Chemo For Your Pet?

People who love their pets will spend just about anything on pet toys, specialty foods, and designer clothes and accessories.  In fact, in a report by US News, Americans spent over $60 billion dollars on their pets in 2011 (source: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/22/americans-spend-61-billion-on-pets-annually).  
But, what happens when your pet gets sick?  In 2011, our 5 year old yellow Labrador Retriever, Zoey was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes.  Zoey was healthy and had no signs of being ill.  I happen to have been giving her a belly rub when I noticed her glands were swollen under her neck.  After the lymph nodes were biopsied, and the results showed cancer, my husband and I were devastated. Our regular vet (Central Animal Hospital, Scarsdale) gave us our options.  The inexpensive route was to give Zoey steroids - prednisone which was about $30 a month and could prolong her life 3-6 months.  The other option was chemotherapy. 
"An oncologist for dogs," I thought to myself, "what was this going to cost us, and how would it effect Zoey.  Would it even work?"  We decided to explore the option and made an appointment to meet with Dr. Susan Ettinger at the Animal Specialty Center in Yonkers.  I had done my research days before our meeting and read up on the side effects of chemo for dogs - most of which were quite scary.  Dr. Ettinger examined Zoey, and took her blood to determine what stage cancer she had and what types of cancer cells we were looking at.  A few days later, we received the results that Zoey had B cell Lymphoma, stage 2.  Dr. Ettinger explained that this was good news, as it is  treatable, but that there is no cure.  Her protocol for Zoey included a 19 week treatment plan.  Every week, for 19 weeks, she needed to see Zoey.  I was concerned with the time commitment and how Zoey would react the the certain drugs.  Oh and the cost!  Luckilly, for whatever reason, when we first adopted Zoey, we took out pet health insurance on Zoey (about $40 a month with VPI).  Although some people said it is a waste of money, it certainly came in handy when we decided to do the chemo.  At first I thought people were going to think we were crazy for giving chemo to a dog.  But Zoey isn't just "a dog", she is our family member.
A few weeks in, Zoey had a bad reaction to the chemo.  She was weak and nauseous and needed to be hospitalized for two nights.  After the $1,200 bill, and seeing her so sick, I wanted to give up.  But, my husband didn't want to.  Dr. Ettinger said she would reduce the amount of Vincristine the next time she gave it to Zoey.  Over the course of the 19 weeks, Zoey received chemo drugs such as Adriamycin and Elspar, and sometimes she needed metronidozole for diarrhea, but for the most part, she was in very good health throughout her chemo.  We even took her on vacation out to the North Fork!  She was always hungry, never lost her appetite, and, she always wanted to play.  
After the 19 weeks, Zoey's cancer was in remission.  In 2012, we decided to get a companion pet for Zoey, another Lab Retriever, named Roxy.  We thought that adding a "friend" for Zoey, would also help boost her spirits, as we read many positive stories online.  In addition, through our own research, we gave Zoey Acai juice, a known antioxidant berry with anti-cancer properties, plus flaxseed and salmon oil.  Dr. Ettinger supplied us with herbal supplements called Apocaps and K9 Immunity to also help keep her in remission. We knew the cancer would come back, and in early 2013 it did. 
Again, Zoey did not show any signs of being sick.  She loves playing with Roxy.  They chase each other all over the house and play with balls and frisbees in the backyard.  Because of the success with the chemo treatments keeping Zoey alive and well, we decided to do another round of chemo. Dr. Ettinger started with the Elspar again and gradually gave her Ardiamycin (you typically cannot give this drug more than a few times because it can cause failure to other organs).  This put Zoey back in remission, but not completely.  We had given her Lomustine as a maintenance chemo drug in a pill form at home in late 2013. 
Still, Zoey looks great, always wants to eat, loves going outside, enjoys cuddling with Roxy, and she barks at every person she sees out the window! Just a few weeks ago, Zoey had some blood in her stool.  We switched her to a canned diet for a few days (ID & WD from Science Diet) to help her digestive system, along with Tylin and Metronidozole.  She was fine after a few days, but blood test results recently showed that the cancer is probably coming back, like we knew it would. 
Zoey sure is a fighter, she is doing amazingly well and tolerates her medicine extremely well.  This week, Zoey will be making her 3 year anniversary from her diagnoses!  We never thought chemo would extend her life 1 year, let alone 3 years.  We are truly blessed and grateful to have all this extra time with her.
In my opinion, chemotherapy is not for every pet.  You should discuss all options, time commitments, and costs with your veterinarian. Some vets will do chemo in their office, which is less expensive than seeing an oncologist.  However, keep in mind when using an oncologist, you are getting a specialist.  It is very difficult to put a price tag on your pet.  You can max out credit cards, and take out loans for chemo, but is that the right option for you and your family?  Is chemo the right option for your pet?  I would seriously consider the age of the pet and severity of the diagnoses.  Chemo was a treatment option for us not a cure.  If your pet does not respond well to chemo, don't prolong the inevitable.  Remember you want to keep your pet as comfortable as possible.
Over the course of the 3 years, we estimate about $25,000 in chemo.  We took out a pet credit card (Care Credit) with zero percent interest for 6 months after each treatment.  We always paid it back in full before the 6 months because we would receive our reimbursement check from the pet insurance.  We estimate that we have received about 40% back from the pet insurance.  Be sure to always ask for estimates on treatment, and be prepared that costs can go up if your pet needs to be hospitalized at any point.
I'd be happy to answer any questions, so please feel free to post below.  Or, consider reaching out to Dr. Ettinger at: http://www.drsuecancervet.com
And, please keep Zoey in your prayers. 
Resources: VPI http://www.petinsurance.com/
Care Credit http://www.carecredit.com/
Apocaps http://www.apocaps.com/
K9 Immunity http://www.alohamedicinals.com/pet.htm#.UxyM4SjFXJw
Acai http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/acai-juice-32-fl-oz/vs-2454#.UxyNNyjFXJw