A local Hamilton artist says his dogs helped him through five years of cancer treatment, now he’s doing the same for them after both were diagnosed, just days after he was discharged.

Scott McDonald says this weekend is pivotal in the cancer treatment for Pizza, his 7-year-old American Bulldog.

“She was doing chemotherapy, but her white blood cells were high and her red blood cells were low, so we did a blood transfusion, if they’re good, we’ll go back on chemotherapy on Tuesday and we can go from there.”

Everything happened so suddenly, February should have been one of the best months of McDonald’s life, he finally got the call he was cancer free after a painful five-year battle with throat cancer.

But just days later, he took his two pups to the vet and was told they both had been diagnosed ,Pizza with Lymphoma, and Ernie with spleen cancer.

Ernie, the 10-year-old American Bulldog, immediately went into emergency surgery, but didn’t make it.

McDonald says he owes his life to his two dogs, who were instrumental in his recovery.

“They’re always there for you. no matter how bad a day is going, they can just look at you with their big dumb eyes and make everything better.”