I know it’s been a while since my last blog. That’s partly because I have been dealing with ongoing medical issues with my breast cancer. It’s actually rather difficult to write when you are going through things, as opposed to essentially having dealt with an issue aka my bowel cancer. For me, retrospective blogging is far easier, I can assure you.
So, given that, I think it’s time to chat about one area that I have found has been an ongoing issue for me. Pets. Cancer and pets is a tricky thing, especially when you either have to relocate for treatment or are living by yourself. Before I decided to share my own experience with this, I did a bit of research on the topic. Pets are amazing companions to have and certainly can help you so much when you are going through cancer. I have a friend who, and I hope they won’t mind me telling you this, felt without her faithful sausage dog, would have struggled through her cancer journey. Unfortunately there are also a number of down sides as well for some people. I have added links at the bottom of this that explain positives and negatives re pets and cancer as it is another area of a persons cancer journey worth being informed about.
Now, at the start of my journey, when I was whisked away from home, I had the old teenage bachelor boy at home to look after the family dogs, so initially a lot of the pet issues were not a priority. I missed the dogs but their life was continuing along the lines of ‘pre-cancer status quo’ essentially, so it wasn’t an huge factor in the scheme of things.
Before I go any further, let me introduce you to the canine family members. Firstly there was Miss Coconut. She was a ten week old puppy when she came to us many years ago when the teenage bachelor was 8 years old. After the first 12 hours of her living with us, we decided that she possibly ‘needed a dog’ as she was struggling with the concept of being alone. A phone call later and we managed to buy her the last remaining dog in her litter, her little runty brother that we named Rusty. Yes, we bought our dog a dog! I could write entire blogs on these two and their antics but needless to say they were very loved and very much part of the furniture when cancer struck.
(The picture for this blog is actually of them and the breed is Cavajack).
I will tell you that when I left in September saying to the dogs “Bye bye, see you soon” I actually didn’t get to see them for 3 months until my sneaky pre-Christmas trip home. Well, both were excited to see me for the first 10 minutes, until Miss Coco decided that she was soooo cross with me and turned her back on me for the next few hours. Good old runty Rusty did his thing which is just wag his tail and be happy, but I was in no doubt that I was certainly in the bad books with Coco. All was forgiven however, and leaving them again was not fun, let me tell you.
By the end of December 2020, I knew I wasn’t going to be going back home anytime soon and all ‘adult children’ were either at college, off to college or were living nearby but not in a position to take on board caring for Coco and Rusty. None of us were in a position for them to live with us. This was not going to be a short term thing either, so asking friends to look after them wasn’t a viable option. What was going to happen to them come 2021?
What does happen to pets during cancer? For most people I think there is probably very little change and they continue to be a vital part of recovery, but for others it can become an emotional issue and a financial issue or both. For the first time I realised that many people who have long hospital stays, or are unable for whatever reason to look after their pets have to deal with a whole other level of trauma. I think I spent a good part of December and January looking for a solution to our situation. I was lucky once again in that I found a brilliant kennel about an hour and a half from where I was staying that had experience with long term boarding. I was also lucky that financially I was able to afford to put them in these kennels. In all honesty however, it was, and continues to be, the biggest expense of my cancer journey. I have absolutely no regrets about my choices, but when people discuss the hidden cost of cancer, I now realise it is things like pets that can be one of these. I never realised when I looked at rescue animals pre-cancer, that for some of them, their situation may be as a result of cancer. I now feel a little sadder but wiser.
So both Coco and Rusty spent the next 6 months of their lives in the kennels, with various visits and day trips throughout. They came home with me for a little while when chemo finished but I struggled looking after them by myself because of the stoma and my physical ability. They had to go back in for another 10 weeks because of my next operation and finally came home for good in January 2022.
Unfortunately poor old Coco passed away in June 2022, ironically from cancer. We miss her very much. Rusty now is my little old dog who wags his tail and is happy to be home. Throughout my 2023 cancer journey Rusty has had to be popped into the local kennels on many occasions due to my having to travel for radiation, hospitalisation and other medical things, but I think he sees it as a social adventure…..tail wags when he goes to the kennels, and wags when he comes home. He’s booked in again in 2 weeks time as my current adventure continues, and I am so grateful that he is so happy to go there.
Pets become very much a part of family life. Until I experienced it, I never realised how much pets can become another issue that need to be navigated as part of the whole cancer equation. There are many resources available online to help people with Cancer and pets. I have added a couple of starting points with the links below on safety at home. I have also added an Australian link for help if foster care of pets is needed whilst undergoing treatment, and similar is available in a number of countries globally.
https://www.cancer.net/blog/2019-12/taking-care-your-pets-when-you-have-cancer
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/side-effects/low-blood-counts/infections/safety.html
Foster Care Program
Chasing a Lobster 
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