title: Owners' assessments of their dog's quality of life during palliative chemotherapy for lymphoma.
abstract: The owners of 25 dogs with multicentric lymphoma which were treated by multidrug chemotherapy were interviewed to assess the quality of their pet's life during treatment. Sixty-eight per cent of the owners considered their dog's quality of life to be the same as before the lymphoma occurred, and the remaining 32 per cent felt that their pet's quality of life on chemotherapy treatment was acceptable but poorer than before the lymphoma occurred. Treatment complications were reported by 52 per cent of owners. Ninety-two per cent of owners had no regrets about treating their dog with multidrug chemotherapy. The results suggest that, while many dogs developed treatment complications during multidrug chemotherapy, most owners felt that the quality of life of their pets was good during treatment and had no regrets about opting for palliative chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Queen's Veterinary School Hospital, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Mellanby
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Herrtage
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dobson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010067:Ownership; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires