vet giving a cat a cuddle at hawthorne animal hospital

Chemotherapy to Help your Pet Fight the Effects of Cancer

There are few things more frightening than hearing your pet has cancer. Unfortunately, it’s a diagnosis many pet parents are faced with, especially as their pets grow older. According to the AVMA, dogs get cancer at the same rate as humans, and 50 percent of them over age 10 will develop the disease. In addition, one in five cats will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.

Hawthorne Animal Hospital is one of the leading cancer treatment clinics in the Metro East. Because of our expertise in chemotherapy and oncology, veterinarians from across the region trust us as their preferred partner in treating cancer cases they see in their own clinics. Our goal is to ensure that every pet that comes through our doors has a fighting chance at life.

dog looking up at a vet at hawthorne animal hospital

Hawthorne is one of the top cancer
treatment clinics in the St. Louis region.

Treating cancer with expertise and compassion

Whether your pet is diagnosed at Hawthorne or at another pet hospital, our chemotherapy team will work with your veterinarian to develop a comprehensive treatment plan and lay out what you can expect throughout the process. Depending on the diagnosis, progression of the disease, and area of the body where the cancer is found, chemotherapy may be the sole form of treatment or used in combination with surgery.

Chemotherapy is administered by our team either orally or intravenously in our AAHA-compliant chemotherapy room. The most common cancers we treat with medication include, but are not limited to:

While our primary goal is to eliminate the cancer completely, unfortunately that’s not the outcome for all patients. In that case, treatment will be altered to keeping the cancer in remission as long as possible and to provide your pet with the best quality of life for as long as possible.

Did You Know? 12 million dogs and cats will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

- Animal Cancer Foundation

vet inspecting test results at hawthorne animal hospital

Side effects of chemotherapy treatment in pets

The side effects dogs and cats experience after chemotherapy are similar to those in humans. Once your pet undergoes treatment, you may notice them displaying:

Your oncology team will provide you with a treatment plan to help ease these symptoms at home as well as provide recommendations to lower your pet’s infection risk as they recover. It’s important to contact your veterinarian as soon as possible if your pet refuses to eat, runs a high fever or appears lethargic.

By working closely with your family and your veterinarian, Hawthorne will provide your pet with compassionate care you can’t find anywhere else in the Metro East.

Hawthorne Animal Hospital, a small animal hospital and veterinary clinic, serves St. Louis Metro East area, including the communities of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Troy, Alton, Granite City, Collinsville, Highland, Wood River, Roxana, Bethalto, Godfrey, Worden, and Hamel.

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