How to Tell If Your Dog Is In Pain
Dogs don’t always express pain through whimpering. Instead, they may act reclusive, lazy, and aloof, no longer getting excited about things they normally enjoy, like playtime and food. If your dog is suffering, they might stop eating and drinking completely or be very picky about their food. You may also notice your dog gasping for breath at times or panting excessively.
Euthanasia is a painless and peaceful way to end your dog’s suffering. And, it may become the most humane choice a pet parent can make for a pet suffering from an incurable and debilitating disease like lymphoma. Euthanized animals have no awareness that they’re dying. The process is much like general anesthesia and takes only 10 to 20 seconds.
To complete the procedure, your dog will be injected with a sedative, followed by the special medication. Your vet can help you decide when the time is right to put your dog to sleep. It’s usually recommended to do so when you can see that your pet’s pain is outweighing their moments of comfort and joy.
If you choose not to euthanize your dog, your veterinarian can suggest the best pain medications, dietary choices, and human interactions to make your dog as comfortable as possible. If you’re considering this option, try discussing all the pros and cons with your veterinarian before making your final decision. A pet loss counselor may provide some valuable guidance, as well.
It always helps to prepare financially for illnesses. Pet insurance can help you cover veterinary costs later down the road if your dog becomes sick. Visit here to learn more.
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Being proactive about your dog’s cancer improves his quality of life by helping you accept your role in his treatment program. End of life discussions are hard, but they only get harder as time goes on.
Dogs in remission usually still have cancer; it is just undetectable for the time being. Treatment can buy your dog some time, but it rarely cures the disease and unfortunately most dogs with lymphoma will have a relapse at some point. When the cancer returns, it is more resistant to treatment, although a second remission can be achieved in some cases. Eventually, however, lymphoma is fatal.
The symptoms of lymphoma in dogs are as varied as the different types of lymphoma, which can make it difficult to diagnose at first.
The treatment therapy proven most effective for canine lymphoma is chemotherapy. The type of chemotherapy your vet recommends will vary depending on the type of cancer, and in some cases the vet may also suggest radiation therapy or surgery. For instance, dogs with multicentric lymphoma are often given the chemotherapy protocol UW-25, which is based on the CHOP protocol used in humans, whereas the chemotherapy protocol thought to be most effective at treating cutaneous lymphoma is lomustine (CCNU).
Scientifically speaking, lymphoma is a blanket term used by doctors to describe a group of cancers that stem from the lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that helps the immune system fight off infection. They are highly concentrated in organs that play a role in the immune system, like the lymph nodes, the spleen, and bone marrow. While lymphoma can affect any organ in the body, these organs tend to be where most lymphoma cancers are found.
How To Prevent and Treat Dog Lymphoma
There are some dog breeds that seem to be predisposed to lymphoma. These include golden retrievers, boxers, Rottweilers, and Bernese mountain dogs, but any dog can get lymphoma. The first dog I ever treated for lymphoma was a small terrier mix.
Since lymphoma is typically a widespread disease in your dogs body, chemotherapy is usually the treatment of choice. Dogs tend to handle chemo treatments better than humans and with fewer side effects. One of my own dogs had lymphoma and went through chemotherapy. He never missed a meal and felt great about 90% of the time, wanting to do all his normal activities.
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It is important that if you plan to do chemotherapy that you do NOT give your dog prednisolone unless it is part of the treatment protocol recommended by your veterinarian. It can interfere with your dogs treatment.
While you may have an initial visit with a veterinary oncologist to decide on the exact chemotherapy protocol to use, treatment can be done by your regular veterinarian. Your veterinarian or the veterinary oncologist (if you work with one) will also guide you as to what supplements might be beneficial, which ones to avoid, and the ideal diet for your dog.
Does your dog have cancer? Lymphoma in the Dog. Vet explains symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.
Having a sick pet is easily one of the worst experiences a pet parent can have. They canât tell us what theyâre feeling; we canât help them as well as we would like to; theyâre miserable and all we want is to bring them the joy that they bring us.
Itâs worse when you arenât quite sure whatâs going on with them. Maybe they ate something out of the garbage that they werenât supposed to. Maybe they rolled around in a strangerâs yard who might have had something on the lawn. Maybe… something really bad is going on. Maybe they are developing a cancer like Lymphoma.
