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After a long day at work you come home and greet your pet as usual. You sit down to relax, and while petting your dog you feel one or more large swellings under your dog’s throat that you’ve never felt before. Although your dog is feeling fine, appears energetic, wagging his tail and eating/drinking normally, you want to make sure that these lumps are nothing to worry about. So, you make an appointment with your veterinarian to check out these sudden lumps.
At the veterinarian’s office, it takes only a few minutes of a physical exam and needle aspirate of the throat swellings for your veterinarian to inform you that your pet most likely has a malignant cancer known as lymphoma, the most common cancer seen in dogs and cats today. This scenario is one of the most common presentations of lymphoma in dogs, and one of the most difficult and painful diagnoses we must give to animal guardians, who are often in amazement that their happy and energetic pet could have such a disease. While needle aspiration of the enlarged lymph nodes is often enough to make a tentative diagnosis, sometimes a surgical biopsy is needed to confirm it.
Most of the cases do involve peripheral lymph nodes of the throat, just in front of the front legs, and often in the abdominal area and hind leg lymph node areas. The other 20% of cases can involve any organ system, including the bone marrow, liver, spleen, digestive, central nervous system, eyes, bones and even heart. The incidence appears to be increasing in veterinary medicine today, being estimated at 24 per 100,000 pets with all breeds, ages and sexes are at risk. and while most pets are middle-aged to older, the disease has been reported in young puppies and kittens as well.
Genetic factors have also been implicated; however, environmental factors include excessive exposure to chemicals and certain pesticide or herbicides, as well as exposure to strong magnetic fields. pets on chronic immune suppressive therapy, as well as those with a history of other immune mediated disorders are at moderately increased risk. elevated blood calcium levels can be seen in approximately 15% of affected pets on blood screens. If a biopsy is performed, complete staging of lymphoma is done prior to treatment. Without treatment, most pets usually expire within 4-6 weeks of diagnosis. Unless it is a rare form of lymphoma only involving one body part, this is a disease affecting the whole body, and thus the conventional drug treatment of choice is chemotherapy using a combination of drugs usually based on what is known as the CHOP protocol.
In feline medicine, many veterinarians have achieved remarkable remission rates using two drugs known as Prednisolone and Chlorambucil. With the increasing interest in holistic and complimentary medicine, many animal guardians are also seeking out the guidance and wisdom of veterinarians skilled in alternative medicine such as dietary and nutritional supplement therapy, homeopathy, Chinese herbal therapy, etc., as either an adjunct or alternative to conventional cancer treatment. It is important to find a veterinarian who has extensive training in these areas before considering holistic or alternative treatment options.
No matter which approach is used, pets with lymphoma should have as little stress on their immune systems as possible, including minimal to no vaccinations, pesticide exposure, etc. excellent proper homemade or natural commercial diets such as Wysong or Pet Guard should be fed. in spite of the concerns of many oncologists, nutritional supplements with antioxidants and fatty acids do not seem to interfere with most chemotherapy protocols, although before supplementing your pet, be sure to ask your veterinarian.
CancerPet Health
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