My mother's dog,which is actually my dog as they both live with us, was diagnosed recently with lymphoma-stage IV,substage B. We took him to the vet as he had been not acting himself and not eating and found out the dx. An ultra sound was done and found it all over his gastro-intestinal/abdominal area. His lymph nodes were not that bad and one of the vets we went to said that is odd in his years of treating animals. The fist vet pretty much wiped her hands of everything and said to get him chemo, but I know it will only do so much for so long. The second vet, we went to,seemed much more proactive and started the dog on prednisone,anti-biotics for a fever/infection he has,a B-12 shot and given a few meds for the diarrhea. I like the second vet and he states he has treated many dogs with chemo, as his partner is in oncologist and states the animals usually do better in the lower stages and it does not hit them as hard as an older dog like mine,(he is about 10-11 years old-human years), in advanced stages. Since the first eval. from the first vet which was only a couple days, the dog now has inflammation in the lymph nodes and is getting worse. I know there is no cure for lymphoma or other cancers and no way to tell how well the dog will do on chemo., but was wondering how many here have had there dogs treated with it and how did they do. I don't want our dog to suffer either and his appetite has been about nil for a few days now,even with his favorite treats. All he does is lay around right now and we try to give him as much comfort and attention we can but I know it is a losing battle. Any info. anyone can share would be appreciated,thanks.

“I know there is no cure for lymphoma“

I think you know what you have to do. It’s a sad duty.

I'd listen to the second vet. This is the hardest part of pet ownership.
Extending their life while it's good quality is the most important thing, not how long they live.
A few years from now you'll be able to look back and see thing more clearly. Sorry that doesn't help that much right now.

One of my heart dogs, Lollipop developed liver cancer. My vet of course talked to me about chemo treatments. Since Lollipop was at an advanced age , 13, I decided no to do that.

Vet was giving her prednisone to help her, but did not warn me it would also cause kidney failure. After 2 months, she declined terribly, I had planned to take her to the clinic to be euthanized, that night she died in her sleep in her kennel.

Liver failure or kidney failure, I don't know. Ask your vet about the side effects of Predisone.

Iam sorry hearing about your dog, please spend time together.

We did two rounds of chemo on our pup, about a year apart. She was older but still spunky. The lymphoma was caught early and the vet was encouraged. She went into remission for about a year and we did chemo again. Both times she did well with very little side effects and was eating well and still had energy. Dog do better than people it seems but if she had had issues we would have stopped and let her go. She did well and made it another year about but she ended up getting hemangiosarcoma on her spleen etc. and passed during emergency surgery.

It sounds like to me your pups is greatly advanced and may not be able to be helped at this point. From the description of it it the lower body/bowel are, it sounds more like a hemangiosarcoma.

There is no cure for either and ultimately, the day comes when it’s best to let them go. I feel it’s one of the best things we can do for them.

We did one round of chemo on our 10 year old yellow lab. He had a bad reaction and it killed him.

We did it with our first pup

We also did surgery and steroids.

He lasted a couple more months but they were not good months.

We won’t do it again…

Hope the best for you and your dog.

My 6 yr old yellow lab had lymphoma, we started the treatments but realized he wouldn’t make it. So we did what we had to do. RIP Remy

My 8 year old husky had hemangiosarcoma. We had his spleen removed, and he was on the mend. Once he received his first chemo treatment, he declined rapidly and we had to make a merciful decision.

I woke up this morning and found some dark red blood on the floor and it was coming from his rectum. It wasn't even part of a bowel movement,just blood and it was also down the back of his leg. I called the vet and unfortunately he is out of town but is going to call today around 5:00 p.m. when he comes back. I think we have to do what needs to be done. We were hoping the poor dog would get a little better with a bunch of meds he was given but it seems like a futile effort. It really sucks and I feel bad about putting him through more than he probably needed to be. Thanks for the replies.

Prayers for you. The hardest part of having pets.

Sorry to hear this but not unexpected for us long time dog owners.
Definitely the hardest part of having a pet companion. They never live long enough.