Has Anyones Dog Had Cancer Treatment,

[Kaffy Magee]

One of my dogs has just been diagnosed with Lymphoma. I have insurance with PetPlan for her and just rang to confirm they would cover treatment. She said they do but Im just wanting to hear other peoples experiences and if they have ever had any trouble in claiming for it and if there is anything else I should ask about before going ahead.

Thank you

[coogie]

So sorry to hear about your girl KM . I hope she responds quickly to her treatment. We are with Petplan - have not claimed for cancer but for another costly ongoing treatment. My tip is to make sure all the paperwork is in order before you submit,sounds simple but if anything is missing it delays your claim. Petplan allowed us to put in a claim with the largest invoices for emergency treatment first and then submit subsequent invoices quoting the claim number , so we did not have to continuously get the vet to fill out paperwork or keep filling out our sections either. ( although QVS were amazing and helped with everything). I would also photocopy or scan everything before you send it as we had one lot of forms go missing in the post.

[Xyz]

I have also heard they do cover cancer treatment.

I have my 3 younger dogs with them, unfortunately not my oldest who is undergoing chemo.. Typical!!

Good luck with your girl.

[CareyJ]

Our thoughts are with you going through this. xxoo. I really hope the treatment goes well.

We lost our 21 month old GSP to Histiocytic sarcoma (similar to lymphoma but way more agressive). It was first diagnosed as lymphoma with a positive survival rate with chemo. We started chemo immediately as soon as we got partial diagnosis but had to change the treatment. Unfortunately it wasnt successful.

We spent about $7000 in 2 weeks and Pet Insurance Australia paid out 100% minus $100 excess within 10 days with no questions asked. We had only had the insurance for about 6 months. This was the first lot of pet insurance we have had, best thing we ever did. At least we tried. The Vet was very clear in her report which I think made a difference.

They now only pay out 80% for any of their claims.

It all happened so quickly but the 2 courses of chemo Leila had didnt affect her much - it was the progression of the bloody awful disease. I wish it was Lymphoma so at least we could have had a chance at fighting it. From all I read, complimentary medicine and diet can make a huge difference. StaffyLuv is a big advocate of this - her thread on Ollie was very helpful when I was researching it.

Good luck.

[dancinbcs]

If your insurance will cover chemo it is worth a try with a young dog but I only know of one that has survived more than a year with chemo. I have one friend who spent $30,000 on chemo with a young dog but he only made 12 months. With older dogs I wouldn't even try because the dogs I know of have actually been quite ill from the chemo. I know not all are but I wouldn't risk it with an oldie.

My positive experiences with cancer treatment have all been with Traditional Chinese Medicine and it can be used on it's own or in conjunction with chemo to avoid chemo complications like kidney failure.

Lymphoma can be very rapid or very slow. If it is the slow kind you have time to get treatments to work but it does seem to be harder to treat than a lot of other cancers and it is increasing in frequency in many breeds at an alarming rate.

[White Shepherd mom]

I'm sorry about your dog's diagnosis Kaffy, I hope the prognosis is good. Bella was diagnosed with subcutaneous haemangiosarcoma in May and Pet Insurance Australia have covered everything less my excess. This includes surgery and specialist care. They won't cover "alternative" therapy though if that's the route I choose.

I wish you and your dog lots of luck.

[Kaffy Magee]

Thank you all so much. Im still not %100 sure if we will treat with Chemo, Im just trying to look at all options. Im hoping the vets will agree for Pet Plan to pay them direct (as it states on the form that it can be done that way if the vet agrees and signs) as I cant afford to fork out that money to start with, thats why I have insurance! Ive been told the average life span for a dog undergoing chemo for lymphoma is 13 months. 20-25% will make it past 2 years.

Our thoughts are with you going through this. xxoo. I really hope the treatment goes well.

We lost our 21 month old GSP to Histiocytic sarcoma (similar to lymphoma but way more agressive). It was first diagnosed as lymphoma with a positive survival rate with chemo. We started chemo immediately as soon as we got partial diagnosis but had to change the treatment. Unfortunately it wasnt successful.

We spent about $7000 in 2 weeks and Pet Insurance Australia paid out 100% minus $100 excess within 10 days with no questions asked. We had only had the insurance for about 6 months. This was the first lot of pet insurance we have had, best thing we ever did. At least we tried. The Vet was very clear in her report which I think made a difference.

