What Not to Do While Your Pet is Undergoing Cancer Treatment

BY | December 22 | COMMENTS PUBLISHED BY

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Sometimes our pets are the best things that have happened to us. They are friendly, loyal, mischievous, and playful. They keep the youth in us alive. They give us that sense of freedom and wonder. They mean a lot to us and thatโ€™s exactly the reason why something like cancer can rattle us.It is pretty normal to experience anxiety when making important decisions like which treatment course you should take and how to deal with this whole situation. A lot of pet parents search for alternative methods to boost their petโ€™s health condition because they feel helpless through the duration of the treatment. While itโ€™s good that you want to help out your pet however you can, it is also important to keep in mind that some things you do will also be able to harm him. Here are a few things that you should avoid doing in order to optimize his care during treatment.

  1. Donโ€™t start your pet on supplements without first talking to or consulting with his veterinarian or veterinary oncologist.Some supplements have a good chance of counteracting with your petโ€™s already prescribed medication. Which means that consuming these supplements could actually decrease the effects of the chemotherapy and have an overall negative effect on your petโ€™s system.Some chemicals in chemotherapy also come from natural substances, much like some supplements. The interaction of two natural supplements is unpredictable. Always seek advice from your vet before you decide to start your pet on a new supplement that hasnโ€™t been prescribed.
  2. Avoid overfeeding your pet.If your pet is not experiencing a loss of appetite during the treatment, then increasing his food intake will just confuse his system and cause gastrointestinal upset. If you overfeed your pet, it also puts them at risk of becoming overweight which can then bring forth a myriad of other health problems.
  3. Donโ€™t become aSome people claim that making the decision to treat your petโ€™s cancer is just torture. Keep in mind that there are many successful treatment stories. Find solace in the stories of other pet owners and how they battled cancer with their pets and came out winning.
  4. Skip the park at certain times that your veterinary oncologists specifically outlines.Sometimes when the white blood cells in your petโ€™s system are low, the immune system has a chance of being compromised. This makes the animals more susceptible to being infected. So itโ€™s wise to avoid situations where your pet might come across pathogens that will make him sicker than he is.
  5. Donโ€™t be scared to ask questions.Here are a few questions you can keep in mind.
  • What kind of cancer is my pet suffering from?
  • Where in his body is the cancer?
  • What can I do at home to help my pet through this?
  • How will I know whether my pet is having some kind of reaction to the treatment?
  • When would I need to call my vet?
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