Sometimes the last one can be an overreaction, but there have been many times that a pup parent went through the pain of discovering too late that their pet had been giving them signs of a much deeper problem.
If you are suspecting lymphoma, here are a few symptoms to look out for in each of the different kinds.
(The symptoms of lymphoma differ based on the different kinds of lymphoma. Each affects the body in different places and creates different reactions. If you are curious to learn more about the different types of lymphoma, check out our article explaining the differences here.)
The most common form of lymphoma is also sometimes the easiest to spot. There are some very noticeable physical changes to the body when a dog has multicentric lymphoma.
One of the most common physical symptoms of Multicentric Lymphoma is swollen or enlarged lymph nodes. These feel like hard rubber-like lumps under your dogâs skin¹âsomething that would trigger most owners to head to the vet pretty quickly. These lumps do not typically cause your pet any pain, though they can become pretty uncomfortable, swelling anywhere from 3 to 10 times the nodes normal size.²
You can find lymph nodes on your dog in these 5 easy-to-check places: neck, chest, armpits, groin, and behind the knees.³
There are also behavioral tells that your pet may be developing Multicentric Lymphoma. You may notice that they have started drinking a lot more water than they had previously. Their urinary habits may also change, resulting in either more frequent urination or simply an increase in how much they pee each time you take them outside. That combo could be a sign that something is going on inside of them. Typically, dogs with Lymphoma will also see a loss of appetite and experience a lot of lethargy.â´âµ
If your normally food-motivated, excitable dog loses those traits, go see your vet, just in case.
Like Multicentric Lymphoma, Alimentary Lymphoma does not usually cause the dog any pain, outside of the discomfort from, and overall draining experience, of being sick.
Alimentary Lymphoma can develop at any part of the dogs gastrointestinal tract. This means that stomach problems are usually a symptom. Dogs diagnosed with Alimentary lymphoma will have vomiting or diarrhea as their main symptoms. Whether they experience more of one symptom or the other depends on which part of the gastrointestinal tract is affected.
And like with Multicentric, dogs with Alimentary Lymphoma also experience a loss of appetite and lethargy. Alimentary Lymphoma may also cause your dog to lose weight.âµ Loss of appetite and a diarrhea problem is an awful combo.
Most pet parents would think taking their dog to the vet is a good idea when they are throwing up and having diarrhea regularly with no known cause. We would recommend it even if the cause is not from lymphoma.
Because this form affects the respiratory system, if you notice any symptoms you should go to the vet immediately.
Mediastinal Lymphoma causes respiratory distress. Your dog would be having a hard time breathing and getting oxygen where it is needed. Earlier side effects can include pitting edema on the head, neck and forelimbs. A pitting edema is a swollen part of the body that will hold a dimple if it gets pressed on.
Dogs with Mediastinal Lymphoma will also have a greater thirst and that same need to pee, either more often or more at the times they go.â¶
Because Cutaneous Lymphoma affects the skin, there are many very visible symptoms that come along with it. The most common representation of this is usually in the form of a lesion on the skin. Lesions usually fall into one of these categories: ulcers, nodules (otherwise known as lumps), plaques, reddish patches, and areas of scaling and hair loss.
Cutaneous Lymphoma can cause the dog discomfort from the itchiness of the mentioned lesions. As the cancer progresses the skin can become thicker than normal, redder, and may release fluids.
The best places to check for the lesions on the skin are in the places where mucus membranes meet the skin. Places like your pets private parts, the area outside of their anus, around their eyelids, and the skin at the edges of their lips.â·
Skin changes donât always have to mean that your dog is developing cancer. Though it never hurts to check with a vet if you notice something new on your petâs skin.
It can be overwhelming if you start believing that every little thing that your dog experiences is a good reason to check with your vet. But you know your pet better than anyone elseâtrust your instincts. You are going to be the one to know when its time to reach out to your vet.
Thereâs a difference between your dog having a sleepy day and being lethargic, it may not look that different to someone outside looking in, but you would know.
Listen to that part of your pet parent gut and give your vet a call if you start to notice something is up. A phone call wonât take too much time out of your day, and shouldnât take any money out of your wallet. But it could be the difference between your dogâs last 30 days and last 3 years.
ImpriMed is here to be a resource for any pet parent with that nagging part in their gut telling them something is wrong, but we are not a replacement for your vet. What we can do is help your vet get your pet treated in the best way possible.