Cancer | A Team Diagnosis

According to the Veterinary Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 4 pets are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, making it one of the most common disease processes you’ll ever diagnose as a veterinarian. At IntroVet™, we like to think about cancer as a team diagnosis. The enormity of the disease and amount of support needed calls on the whole team to contribute.

Most pet owners need a great deal of support through a cancer diagnosis.

• According to a survey conducted by VCA, when faced with a cancer diagnosis, an overwhelming majority of clients (74%) indicated they would do everything possible to make their pet comfortable.
• 45% also reported that they believed cancer treatment would be painful for their pet or that it would cause adverse effects.

Technicians can be essential caregivers and educators through this process. Consider designating a small group of Technicians as Cancer Care Advocates at your practice. These advocates can offer a unique level of support and care to your patients.

Your Cancer Care Advocates could:

• Build a library of support resources (social media support groups or forums to join, quality of life surveys, common terminology etc.)
• Receive specialized training on the technical administration and physical impacts of chemotherapy
• Perform proactive weekly calls to check on treatment and hospice patients
• Help clients understand how pets express pain
• Confirm patients are taking medications as prescribed
• Provide nutritional education and recommendations
• Provide special gestures of encouragement to the family

Are you a DVM or Practice Manager? Take action today to equip your technicians with the education they need to help. Enable them to reduce your workload AND provide a better service to your clients.

Are you a Technician? Talk to your team about how Cancer Care Advocates could benefit your practice and your patients!

To get your team started, we’re providing resources to help!

• Register your designated advocates to attend the vet conference, Saving Lives: A Complete Guide to Canine and Feline Oncology, on December 3-4.
  • During Veterinary Technician Week, register one person to attend and receive 50% off a second registration! Valid 10/20 through 10/26 only!
    • Use the code REALMVP to apply this discount to your registration.
    • Both in-person and virtual registrations qualify.
• Consider adding the following resources to your client support library
  • Fetch a Cure
  • Facebook Pet Cancer Group
  • Canine Cancer Awareness

Author:
Michelle Popilek
Brave Space Certified
IntroVet™

For more events like this one, check out our upcoming webinars and in person conferences or an on-demand video course today!