Dogs were receiving bone marrow transplants before humans, as canines were research subjects when the procedure was being developed. Now, dogs with lymphoma can get the life-saving treatment in their own right, say veterinary oncologists at Washington State University -- for a price.
The WSU transplant program is making the cancer therapy available for pet owners this summer -- for $15,000 to $20,000. The university, which gets about five to six calls a week from people with sick animals, thinks there will be enough demand to make it a go.
Medical technology is advancing for companion animals, just as it is for their human friends. And with it comes the same questions we ask about advanced medical treatments for ourselves and our two-legged loved ones. When is it time to say "enough" and let go? And with pets comes a second, more complicated query: When does "too much" mean too much money to prolong an animal's life?
Trudy, growing older
The story by Tom Paulson of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer," which ran Monday, is below. But I also encourage you to click here and read Paulson's accompanying piece about his golden retriever, Trudy, who had a rare blood disease.
"I had to ask my veterinarian to kill my beloved dog recently," Paulson starts out... But not before he spent $7,000, trying to buy a few more months with her.
BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS -- FOR DOGS
BY TOM PAULSON c.2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
May 12, 2008
SEATTLE -- The bone marrow, or stem cell, transplant, a procedure that every year saves tens of thousands of lives and won for the Seattle physician who pioneered it the 1990 Nobel Prize in Medicine, appears poised to come full circle and finally become more widely available to those who first made it all possible.
Dogs.
"They helped us figure out how to help save ourselves, and so this represents a big give-back to the canine species," said Dr. Jeffrey Bryan, a veterinary oncologist at Washington State University.
Bryan is spearheading a project to soon launch what would be the world's first large-scale clinical transplant program for dogs. The program is expected to become available to treat dogs with lymphoma sometime this summer.
> Discuss this entry