Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Chemotherapy is one of the most important methods of treatment available today for the treatment of neoplastic diseases and gives many patients an increased quality of life and a prolonged survival time (McKnight, 2003). The object of this study was to find out more about owners’ views on and experiences of chemotherapy of dogs when it comes to for example quality of life, side effects and if they would make the same decision and treats their dog again in the future.

A questionnaire was in the spring of 2009 sent out to the owners of 100 dogs that had been treated with chemotherapy for neoplastic diseases at Universitetsdjursjukhuset, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (SLU) in Uppsala between 2002 and 2008. The response rate was 67 %.

The majority of the owners in the study seem to be satisfied with the chemotherapy and their decision to treat their dogs. About two thirds of the owners would make the same decision and treat their dog again if they in the future got a new dog which developed a neoplastic disease. Approximately the same number (72 %) would recommend someone else to treat their dog. Only 12 % of the owners replied that they regretted treating their dog with chemotherapy.

Just over half of the owners (57 %) replied that their dog had suffered from one or more side effects from the chemotherapy. The most common side effects seen by the owners were nausea and/or vomiting and diarrhea. 49 % of the owners thought that the side effects and/or decrease in quality of life that their dog suffered from in connection with the chemotherapy were acceptable, while only 8 % thought they were unacceptable. 55 % of the owners thought that their dog’s quality of life seen over the entire treatment period had been as good as or almost as good as before the dog got sick. 15 % considered their dog’s quality of life during the treatment period to be slightly decreased compared to before it got sick and 22 % answered that their dog’s quality of life had been severely decreased during shorter or longer periods of time.

Chemotherapy can be feared to entail risks for both the person handling the drugs and for the person who handles the recently treated dog and for example its urine, faeces and vomits. 69 % of the owners answered that they had not been worried about these risks when their dog underwent chemotherapy, while 16 % answered that they had been concerned about these risks. Only 3 % of the owners hesitated to let their dog undergo chemotherapy because of these risks.

Almost half of the owners (48 %) thought that the price of the treatment was either a little or much too high. 40 % thought the price was acceptable.