Managing Cats with Cancer

Moore, Antony S.

doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2011.07.019

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…When clients are financially constrained (or appear to be so), as in this case, the consequences of proceeding with further treatment without the benefit of appropriate diagnostic insight must be carefully weighed against the potential for the animal to incur more significant harms. This should be a common means of influencing the decision-making process for clients and veterinarians when dealing with cancer patients [ 68 ]. Suboptimal evaluation of animals with cancer, as in this case, can be problematic.…”

Section: Failure To Meet Animal Welfare Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Obtaining informed consent in veterinary medicine provides legal protection to practitioners but it should not be used as a sole means for justifying their actions or inactions [ 67 ]. While being respectful of client wishes, veterinarians must also play a more active role when animal welfare concerns are present by providing tools to assist with decision-making, such as formal or informal quality of life assessments [ 68 , 69 , 70 ], to help clients to better understand and appreciate welfare problems and to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering, which takes into consideration a more utilitarian ethical framework ( Table 1 ) Certainly, the results of these assessments can be subjective and may still require the veterinarian to speak up and advocate for the animal if further treatment cannot be pursued.…”

Section: Failure To Meet Animal Welfare Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Speaking Up: Veterinary Ethical Responsibilities and Animal Welfare Issues in Everyday Practice

Trujillo

Fawcett

Brouwer

et al. 2018

Animals

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Simple SummaryVeterinarians have an ethical obligation to provide good care for the animals that they see in practice. However, at times, there may be conflicts between the interests of animal caregivers or owners, the interests of veterinarians and the interests of animals. We provide an overview of why and how veterinary ethics is taught to veterinary students, as well as providing a context for thinking about veterinary ethical challenges and animal welfare issues. We argue that veterinarians are ethically obliged to speak up and ask questions when problems arise or are seen and provide a series of clinical case examples in which there is scope for veterinarians to improve animal welfare by ‘speaking up’.AbstractAlthough expectations for appropriate animal care are present in most developed countries, significant animal welfare challenges continue to be seen on a regular basis in all areas of veterinary practice. Veterinary ethics is a relatively new area of educational focus but is thought to be critically important in helping veterinarians formulate their approach to clinical case management and in determining the overall acceptability of practices towards animals. An overview is provided of how veterinary ethics are taught and how common ethical frameworks and approaches are employed—along with legislation, guidelines and codes of professional conduct—to address animal welfare issues. Insufficiently mature ethical reasoning or a lack of veterinary ethical sensitivity can lead to an inability or difficulty in speaking up about concerns with clients and ultimately, failure in their duty of care to animals, leading to poor animal welfare outcomes. A number of examples are provided to illustrate this point. Ensuring that robust ethical frameworks are employed will ultimately help veterinarians to “speak up” to address animal welfare concerns and prevent future harms.

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Section: Failure To Meet Animal Welfare Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Failure To Meet Animal Welfare Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking Up: Veterinary Ethical Responsibilities and Animal Welfare Issues in Everyday Practice

Trujillo

Fawcett

Brouwer

et al. 2018

Animals

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“…Aftercare of a dog undergoing chemotherapy may place an added burden that an owner should take into consideration [30]. Owners may not be properly informed and “veterinarians and owners often ‘collude’ in misinformation” [16]. People can reach radically different conclusions when judging an animal’s quality of life.…”

Section: Choices In Dealing With This Dilemmamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been claimed that “an animal cannot weigh being treated for cancer against the suffering it entails, cannot affirm a desire (or even conceive of a desire) to endure current suffering for the sake of future life” [15]. Ethical issues associated with the use of chemotherapy in cats highlight the ethical concerns about good communication, informed consent, the use of unproven strategies, the ethics of not treating and the ethical issues associated with suboptimal evaluation [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Chemotherapy to Prolong the Life of Dogs Suffering from Cancer: The Ethical Dilemma

Stephens

2019

Animals

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Despite the emergence some years ago of oncology as a veterinary specialty, there has been very little in the way of ethical debate on the use of chemotherapy in dogs. The purpose of this article is to undertake an ethical analysis to critically examine the use of chemotherapy to prolong the life of dogs suffering from cancer. If dogs have no concept of the future and are likely to suffer at least some adverse effects with such treatments, consideration should be given as to whether it is ethical and in the animal’s best interests to use chemotherapy. Chemotherapeutic drugs are mutagenic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and may be irritant. Furthermore, chemotherapy may involve multiple trips to the veterinarian, multiple procedures and periods in isolation. Cancer-associated pain has been shown to be under-diagnosed and pet owners overestimate the effects of chemotherapy on treatment survival time. Of additional concern is the public health risks associated with chemotherapeutic drugs. As chemotherapy is not generally considered curative, it is in effect palliative care. However, palliative care may not be in the best interests of a terminally ill animal. As the specialty of veterinary oncology continues to grow and as the use of chemotherapy becomes more commonplace in the treatment of animals with cancer, it is imperative that there is an ongoing ethical debate on the use of chemotherapy in animals.

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Companion Animals

Rowan¹,

Quain²,

Bain³

et al. 2022

Ethics in Veterinary Practice

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Managing Cats with Cancer

Abstract: This article, which draws in part on published research, where stated, and otherwise on the author's personal experiences/opinions and those of veterinary colleagues, is intended to provoke further thought and discussion on the ethics of caring for our cancer patients.

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Speaking Up: Veterinary Ethical Responsibilities and Animal Welfare Issues in Everyday Practice

Speaking Up: Veterinary Ethical Responsibilities and Animal Welfare Issues in Everyday Practice

The Use of Chemotherapy to Prolong the Life of Dogs Suffering from Cancer: The Ethical Dilemma

Companion Animals

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