Radiotherapy isn't only for humans – in fact, it is also one of the most common treatments vets use to treat animals with cancerous lesions.
How Exactly Does it Work?
Radiation therapy essentially works by breaking down tiny proteins and molecules that are contained within living cells. Healthy tissue can withstand a fairly significant level of radiation – the sun is continuously acting to damage otherwise healthy cells, for example. However, cancerous tissue reacts very poorly to radiation, so radiotherapy looks to take advantage of this by blasting the area with highly concentrated radiation.
Of course, because radiation affects healthy cells that surround the cancer, it is inevitable that some non-cancerous cells will be damaged in the process. This can typically be seen by changed in the skin surrounding the cancer. However, because healthy cells react much better to radiation, the benefits of radiation far outweigh these side effects.
Is Radiotherapy Dangerous?
There are a number of different approaches to radiotherapy within veterinary oncology. Typically, each individual practice will have its own procedure to determine the level of radiation per dose and the length of time between each individual dose. Vets will carry out a thorough examination of your pet in order to determine exactly which parameters to use going forward.
One of the main differences between radiotherapy for humans and radiotherapy for pets is that animals won't really sit still on their own throughout the treatment. As such, vets will often administer an anesthetic that will cause the animal to lay motionless while the treatment is carried out. In order to ensure that your pet won't react badly to this anesthetic, vets will carry out a thorough assessment that will look at their medical history and current condition. If the vet thinks that your pet's overall general health is insufficient to receive anesthetic, they will not go forward with the treatment.
Therefore, although radiotherapy is a proven form of treatment for cancerous cells, vets will not put your pet in danger if they do think they are fit enough to receive the treatment.
Are There Side Effects?
In short, yes, radiotherapy does bring with it a number of side effects. However, for the most part, these side effects are thought to be trivial compared to the benefit received. In the majority of cases, there will be a loss of fur and the skin may because discolored. However, this is not dangerous and is merely a cosmetic side effect to radiotherapy.
With that said, there is also a small chance of more serious side effects occurring. These typically include damage to the skin, similar to sunburn, that can be painful and can last a few weeks before healing. Your vet will issue a prescription to alleviate your pet's discomfort as much as possible. Places like Firelands Regional Medical Center can offer more information about radiotherapy.
Share13 May 2017
I am a mother of four wonderful children, and like other parents, I have been to my fair share of health care clinics. It seems like my children are always getting scrapes and coming down with colds. When I was a new parent, I never knew whether I should take my injured or ill child to the emergency room or local urgent care facility. I received some simple advice from a seasoned parent that made my decisions easier that I want to pass onto all new parents, along with other health tips I've learned. he told me that she tended to take her children to the ER when they were bleeding or had very high temperatures and took them to the local urgent care for any other problem. I have followed her advice ever since, and my children remain healthy and happy!
