Hi Zak's Mom...how is your fur kid doing today? How are YOU doing today?

We're thinking about you 🙂

Lots of love, prayers and good old fashioned doggie kisses!

Heather and Zeus

It is such a cliche, but it really does apply to all of us....to live one day at a time and also to live each day fully. That is the only way I know how to get through these times when your heart is breaking. Paris continues to amaze me also, she plods through 15 inches of snow to find just the right spot to do her business, even though we shoveled her a nice area close to the door!

Enjoy and love Zak every moment and be kind to yourself, too.

Gineej & Paris

Hi Jenna,

I just wrote something akin to a novel in response to your questions, and then, evidently, must have hit "cancel" instead of save...  What a bummer!  So I will re-reply *very* briefly, and maybe come back again later to fill this out.  Or maybe my initial post is in the ether and will settle back down onto the net....

So here are the cliff notes:

We started with carboplatin for 2 rounds, and then switched to cisplatin for the final two as carboplatin was lowering Sophie's platelets a lot.  The carboplatin generally seems to have the fewest side effects, and is only a 20 minute injection (vs say cisplatin, which has to be preceded by ~6 hours of IV fluids to protect kidneys).  If Zak has  a really hard time with vet's visits and you're considering chemo, I'd definitely look into the carboplatin.  It's expensive, but you can get it generic now, which helps.  And, in my experience, the cisplatin was not actually really any cheaper...  Sophie did react very well to the chemo, except for her platelet counts.  I understand that part of why dogs often do is that the dosages are much lower relative to what people are given- in people the mantra is "keep alive at all costs," whereas for dogs the intent is more palliative.  But I think some dogs do have a harder time, so I wouldn't want to give the impression that it's always a piece of cake.  For Sophie  (and myself) though, it was much much more painless than all the connotations that I had about chemotherapy.

Speaking of cost, in case you are not already aware of it- there's something called "Care Credit" where you can often borrow money for human or vet bills with no interest if you pay back within a year (or longer repayment terms, but with interest).

I had also mentioned that Sophie had a real dip in mood several days after her surgery, which really took me aback, as she had seemed to be making "progress" and then seemed to lose it.  I've heard however that a lot of dogs have this, and she came out of it after some days.  So try not to despair too much if Zak gets glum after a few days of seeming more chipper.

We're wishing you both all the best.