Departments

Radiation Therapy

Cancer has become one of the most difficult and common things that owners have to deal with now that people’s pets are living longer and longer. Cancer comes in many forms and has many treatments including surgery and chemotherapy. Sometimes surgery or chemotherapy is not possible or not enough. When those situations arise, Radiation Therapy can be the best option for relieving a pet’s pain and discomfort and extending his/her life.

The CARE Center provides the Tristate’s only Cobalt radiation unit providing radiation therapy to cancer patients within a 3 state radius. Radiation therapy consists of a team approach between the CARE Center’s Oncologist, Dr. Karina Valerius and Radiation physicist Dr. David Denman.

Radiation works by penetrating cancerous cells and destroying their ability to grow and divide. Because it can be so tightly focused, Radiation Therapy (RT) is ideal for treating discrete tumors, even those deeper than the skin. Also because of this ability to target a very small area, RT minimizes any effect on normal cells. In many cases, there is virtually no reaction at all.

RT is used with one of two goals in mind: remission or pain relief. Remission is the cessation of all clinical symptoms of the cancer. It is not called “a cure” because most cancers eventually recur. Pain relief is just that: reducing the pain produced by an inoperable tumor. The degree of pain relief varies from moderate to total cessation of pain.

Depending on the intent of treatment (remission vs. pain relief) the schedule of treatments will range from 5 days a week, Monday through Friday for 2-3 weeks; to once or twice a week for 3-4 weeks. The CARE Center makes this as convenient as possible for the pet owner by allowing early drop off times in the morning, or providing low-rate boarding if the owner is coming from a long distance. Patients are admitted for the day, and can either be picked up in the evening, or kept through the week and picked up on the weekend. Because CARE Center is open 24 hours, patients are always monitored throughout the day and night.

RT patients are dropped off the morning of their treatment, given a full physical examination every day, and anesthetized for the short (usually 30 minutes or less) duration of radiation administration. Because exact targeting is so vital, it is essential that the patient remain absolutely still, hence the need for anesthesia. The pet is then recovered in CARE Center’s state-of-the-art ICU. When fully awake, the RT patient is able to be picked up if the owner so wishes.

The CARE Center is dedicated to providing all of our patients with the most complete and integrated therapy possible while taking into consideration the needs of both the owner and their pet.