Identifying Signs and Symptoms of Lymphoma in Dogs
With multicentric lymphoma, the first sign families often notice is enlarged lymph nodes. These might be under the jaw, in front of the shoulders, or behind the stifles in the rear legs. These swellings can be up to the size of a golf ball and feel firm, but not rock-hard. Theyre also not painful, so you may not observe signs of illness from your dog until you feel for those enlarged lymph nodes. The lymph nodes can swell from infection response as well as cancer, so its important to get any swelling checked out by your vet to determine the cause.
Dogs with lymphoma tend to feel fine at first, so you may not notice any other signs of illness. An exception is that if your dogs blood calcium levels rise, he may lose his appetite, act lethargic, and possibly drink more water due to potential kidney damage. Unfortunately, dogs with increased calcium (hypercalcemia) have a poor prognosis.
Dogs with the intestinal or alimentary form of lymphoma, which is the second most common form of this cancer in dogs, will have vomiting and/or diarrhea, may lose weight, and dont want to eat.
The cairn terrier, who is a rescue dog, suddenly changed her behaviour to the 84-year-old and he noticed that he needed to go to the toilet more so he got himself to the doctors. He was later diagnosed with bladder cancer.
“If a dog is particularly interested in any part of the body and keeps pestering or licking the spot, then take notice of them.
Some experts reckon that it is possible for dogs to detect cancer because their sense of smell is 25 times stronger than humans. Cancerous cells can release a smell in the early stages that may not be detectable to people but they can be picked up by some dogs.
Thelly says it is now a case of “watch and wait” to see if any more signs of cancer appear before she is given the all-clear.
Daisy-May is animal lover Thellys seventh white west highland terrier. She also owns a tortoise called Speedy. Now she is advising others who notice a change in their dogs behaviour towards them not to ignore it.
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