Chemo and contact with my cat.

I have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and I will have surgery, chemo and radiation. I have an 18 1/2 year old cat who i dearly love and we enjoy her lap time with me brushing her at least once a day. Has anyone heard about restricting access to pets/cats during chemo? Is there anyway we can still enjoy this time with some restrictions, ( gloves, mask, etc?)

Thanks, new to this entire ordeal.

I asked my chem dr the same thing about my pets. No, you're fine and your cat will be also. He said only if you take radioacitve iodine for thyroid disease you can't handle pets or babies.

On 11/22/2008 apriljeff wrote:

I asked my chem dr the same thing about my pets. No, you're fine and your cat will be also. He said only if you take radioacitve iodine for thyroid disease you can't handle pets or babies.

Thanks so much! I had heard that when your white blod cells are very low, which chemo may cause, you are more prone to infections and pets have plenty of bacteria that could given me an infection that I may have to be hospitalized for. This is the most scariest thing I have ever had to face by far.

Hi Bonnie,

If your cat uses an indoor litter box, you need to be careful about that. If there is someone else that can clean the litter box for you, that is best.  If not, wear gloves, and make sure to practice good hand-washing afterward. Also, I recommend you get one of those rubberized litter mats that catch the litter from your cats paws as they jump out of the litter box.  (the ones that look like shag carpet or artificial grass are nice - very effective at cleaning a kitty's paws so they don't track litter over furniture, etc)

Other than that, enjoy your kitty. My mother's kitties seemed to know she was really sick when she was getting chemo - she ALWAYS had a kitty by her side - seemed like they took turns playing nurse and making sure she had company and reassurance that she was loved.  My cats pretty much did the same with me when I had chemo - was really comforting to have that fuzzy warm body cuddling up to me when I really felt crappy. Also, I knew my kitties needed me - gave me incentive to do what I had to do, push on with the surgeries, chemo, etc, because my little guys and my partner both needed me!

I wish you wellness!

Sincerely,

Tre

I was just told to have some one else empty the litter box.  I was very concerned at first because 2 of our 3 cats like to "groom" my head.  I was so afraid that some how the drugs would get to them, they might lose their fur, etc.

2 1/2 years later we're all here, healthy and have our hair