Radiotherapy in dogs, cats and rabbits

When can radiotherapy help my pet?

Hund, Katze und Kaninchen sitzen beim Tierarzt

Cancer in animals

Thanks to improved medical diagnostics and therapy, our pets are living longer, just like us humans. However, as our pets age, the number of cancer diagnoses is also increasing. Not every tumor is equally problematic. For some tumors, there are very good treatment options. For others, we can control the symptoms well.

In any case, the quality of life is our top priority.

Radiation therapy for cancer

Radiotherapy is one of the three classic pillars of tumor therapy, along with surgery and chemotherapy. When a tumor is irradiated, ionizing radiation is used, in most cases high-energy X-rays or electron radiation. The radiation damages the DNA in the cell nucleus, causing the tumor cells to die. The total dose is always administered in several sessions, known as fractions. For many types of cancer, there are various protocols that have been used for decades. Sometimes radiation therapy is combined with surgery. The best approach must always be discussed between the animal owner and the respective experts.

Cancer in dogs

All animals can get cancer. Which tumors are the most common in dogs and how are they treated?

Dog runs home happily after radiotherapy

How does radiotherapy work?

We clarify the most important questions about the effect, technique and procedure of radiotherapy for our animals.

Supportive Therapy

Quality of life can also be very high during cancer, and supportive therapies play a key role.

Hund sitzt mit schmerzhaftem Bein auf einer Wiese

Radiotherapy for osteoarthritis

Radiotherapy is also an excellent treatment for chronic joint pain. In contrast to tumor treatment, only a low dose is irradiated in three fractions. This therapy is generally well tolerated and offers many patients a significant improvement in quality of life, even with advanced disease.

Pain Management

What is the radiation therapy procedure?

A radiation protocol is defined at the start of radiotherapy. This determines how many fractions and what dose will be used for radiotherapy and whether a definitive or palliative approach is appropriate. For some patients, a computer tomography scan is required to plan the radiotherapy. The individual radiotherapy sessions are then always the same and in most cases last around 60 minutes. The radiation itself is completely painless and cannot be felt, just like an X-ray. Since animals, unlike humans, do not remain awake with the necessary precision, they require a short superficial anesthetic.

Radiotherapy in 10 steps

How does radiotherapy actually work in dogs? We show the exact procedure with pictures.

A dog under general anesthesia during radiotherapy

Radiotherapy under anesthesia

The repeated anesthesia for radiotherapy is well tolerated by the animals. We explain how our patients sleep through their therapy.

Sweetheart Maya

A patient who has grown close to our hearts: Maya. She had a tumor on her spine and was very active again after radiotherapy.