Spa

Question: Can radiation therapy in humans affect their pets?

(Posted by: Peekaboo on 2010-07-26 18:09:09)

My grandmother was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer and is doing a daily radiation treatment. I don't know many of the details, sorry. To make it short: she was diagnosed with stage 1 uterine cancer, had a hysterectomy, and began radiation recently. Her dog, a tea cup chihuahua has stopped eating, stopped sitting with my grandmother and is just not her normal self. Is this because of the treatment? Should the dog be taken away from my grandmother while she is going through the treatment?

Posted by: Frank on 2010-07-26, 18:13:31

The dog could be reacting to the way your grandmother is acting. Or the dog could be reacting to drugs that your grandmother is taking. The radiation therapy is not detectable by humans or animals. For whatever reason, the dog knows something is wrong. It may be best to move the dog if the dog won't sit with your grandmother, but if you can find a way to get the dog to eat a little, then keeping the dog with grandma might be a comfort to her.