They now only pay out 80% for any of their claims.

It all happened so quickly but the 2 courses of chemo Leila had didnt affect her much - it was the progression of the bloody awful disease. I wish it was Lymphoma so at least we could have had a chance at fighting it. From all I read, complimentary medicine and diet can make a huge difference. StaffyLuv is a big advocate of this - her thread on Ollie was very helpful when I was researching it.

Good luck.

CareyJ thank you for your information. I was quoted $5000 - $6000 for 6 months chemo, Im at a loss why yours costs so much in just 2 weeks, did you pay in full upfront? Im pleased to hear they paid you claim and only in 10 days, Ive heard some people it has taken months to get reimbursed. Im sorry you lost your girl

[Staffyluv]

Sorry to hear that KM..

We didn't have insurance, so can't comment on that and ours was a different cancer, the prognosis of ours was 12-18 months.

Ollie had 6 months of chemo and was holistically treated as well with Chinese herbs. He had other supplements while undergoing chemo. The Chinese herbs were used after the chemo.

He had Lymphrodran, anti-Ox, 5 mushroom drops and vit c while undergoing chemo..

Ollie lived just shy of 6 years post dx..

I also think there is a lot to be said for diet in cancer dogs... Limit the grains and other starchy carbs and stick to good quality foods.

We cooked Ollie's while he was having chemo, there was a lot of conflicting stuff about cooking his food but we chose to cook it

So a good canine oncologist and a good holistic vet liaising with your regular vet is imperative to good treatment...

My vet was funny about the holistic stuff at first but I just told him it is what I want to do and I need his help to send the results he gets to the holistic vet at the same time as he sends them to the oncologist... He was fine after a while...

[CareyJ]

Thank you all so much. Im still not %100 sure if we will treat with Chemo, Im just trying to look at all options. Im hoping the vets will agree for Pet Plan to pay them direct (as it states on the form that it can be done that way if the vet agrees and signs) as I cant afford to fork out that money to start with, thats why I have insurance! Ive been told the average life span for a dog undergoing chemo for lymphoma is 13 months. 20-25% will make it past 2 years.

Our thoughts are with you going through this. xxoo. I really hope the treatment goes well.

We lost our 21 month old GSP to Histiocytic sarcoma (similar to lymphoma but way more agressive). It was first diagnosed as lymphoma with a positive survival rate with chemo. We started chemo immediately as soon as we got partial diagnosis but had to change the treatment. Unfortunately it wasnt successful.

We spent about $7000 in 2 weeks and Pet Insurance Australia paid out 100% minus $100 excess within 10 days with no questions asked. We had only had the insurance for about 6 months. This was the first lot of pet insurance we have had, best thing we ever did. At least we tried. The Vet was very clear in her report which I think made a difference.

They now only pay out 80% for any of their claims.

It all happened so quickly but the 2 courses of chemo Leila had didnt affect her much - it was the progression of the bloody awful disease. I wish it was Lymphoma so at least we could have had a chance at fighting it. From all I read, complimentary medicine and diet can make a huge difference. StaffyLuv is a big advocate of this - her thread on Ollie was very helpful when I was researching it.

Good luck.

CareyJ thank you for your information. I was quoted $5000 - $6000 for 6 months chemo, Im at a loss why yours costs so much in just 2 weeks, did you pay in full upfront? Im pleased to hear they paid you claim and only in 10 days, Ive heard some people it has taken months to get reimbursed. Im sorry you lost your girl

Leila's enlarged lymph nodes were originally diagnosed as kennel cough by our local vet because it was going around our area and she was so young. A week later I came home and her stomach was enormous - the first thing I thought of was bloat so I rushed her down to the emergency vet at Murdoch uni on our vets orders. She spent 2 days there having tests which accounted for at least $2000, then there was the chemo. We were quoted something very similar to you for just the chemo. We had to race back a week later after hours with an infection at her bone marrow biopsy site, another round of chemo, then 2 days of intensive care. It added up very quickly. I always think that if we caught it a week or so earlier things just might have been different but given the type of cancer it was we did all we could. And I think it was an extreme scenario.

We get a new puppy in about 3 weeks which has been 2 years coming and a lot of research. Leila might be gone, but she will never be forgotten.