Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human-Animal Bond

by Alice Villalobos, Laurie Kaplan (Editor)

Overview

Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human-Animal Bond, Second Edition provides a complete clinical approach to the most common neoplasias in geriatric dogs and cats.

• Provides the tools needed to diagnose and treat aging pets with cancer and to help clients make the best decisions for themselves and their animals
• Addresses the "what-ifs" that often arise during interactions with clients of aging pets with cancer and helps to determine when a pet should enter the hospice phase
• Features many vignettes and real-life case studies to demonstrate the issues faced by clinicians and owners dealing with older dogs and cats with cancer and end-of-life issues
• Fully updated and expanded with new and revised information, including new knowledge on palliative and hospice care and self-care techniques for carers

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119290445
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	520
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

The authors

Alice Villalobos, DVM, is a past President of the American Association of Human Animal Bond Veterinarians, President Emeritus of the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics, Fellow Emeritus of the National Academies of Practices, and a Founding Member of the Veterinary Cancer Society. She is Director of Animal Oncology Consultation Service in Hermosa Beach and Woodland Hills, California, USA. She is also Director of Pawspice, an end-of-life care consultation clinic.

Laurie Kaplan, MSC, is a medical animal writer in Ossining, New York, USA, founder and administrator of the Magic Bullet Fund, and author of Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: Empowerment for Dog Owners.

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Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xv

Introduction xix

Part One

Chapter 1 Molecular Biology of Cancer and Aging 3

Chapter 2 Caring for Geriatric Cancer Patients: The Concept of Pawspice and What Is Needed Aside from Medical Care 29

Part Two

Chapter 3 The Warning Signs of Cancer in Geriatric Pets 53

Chapter 4 Basic Types of Cancer and Their Biological Behavior 101

Chapter 5 Generating the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cancer in Geriatric Pets 117

Part Three

Chapter 6 Treating Cancer in Geriatric Pets 153

Principles and Philosophic Perspective for Treating Geriatric Cancer Patients 153

The Role of Surgery in Cancer Management and “When is It Too Much Surgery” 162

Chemotherapy in the Management of Geriatric Cancer 171

Adverse Effects of Cancer Therapy in Geriatric Pets 188

The Role of Radiation Therapy in Cancer Management 208

Immunotherapy, Cancer Vaccines, and Gene Therapy 216

Chemoprevention and Immunonutrition for Cancer Patients 223

Integrative and Alternative Medicine 234

Electrochemotherapy (ECT)/Electroporation (EP) 239

Metronomic Chemotherapy in Dogs 246

Chapter 7 Pain Control for the Geriatric Cancer Patient 265

Chapter 8 Decision Making with Advanced and Recurrent Cancer in the Geriatric Patient 301

Chapter 9 When and How to Decide That a Geriatric Cancer Patient Is Terminal 345

Chapter 10 Palliative Care: End of Life “Pawspice” Care 367

Chapter 11 Euthanasia for the Geriatric Cancer Patient 399

Chapter 12 The Veterinary Professional/Client Relationship: Supporting Your Clients – Supporting Yourselves 419

Chapter 13 Professional Support: The Well-Being of the Veterinarian and the Team 443

Appendix 1 Specific Tumor Protocols 451

Appendix 2 Handouts for Clients 465

Appendix 3 Canine and Feline Anatomy 477

Index 485

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Excellent job of teaching the art of dealing with terminal illness…made me rethink how I approach cancer patients and owners…helped me, my patients and clients.”
VIN Reviews

“A wealth of case histories. These are Instructive and touching, demonstrating the value of an individualized approach to each patient and owner.” Compendium

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Dana Connell, BS, DVM, MPH (University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine)
Description: This book covers cancer in cats and dogs from its beginning through treatment and end-of-life decisions. It also describes cancer in the geriatric patient, including how to treat with chemotherapy, surgery, and other methods, as well as palliative care. It ends with a discussion of the veterinarian-client-patient relationship and how to recognize that it is time to say goodbye to a beloved pet with cancer. The previous edition was published in 2007.
Purpose: The purpose is to distill the wealth of information that is coming from journals and academic textbooks describing treatments and solutions for dogs and cats with cancer. It especially aims to describe the relationship between the client and patient and how to best recommend treatment for patients. These are worthy objectives, as general practitioners are sometimes at a loss when it comes to handling patients that have a terminal illness and need intensive oncologic care. The book fills a niche for a superficial look at cancer as a biological disease, but an in-depth look at how cancer affects the family and veterinarian, along with the available options.
Audience: The book is written for general practitioners and oncologists and their respective teams, according to the authors. It reads as if it is geared toward general practitioners that have a special affinity for oncology or an oncology background. The book meets the needs of its intended audience and does so in a succinct fashion. The primary author is residency trained in medical oncology and has many years of experience. She owns Pawspice, which provides hospice for pets.
Features: The book starts with a superficial look at the biological basis of cancer, including the molecular biology of aging, which gives an overview of how mutations can cause cancer in the body and why cancer is an individual and genetic (though usually not heritable) disease. It then introduces the care of geriatric patients with cancer, in particular, tailored hospice care (Pawspice). Part two delves into the diagnosis of cancer and what owners can look for. It also describes the different types of cancer and those that are most common. This leads to a discussion of the diagnosis and prognosis of animals with different types of cancer. All of these subjects are laced with case examples that provide further background and real-life corroboration. Part three covers treatment of dogs with cancer, exploring both definitive therapy with the use of surgery, radiation therapy, and some chemotherapy and comparing that to palliative therapy alone. Finally there is an in-depth discussion about decision making for families with patients that are undergoing cancer care and how veterinarians can help owners find the right time to say goodbye to their pets and how to perform euthanasia in a compassionate way. Specific case examples are very helpful when reviewing material like this because it gives a face to the disease and may give practitioners examples of things they have not seen often. There are many tables that are useful for general practitioners and oncologists. The appendixes also may be valuable to practitioners as they contain charts that can be copied and used to make an oncology record more complete and easier to hand off to a referring veterinarian. The only shortcoming is the obvious age of some of the examples and the photos. The book would benefit from a facelift in certain areas to make it more modern.
Assessment: This book is useful for general practitioners who have an affinity for oncology or for teams that work with oncologists. It is less useful for boarded oncologists as the material is fairly superficial in some areas (especially molecular biology). The book is more grounded in relationships and communication than other clinical books, such as Withrow and MacEwen's Small Animal Clinical Oncology, 5th edition, Withrow et al. (Elsevier, 2015), and therefore has found a niche. The new edition is needed, as there is so much information that has surfaced in the last 11 years that may change how some cancers in dogs and cats are now treated.

Doody's Review Service