Most dogs don’t have a bad reaction to chemo. Our 9 year old husky/aussie mutt Caroline had osteosarcoma and rear leg amputated in January. She has had 6 chemos without any nausea or other problems.

Usually on those chemo days I fed her her favorite upset-tummy food- rice and cottage cheese. Minute rice has convenient single serving rice that microwaves in one minute.

We did give her pain and anxiety meds before each chemo as the vet instructed, because being at the vet for the multi-hour chemo process was clearly unpleasant for her.

We used daily pain meds for a month or so after the amputation, I don’t remember exactly. We have been one of the lucky ones, to date there has been no other cancer found.

She got over her amputation much quicker than we did, and is a happy and active dog. I don’t take her on one hour walks anymore, I’ve cut those back to 30 to 45 minutes, but much of that time she is running. Most people we pass in the park don’t even notice that she is missing a leg!

I lift her 60 pounds into the car and into bed not she because can’t do it, but to reduce the stress on her remaining leg. It’s probably not necessary though.

The other thing I found helpful is to remember that if she only lives one or two years, while that’s not a lot of time for us, it is indeed a long time for a dog. 

I only hope that when I have a serious health problem I can react like she has.

Here she is a couple weeks ago when we were on vacation in SC.