When Sara Koller found out her Chihuahua had cancer, she couldn’t change how much time they had left. But she could decide how they spent it.
Sara, 29, from Vienna, Austria, has had her long-haired Chihuahua, Nini, by her side since she was 18, sneaking him into her high school classes tucked inside a bag during her final months of school.
More than a decade later, he’s still what she calls her “Velcro pet,” always wanting to be close.
This past March, everything changed. Sara noticed Nini breathing heavier than usual at night and took him to a vet, who initially diagnosed a respiratory infection.
Within days, though, it was clear something more serious was happening.
Nini was losing weight rapidly, and further testing at a specialized clinic revealed B-cell lymphoma. He began chemotherapy that same day, on March 30, 2026.
@niniandhishuman Nini still has a long road ahead but is fighting 🤍 #dogtok #cancer #lymphoma #dogs #cancersurvivor ♬ original sound – sara
“His decline was very quick. It came out of nowhere,” Sara says. “Two weeks before he was healthy, now he was very sick with cancer.”
Lymphoma isn’t considered curable in dogs, and Nini is now nearing the end of a 19-week chemotherapy protocol, with just two sessions left.
Rather than spend that remaining time waiting anxiously for the disease to return, Sara decided to give Nini something to look forward to.
She booked a trip to Norway, to a private stretch of coastline near Herdla, where Nini could run off-leash through green fields, ride along the fjords by boat, and fall asleep beside a fire each night, joined by his canine best friend and Sara’s family and friends.
“I wanted to make sure that he gets to see a little more of the world,” she says. “Touch grass he has never touched before.”
After months of vet visits and treatment, Sara says she finally got to see Nini carefree again. “I will forever remember him happy with his family,” she says.
A video Sara posted about the trip has since gone viral, drawing hundreds of thousands of views and messages from strangers navigating the same heartbreak with their own pets.
Sara now hopes to use her platform to make canine cancer feel a little less frightening and isolating for other owners, and eventually help families who can’t afford treatment.
“I would have never thought that a dog with five pounds could be so strong,” Sara says. “He has taught me that bad things can happen, but it’s how you respond that is important.”
Would you take one last big adventure with your pet, given the chance?
Source:
people – “Woman Takes Beloved Chihuahua with Cancer to a Private Norwegian Island for One Last Big Adventure”