feel like eating. If she is also losing blood, then I would expect that she is going into shock now or sometime soon. For this reason, I recommend taking her to the vet sometime soon. I understand that she may have terminal cancer, so I'm sure your family may be thinking about euthanasia as an option. This is always a difficult decision and there is no right or wrong answer. If it seems like Kylie is not enjoying life anymore and there is no chance of treatment, then it may be time. However, there may be a way to improve her quality of life for a little longer, so it's worth taking her for an evaluation by your veterinarian as soon as you can. I hope that helps and and Kylie feels better soon.

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a common question I encounter as I only see cancer patients and lymphoma is very common in my practice. Prednisone is good for lymphoma though as you are noticing, lymphoma will eventually progress, as noted by peripheral lymph node enlargement. Normally, lymphoma will not cause clinical signs for some time until it enters more of the end stage. Lymphoma is not typically a painful disease and it is more of a debilitating disease. For this reason, what you will notice at the end is clinical signs such as lethargy, decreased appetite and Brandi just not being interested in the normal things that she enjoys. The median survival time of dogs with multicentric lymphoma just on prednisone is about 2 to 2 and 1/2 months. Usually I tell my clients that the time to consider humane euthanasia is when they are not doing 3 out of their 5 favorite things. Good luck with your girl!

I'm so sorry! It will not hurt to give her more pred but this is likely not going to make her feel any better. She really needs pain medication. If your vet gave you an opiate pain medication like tramadol, this is appropriate to give up to three times daily. More pred is likely going to make her pant more and could potentially make her feel nauseous--it is a steroid and not specifically pain medication.

I'm sorry to hear that Daisy received this diagnosis. There are certainly risks and benefits to both options with respect to side effects, life span and cost. Side effects of prednisone in the short term can cause excessive drinking and urination. Some animals with underlying heart disease can go into congestive heart failure and other animals can develop diabetes as a result of the high doses of corticosteroids given in these situations. Around 40% of dogs can achieve remission for 4-6 weeks with prednisone alone, but this is certainly based upon an individual's response to medication and if any metastatic (spread) of disease is present. Obviously, this treatment is much less expensive, but a much shorter survival time is expected. Daisy's chemotherapy protocol is based on whether she has B cell or T cell lymphoma and if any metastatic disease is present. As a generalized statement, lymphoma responds to chemotherapy better than most cancers. Oncologists strive to administer chemotherapeutic drugs at doses that will kill cancerous cells while avoiding as many side effects as possible. The side effects possible vary with different chemotherapeutic drugs. In short, there is no right or wrong choice. You need to evaluate both options to determine your comfort level. If you haven't already done so, consider a consultation with a veterinary oncologist for more information. I hope this helps!