Hearing that your dog has been diagnosed with cancer can be a terrifying time for you and your family. In some cases, there are treatment options available such as medicine, surgery or chemotherapy.

Dr Amanda Craig routinely administered chemotherapy protocols during her time at the University of Sydney Veterinary Teaching Hospital whilst completing her small animal medicine residency. At that time, there were few veterinary specialist oncologists. Now days, we consult with these specialist oncologists to devise bespoke protocols for your pet; best drugs, best timings and how to reduce or manage any side effects. Oncology is a complicated speciality as Dr Craig knows from helping the specialists at the Royal Veterinary College, London with their clinical research.

STVH has a number of weekly chemotherapy patients. We are skilled at diagnosis, staging the level of disease, administration and safe use of the medications as well as counselling owners in the difficult decisions around chemotherapy which is frequently palliative (reducing pain and suffering), rather than curative.

Our focus is on patient care; many of our regular patients happily run into our clinic to receive their weekly pats and treats. Read some of the stories from our previous chemotherapy patients below:

Meet Nate the Collie who was diagnosed with an osteosarcoma in his front leg. After initially diagnosing at our clinic and having surgery done at SASH, Nate returned to us to complete his chemotherapy treatment. Read on to hear from Nate’s owner, Liz:

‘After Nate’s surgery at SASH (Ryde), it was a huge relief to be able to access post-operative care and chemotherapy at Southern Tablelands Veterinary Hospital. Being able to stay local significantly reduced the stress of his treatment for him and I. The whole team of vets and nurses who looked after Nate over the course of his diagnosis, surgery recovery, chemo and beyond were a constant source of support and encouragement. Nate was treated like royalty – like he was one of their own beloved pets – and nothing was ever too much or too hard if I needed assistance with some aspect of his treatment. I had absolutely no concerns leaving him at Southern Tablelands Vet every Friday, for the whole day of chemo – he was happy to go every time, greeting his new extended family with his trademark smile.’