Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat owners rate quality of life during lymphoma chemotherapy
By Thornton, Laura A et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2018·1 Institute of Veterinary·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Owner perceptions of their cat's quality of life when treated with a modified University of Wisconsin-Madison protocol for lymphoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cat owners shared their experiences about their cats' quality of life while undergoing treatment for lymphoma with a specific chemotherapy protocol. Before their cats were diagnosed, the owners rated their pets' quality of life very high, but it dropped significantly at diagnosis. During chemotherapy, the quality of life improved somewhat, but not to pre-diagnosis levels. Owners noted that their cats' appetite was a key factor in how they felt about their quality of life during treatment, and most were satisfied with the decision to pursue chemotherapy.
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Abstract
Objectives The objectives of this study were to assess owner perceptions of their cat's quality of life during treatment for lymphoma with a doxorubicin-containing multi-agent chemotherapy protocol, whether various health-related parameters correlated with quality of life scores, and to assess owner satisfaction with the protocol. Methods A postal questionnaire was sent to the owners of 33 treated cats. Owners retrospectively assessed their cat's quality of life using a Likert scale (1-10) before lymphoma was diagnosed, at diagnosis and during chemotherapy. Owners assigned scores to various health-related parameters previously reported to affect quality of life at the three time points, and correlations with quality of life scores were sought. Owners were asked to rate the importance of these health-related parameters. Satisfaction with the protocol was investigated. Results Twenty questionnaires were completed (61% response rate). The median quality of life score before diagnosis (10, range 5-10) was higher than at diagnosis (3, range 1-9) ( P <0.05). The median quality of life score during chemotherapy (7, range 3-9) was lower than before diagnosis ( P <0.05) and higher than at diagnosis, but this was not statistically significant. Quality of life scores did not correlate with individual health-related parameter scores consistently; however, quality of life scores did correlate with appetite scores during chemotherapy. Appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea were parameters perceived as important in affecting quality of life. Most owners (75%) were happy they had treated their cat. Conclusions and relevance The quality of life scores observed were comparable to a previous study using cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone, employing the same scoring system. Although quality of life scores during chemotherapy were not significantly improved at diagnosis, owner satisfaction with the protocol was high. The factors perceived by owners to determine quality of life in their pets may be different to those previously conjectured, but appetite during chemotherapy remains important.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28569081/