Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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my samantha starts a doxy chemo tomorrow in the am. can someone please tell me if it is ok to feed her before the chemo or must she be fasting. i forgot to ask the vet and i need an answer fast.
Hi,
My vet gave me no instructions about meals so I gave Tazzie a meal, but on the smallish side. I asked about it when I brought him to the clinic, and they indicated it should not matter. It would be good if someone else spoke up on this, for you should get this instruction from your vet. Jackers was also on Doxy (same as Adriamycin). If they wanted you to fast him, they probably would have stated this.
Tazzie did get some nausea from Doxy, which was initially visible as excessive salivation and then salivation and complete loss of appetite from about about day 3 to 7. He wanted to eat grass, which is also a sign of nausea with him, but I did my best to prevent that since you don't want them to vomit if possible. Tazzie did not vomit, but I gave him Cerenia anti-nausea pills as of day 2. Your vet will probably give you something like that in case Samantha has nausea.
The 2nd Doxy went MUCH better because the vet anticipated the nausea and gave him a shot of Cerenia before treatment and then I continued pills for 4 days. There was a decrease in appetite, but he kept eating.
Susan & Tazzie 2
Emily had Charpoplatin/Gembetin (spelled wrong) and did not have to fast. Your oncologist can give you meds that can help with the nausea. My feeling is that if you were to have Samantha fast they would have given you those instructions. Having said that, if there is an after hours number for your vet I would call just to make sure.
Good luck tomorrow. I hope Samantha will fly through her chemo! I will keep her in my prayers.
Debra & Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Cherry's first chemotherapy treatment was hours after her amputation - literally as soon as the body warmed back to room temperature. Yes, our surgeon lowered her body temperature for the amputation just like they do for humans undergoing major surgery. There were no instructions regarding feeding Cherry before any of the remaining treatments. However, Cherry's only complication was a total loss of appetite and I had to stuff nearly every morsal of food - except for when she was traveling in the car/truck. So, I offered her and she ate a very large number of Milk Bone Flavor Snaks and some lamb and rice jerky strips as we drove to the oncologist. They usually waited until early afternoon before the treatment, but there were no ill effects reagarding eating just before arriving at the oncologist.
The comments from Susan and Debra regarding nausea are very good. Cherry recieved a shot of Cerenia and continued pills for three days much like Tazzie 2. She also had additional pills for nausea, vomiting, and appetite stimulant. Luckily, we never experienced the nausea or vomiting and her blood count never dropped during treatments. As I said above, the only complications was total loss of appetite. Each dog can respond to the chemotherapy differently. Some breeze through with no problems, some like Cherry have some problems, and then there are a few who do suffer more major complications. Usually the first is the hardest.
Keep us posted if there are complications because we have a number of suggestions that may help. I have been told by many friends who have undergone chemotherapy themselves, that they often get cold and have a real difficulty keeping warm. Thus, I knited a TriPawd sweater for Cherry which did help quite a bit. You can view the sweater and photos from Cherry's second chemotherapy treatment at Cherry's TriPawd Journey photo page.
Paws Crossed and Sending Pawsitive Thoughts,
Bob & Cherry
Most dogs have more nausea with Doxy (Adriamycin) than with Carboplatin. Having said that, did Cherry have Carbo? (It seems like she did, but I can't remember.) We alternated Doxy and Carbo and Tazzie had no nausea (and no nausea pills) with Carbo, which seems to be relatively normal according to my oncologist.
My oncologist claimed the nausea for Doxy would not start right away and would peak between day 3 and 5, so recommended waiting to give the anti-nausea pills. That was a big mistake in his case. It is much easier to prevent nausea than to try to get rid of it once it begins.
Laura gave Jackers the anti-nausea pills and never thought he had an issue, until she forgot to give a pill one day. He vomited, but then was fine when put back on the pills. (this is following Doxy)
Today I'd give Samantha good meals (but nothing hard on the stomach), just in case she doesn't want to eat much this week.
Susan & Tazzie 2
Thanks Tazzie! You have such a good memory!! Must be those power mushrooms 🙂 He is right of course - Jack never had a problem with nausea and we managed to fit in 4 treatments before my bank account was drained (yuck!). My oncologist recommended giving him the anti-nausea pills as a precaution, and it worked like a charm. The last treatment he had I didn't give him the pill and he had one day where he threw up once, and had minor diarrhea, but it was no big deal and we're used to it because he has always had a sensitive stomach and throws up a lot anyways. Feeding before chemo shouldn't be an issue, but maybe for the first one (until you see how she'll react) give her only a little in the morning so if she does get sick, it won't be as tragic 🙂 Good luck!!!
<3 Laura and Jackers
At the vet school that treated Yoda, it was standard procedure to withold food after 10pm, but my understanding was that wasn't due to the chemo treatment, but rather just in case they found anything they might want to check out during his visit with x-rays and therefore might want to put him under. Also, I remember when they'd leave me the reminder message about his appointment a couple days before, their script about witholding food always had an "unless" the dog was under a certain weight condition. I think if your dog is really little (like a chihuahua), or diabetic or something, there are blood sugar issues and they can't fast as long, but you're probably already aware of whether your dog has concerns like that.
Anyway, I concur with the others that Samantha probably doesn't have to fast before getting a chemo treatment, so it won't screw up your appointment if you let your dog eat. There just could be other reasons why your vet might recommend it in the future.
My dog also received carboplatin. If your dog is getting a different chemo drug than those of us commenting did, then maybe that makes a difference, but I would doubt it.
Yoda&Mom united: 9/5/06 …….… Yoda&Leg separated: 6/5/09……… Yoda&Leg reunited: 10/14/09 ……… ……………….………….………….……. Yoda&Mom NEVER separated! …………………….….……....….…… Though Spirit Yoda currently free-lances as a rabbit hunting instructor for tripawds nationwide
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