2,000km cancer cure trek for dog

THE owner of a dog which was given just months to live travelled 2,000km to get pioneering cancer treatment for the pooch.

Joan Larkin twice drove from Slane, Co Meath, to Surrey, England, to obtain the life-saving treatment for 10-year-old Cookie after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Joan said: “I’d do it again in the morning.

“Apart from my husband and kids who are grown up, he’s my best pal. It was never an option not to do it.

“I’d have moved heaven and earth to try and buy him extra time and I did.

“It’s been just two weeks since his pioneering surgery and to see my little dog racing around like a youngster makes every step of the journey worthwhile.” Cookie, a cocker-bichon cross, is recovering well but will still need ultra sounds chemotherapy in case of any stray cancer cells.

The beloved dog has become one of the first Irish pets to undergo pioneering treatment by staff of the UK’S Supervet. Fitzpatrick’s Referrals is the first veterinary centre to offer the procedure in Europe, starting last December and since then has performed the operation on a small number of dogs. Due to otherwise good health and the fact the cancer was caught early, Cookie was a suitable candidate for the operation.

Joan said: “He had a prostatic embolisation which meant they cut off the blood supply to the prostate so the tumour had nothing to feed off. It’s still there but it’s harmless.”

age of Cookie – a cocker bichon cross who is now on road to recovery