Pets after BMT?

[Heather8773]

So my husbands BMT is coming up. He's admitted Oct 3rd and we're probably looking at 1 month in hospital (?) and then be renting a place for two months after in the med center. The condo we're renting allows pets. His transplant center says its fine to be around our dogs after he's released..... They are inside almost always. Two spoiled chiauaha mixes.... Any thoughts on if it's a good idea to bring the pups to the Condo?

[Neil Cuadra]

Heather,

You'll find a discussion of that issue in the What about pets after the transplant? thread.

The consensus is that there's a small risk but pets are mostly safe to have around post-transplant if you use common sense about exposing the patient to germs. Some people choose to wait just a bit rather than have pets around when the patient first comes home, but it also depends on the logistical difficulty of having them cared for elsewhere.

[Heather8773]

Thx for the thread Neil!
Happy to see people did good while having pets at home! I guess we will take it day by day and see if he's feeling well enough. I figured at least they'd lift his spirits while recovering . Their cudle bugs

[Chirley]

When I was looking at having a BMT, I spoke to my doctor about my dogs and a cat. He said "pets are good for the soul". He just said get someone else to look after the litter box and dog poo.

[sobrien]

About a month ago I had a consultation with a famous transplanter. I was being considered for a transplant.

After the 90-minute consultation, my spouse asked about having Benson, our beloved Minpin back in our lives. The Dr. said I couldn't be around a dog (or any pet) for a year. Our little Benson is my personal trainer, therapy dog and resident mood-lifter. THAT was the deal-breaker! No transplant for me, thank you.

[Neil Cuadra]

Originally Posted by sobrien

About a month ago I had a consultation with a famous transplanter. I was being considered for a transplant.

After the 90-minute consultation, my spouse asked about having Benson, our beloved Minpin back in our lives. The Dr. said I couldn't be around a dog (or any pet) for a year. Our little Benson is my personal trainer, therapy dog and resident mood-lifter. THAT was the deal-breaker! No transplant for me, thank you.

Shirley,

I might draw another conclusion: That if I needed a transplant to save my life and I needed my dog with me for quality of life then I'd get the transplant, keep the dog, and ignore the doctor's advice.

The goal for some doctors is to maximize the probability for the longest life, but that's not always the whole picture.

[mausmish]

My doctor, chair of the bone marrow transplant department at Johns Hopkins, said pets are no problem as long as someone else takes care of litter boxes and poop scooping.

I agree with you, Neil - if the doc said no pets for a year, I'd probably get another opinon first but ultimately get the bmt, keep the pet, and ignore the doctor's advice.

I visited my cats at home after I was released from the hospital. They weren't allowed in my temporary housing near the hospital. After 60 days when I came home, they were with me all the time except I didn't let them sleep with me for another couple of months. I had no problems.

[Heather8773]

Thx for the replies I agree pets are good for the soul. We don't have kids but we have two chi mixes

[NLJabbari]

We were advised the same thing at Stanford. Pets were okay, as long as the patient did not handle pooper duty.

Just use common sense

[Heather8773]

Hmmm so the first time we asked they said it was fine. Today they said no pets while we're in the condo (two months after release) so I guess we'll take it day by day. Maybe as counts come up I can bring them by for a couple hours

[sstewart09]

We were told no pets for at least the first 100 days. Our doctor is still hesitant when we asked about our dog coming home now, 6 months post transplant.