lymphoma symptoms in women | Lymphoma in dogs – symptoms, diagnosis and treatment OPTIONS

Lymphoma in dogs – symptoms, diagnosis and treatment OPTIONS



Symptoms of lymphoma in dogs

The most visible symptom is the swelling of the lymph nodes. Depending on the area that is affected the dog will show symptoms in this area. Probably the areas most frequently affected by the disease are gastro-intestinal tracts and chest. If your dog shows loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss, it may suffer from a lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract. If you notice a shortness of breath in your dog, it may suffer from breast lymphoma.

Diagnosis

Nowadays, there are many types of cancer as well as many causes. Lymphoma in dogs can be diagnosed by biopsy of lymph nodes or affected organs. The stage of the disease is very important in terms of treatment and prognosis. To find out how bad the disease is, it can also be performed tests like bone marrow biopsy, X-rays, ultrasound, blood analysis. You will never know the cause of the condition. The best thing you can do is to focus on the treatment. Untreated dogs usually die after 2 months from the discovery of the disease. If the disease was discovered in the beginning, the immune modulation in most cases offers the best chance of healing. An early diagnosis gives your dog a 50% chance of survival.

Treatment

The best treatment you can get only from a veterinarian. As in humans with cancer, lymphoma in dogs is treated with chemotherapy. Although only a small percentage of dogs are hospitalized due to side effects, nausea or infections may occur due to chemotherapy. Ask your veterinarian for more information about side effects and emergency hospitalization. If your dog is in the later stages of the disease, it is very likely that it will not respond to this type of treatment. Fatty acids, like those found in fish oil, can help slow the growth and spread of cancerous tumors, and also prevent weight loss and muscle atrophy.

Studies have shown that dogs rarely die from cancer. They usually die of liver or kidney failure. These conditions are the side effects of cancer and can be avoided by controlling the feeding of the animal in most cases.

Prognosis

The treatment of lymphoma in dogs can be effective in most cases. However, this is one of the diseases that will likely recur in the future. A second treatment with chemotherapy can be given, but the effect will last even less than the last. Although the disease seems curable it keeps coming back. You should also know that this chemotherapy treatment protocol can be very costly. No matter how many treatments you administer to your pet if the disease continues to return your dog can pass away in a few years after the diagnosis.

If you have doubts and think that your dog might have this deadly disease called lymphoma do not hesitate and visit immediately a veterinarian for a complete diagnosis.