My pet has cancer. What can I expect?

Hearing the words “your pet has cancer” can feel like the floor has dropped away. Alongside the shock and sadness, most families have the same questions: How much time do we have? Will they be in pain? What can we do now?

Well, the first thing to remember is that many cancers are very treatable – surgery to remove a mass, radiotherapy or pet-safe chemotherapy are all options available to vets now. However, while every diagnosis is different, sometimes palliative care is the best option available. Palliative care (sometimes called hospice care) focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life, whether that’s for weeks, months, or simply for the time you have left with your pet.

Below is a guide to what palliative care often involves, the changes you might notice in your pet, and how families can prepare, including what an at-home euthanasia appointment usually looks like when and if the time comes.

What palliative care means for pets

Palliative care is supportive care. The goal isn’t necessarily to cure cancer; it’s to help your pet feel as comfortable as possible and like “themselves” for as long as possible. That can include:

• Pain relief
• Nausea and appetite support
• Breathing support (if needed)
• Mobility help
• Anxiety reduction
• Practical planning, so you’re not making rushed decisions in a crisis

Some pets receive palliative care alongside active treatment like surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. Others receive palliative care when treatment isn’t appropriate, isn’t desired, or has stopped working.

What to expect after a cancer diagnosis

Cancer can behave very differently depending on the type and where it is in the body. Still, many families notice a similar pattern: good days and harder days. Early on, pets may look surprisingly normal, eating, playing, and enjoying cuddles, then gradually show more fatigue or discomfort.

Common changes you might see include:

• Lower energy (more sleeping, shorter walks)
• Reduced appetite or weight loss
• Nausea (lip-licking, drooling, vomiting)
• Pain or stiffness (especially with bone/joint involvement)
• Coughing or breathing changes (for some chest or heart and lung conditions)
• Changes in toileting, such as constipation, diarrhoea and accidents
• New lumps, swelling, or wounds, depending on the cancer

What matters most is not any single symptom, but the trend, and how well symptoms respond to supportive care.

The pillars of palliative care at home

1) Comfort and pain control

Pain is one of the biggest fears families have. The reassuring news is that vets have many tools to help. Plans often involve regular pain relief, sometimes combined with anti-inflammatories, nerve-pain medications, or other options, depending on your pet’s case.

2) Eating, drinking, and nausea support

Loss of appetite isn’t always “picky behaviour”; it can be nausea, mouth pain, constipation, or just feeling unwell. Palliative care often includes:

• Anti-nausea medication
• Appetite stimulants, when appropriate
• Diet adjustments (smaller, more frequent meals; warmed food; higher-calorie options)
• Hydration support

3) Mobility and daily-life adaptations

If your pet struggles to get up, climb stairs, or squat to toilet, small changes can make a big difference:

• Shorter, gentler walks (more sniffing, less distance)
• Help with harnesses/slings
• Orthopaedic bedding
• Keeping essentials on one floor, if possible, to avoid stairs

4) Emotional well-being

Pets pick up on our emotions, but they mainly live in the present. Your job becomes creating as many calm, safe and normal moments as possible. This includes meals they enjoy, sunny naps, favourite visitors, gentle grooming, and quiet companionship.

And for you: we know that palliative care can be emotionally exhausting. Many people feel anticipatory grief (grieving before the loss), guilt, or constant second-guessing. This is normal, and it’s one reason planning ahead is so valuable.

How to know when quality of life is slipping

A helpful way to think about end-of-life decisions is: Are the good days still clearly outweighing the bad? And are the bad days manageable with your support plan?

Some signs a pet may be nearing the end include:

• Pain that’s hard to control with medication
• Persistent distress (restlessness, panting, struggling to settle)
• Repeated vomiting or inability to keep food/water down
• Struggling to breathe
• Frequent falls or inability to stand
• Withdrawal from family and normal comforts/routines
• Loss of interest in favourite things for several days in a row

If you’re unsure, you can speak to your vet, use our quality-of-life assessment tool, download our checklist, or speak to one of our specially trained Care Coordinators. Many families find it comforting to discuss euthanasia before it becomes urgent, so the final decision isn’t made in the middle of a crisis.

Choosing euthanasia: a kind decision, not a failure

When cancer causes suffering that can’t be relieved, euthanasia can be the gentlest option. The aim is to prevent suffering, and in many situations, planning a peaceful goodbye is a compassionate act.

What to expect with at-home euthanasia

For many pets, staying at home avoids the stress of travel and a busy clinic. Our at-home service aims to keep things quiet, unhurried, and familiar.

The process includes:

• Consent and a brief check-in when the vet arrives.
• To ensure calm and serenity in the final moments of your pet, we will first give a sedation by an injection under the skin. This will allow you time to hold and comfort your friend while he/she gently falls asleep. It can take anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes to take effect, but this is a calm and gentle process with very few unwanted side effects.
• Once your pet is calm and relaxed, euthanasia will then be carried out by giving an injection, usually into a vein on a front leg. If your pet is very old or frail, or if the blood circulation is poor, the vet may inject it into another area of the body. As the solution is injected, the patient loses consciousness, and within one or two minutes, the heart stops.
• Discussion of aftercare options, for example, home burial where permitted, or cremation arrangements.

Please remember that your pet will remain at all times heavily sedated, pain-free, and unaware of the procedure.

A final thought: focus on comfort, connection, and peace

If you take nothing else from this, you’re not expected to predict the perfect day or make a flawless decision. You’re trying to do something much simpler and much harder: protect your pet from suffering and fill the time you have with them with love.