Thanks in part to support from the Petco Love and Blue Buffalo Cancer Treatment Support Fund, Taffy was able to get the care she needed. Above, Taffy in May 2024. (Courtesy of Dawn Decker)
By Jack Kelly
During her more than three years as a patient at UW Veterinary Care (UWVC), Taffy built a reputation among hospital staff: Tiny but mighty. The 4.5-pound chihuahua-shih tzu mix first presented for care with lumps under her chin — her lymph nodes were enlarged, which is a common sign of lymphoma in dogs.
UWVC’s comprehensive oncology service quickly got to work. A sample of Taffy’s enlarged lymph nodes, tested by the hospital’s full-service clinical pathology lab, confirmed a diagnosis of multicentric large B-cell lymphoma, cancer of a type of white blood cell called a lymphocyte.
A lymphoma diagnosis can be devastating, with most dogs not surviving more than a year after diagnosis, according to Kirsten Andersson, a medical oncology resident at UWVC. But thanks in part to support from the Petco Love and Blue Buffalo Cancer Treatment Support Fund, Taffy got the care she needed.
Taffy was treated using a chemotherapy protocol known as CHOP-19, which utilizes three chemotherapy drugs to target the disease. Researchers at UWVC and the UW School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) were the first to adapt the protocol, originally developed for humans, to be used in canine cancer patients.
“This protocol has been around for several years and is considered the gold standard for treatment of canine lymphoma,” Andersson says.
In total, Taffy was treated with the protocol three times and went on to live years beyond the typical life expectancy for a lymphoma patient. Sadly, she had to be euthanized in early 2026, but she lived a vibrant life for more than three years after being diagnosed compared to the 10-12 months dogs typically have.
Support from Petco was critical to ensuring Taffy and her people had more time together, according to Andersson.
“Without the help of Petco, I don’t know if Taffy’s family would have been able to continue chemotherapy,” she says. “No family is ever prepared for the heartbreak of a cancer diagnosis. Petco’s support has allowed me and my colleagues to provide care for families who otherwise would have had to say goodbye to their beloved pets months or even years earlier.”
The staff at UWVC was Taffy’s second family, says Dawn Decker, the pup’s owner. Decker was extremely grateful for the additional time with Taffy, and when the time did come to say goodbye, she says, “it felt right to be there surrounded by so many people who loved and adored her.” With Petco’s support, “we fought hard to keep her healthy and happy as long as possible,” Decker concludes. “She was a feisty little cancer warrior.”
About Petco Love
Petco Love started in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, formalizing Petco’s longstanding commitment to animal welfare. Millions of pet lives saved later, it continues to pursue its mission: To harness the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. For more information, visit https://petcolove.org/.