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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 9:17 am Post subject: Veterinarian Research project

We just started a rather extensive research paper in school where I have to choose a topic (veterinarian, naturally) and pick a argumentative point that I can persuade in my final paper. This is in addition to field work, which I have lined up to visit a vet office. I wanted to argue if it was cruel or not to use modern veterinarian technologies to keep animals alive. In the most severe cases, for instance hip replacements. I was having trouble researching this on the internet and was wondering if anybody knew any good books or websites. I am very grateful for anything, thanks so much!! Very Happy

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject:

I think you need to expand this to explain a little better
when I think of 'kept alive' I think of feeding tubes and the other horror they put people through
OTOH using vet medicine to give a dog a good quality if life is not IMO simply using vet medicine to keep a dog alive - if you can see what I mean.
I used a strong pain med to keep a dog comfortable to have some more time with it - the dog was fine and the moment that ended we went to the vet on the final trip. I could have doped her up to where she only slept but that did not give her quality of life to my mind.

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:

I couldn't answer your quetsion one way or the other because I have seen perfectly happy dogs using a wheel contraption harness after losing the use their back legs, and I been in the position of refusing continuing cancer treatment for a beloved pet because the quailty of his life was so poor ( even though he was young). I would reword the question to include a " quality of life" quantifier. Sometimes tecnology is great, sometimes not.

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject:

Thank you so much for responding. I can see what you mean, and it has given me more to think about as far as going about this project. Do you know of any wedsites that has stories about this topic? That would be very helpful to get perspective. Thanks again! Smile

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject:

When I think of extreme measures I think of things such as some cancer treatments. Treatmeats such as radiation and chemotherapy. Sometimes it's alright if they are pretty sure after one or two treatments the dog will have a pretty normal life. But to expect a dog to go through treatment after treatment because you can't bear to lose them can go overboard. Most human beings make a choice to be sick during treatment but a dog can't make the decision as to whether they want to continue to fight after being treated and sick.

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:47 pm Post subject:

I couldn't answer your poll because it was too vague. It would all depend on how sick the animal was and what the outcome would be. I had to have two pets PTS within several months of each other because of masses in their bodies. One was a colon mass and the other was a prostate tumor. Both animals were older - one 11 and the other 13. They were very sick and it would have been cruel to prolong their life with such harsh treatments as chemo or radiation. However, if I had a young animal that had a very high chance at a normal happy life with a short treatment of chemo, I would probably do it. It has to be based on quality of life. Animals can't say what they want, so we have to be their advocates. We can't base our decisions on our emotions and feelings.

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 10:08 pm Post subject:

I have to agree with quality of life. if the dog can take medicine that will help them, then go for it. if he has to live on a kidney machine, go through dialysis, be poked, prodded and injected, is it worth it? what quality of life is there?

dogs on walking chairs, are different. they are not in pain,. and this technology is helping them lead normal lives. the ones I've seen are happy, and look forward to being strapped in their chairs for a romp.

I honestly think it always comes down to quality of life...

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:34 pm Post subject:

It entirely depends on the quality of life and expected outcomes of treatment. I absolutely believe in using modern veterinary medical technology in general, as we are able to give our pets higher quality and longer lives, and successfully treat (or prevent) conditions that were once fatal or highly painful.

To use a couple of examples:

Feeding tube placement: Almost always yes, unless there was a terminal disease. We often place feeding tubes in cats at the shelter who are depressed and not eating. Not all of them recover enough for adoption, but the majority do and go on to be happy kitties.

Cancer treatments:
A lot of people are against using chemo/radiation for terminal cancer in pets, however the protocols used are quite different than in humans. In veterinary use, chemotherapy is not as painful and horrible as it is for humans. In many terminal cases, a veterinary oncologist will select a drug or cocktail that offers the best tradeoff in terms of quality of life and increasing the lenght of time the animal has left. So, in many cases, I would use chemotherapy and radiation if a pet of mine had cancer, even if it was terminal. I would choose to euthanize if the cancer itself or its affects were impacting quality of life (for instance, pain, trouble eating or breathing, etc.)

Mantaining a pet on life support: I would probably opt to euthanize unless the pet had a good chance to recover (for instance, mantaining a previously healthy and young pet through a critical period as a result of a traumatic energy or something of that nature.)

Chronic illness: Treat until pet is suffering with little quality of life.

Going off on a tangent:
I do think that, sometimes, euthanasia is used to quickly in vet medicine, because it's so commonplace. And in some cases, I think euthanasia is used because the *owner* can't stand to see their pet a certain way, and not because the pet is suffering to the point where humane euthanasia is necessary. I will not hesitate to have one of my pets euthanized if they are truly suffering, but I also will need to think long and hard about whether I'm doing it for me or for them. I don't think a "natural" death is a bad thing, and I'd prefer if my pets died this way, though.

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