Cancer - early recognition and diagnosis

     Just as with people, cancer is one of the leading causes of pet deaths. Also, as with people, early diagnosis of cancer gives us the best chance of curing or managing your pet's cancer. Early diagnosis requires recognition and close monitoring of many factors.   Some cancers show themselves as "lumps" that can be seen or detected by touch.  Other cancers are strictly internal and will require advanced diagnostic testing to detect.
     Pet owners should examine their pets for lumps at least once each month.  This will require a thorough visual and touching exam.  Run your hands over your pet's entire body surface.  Be sure to feel under the arm pits and groin areas.  Feel along the pet's underside for breast lumps.  Examine between the toes and the bottoms of the feet.  Look in and around the pet's ears.  Lift up the lips and examine around the gums.   Feel the glands under the pet's neck.   If you find any lumps, record the date, the location, the approximate size and any other characteristics you notice.   If the lump is painful or ulcerated, have your pet examined by the veterinarian an soon as possible.  Otherwise, schedule a veterinary appointment at your earliest convenience.  If you are unable to have your pet examined right away, recheck the lump(s) every few days and record any changes.  Be sure to bring this record to your pet's appointment.
     Some lumps are difficult to detect while others are very obvious.  This lump is of the obvious variety but demonstrates how massive they may become if left untreated.

     Fortunately, most of the lumps that pets develop are benign growths.   However, many lumps are cancerous growths.  This can usually be determined at the time of your pet's examination by aspiration and microscopic examination of cellular fluid removed from each and every lump.  No lump can be accurately diagnosed by "feel" alone.  Insist that each lump be properly examined.  Lumps that are suspected to be cancerous should be removed and biopsied as soon as possible.  The earlier this is done, the better chance your pet's cancer can be "cured".
     This is a photomicrograph taken of an aspiration sample from a innocent appearing smooth lump under the pet's skin.  The owner had been told previously by another veterinarian that the mass was just a "fatty lump" and not to worry.  The aspiration sample taken as part of our comprehensive exam confirms the lump to be a Grade 2 malignant Mast Cell Tumor.  Surgical removal of the mass was curative.

     This ugly "mass of lumps" around the pet's anus was caused by a type of cancer, perianal adenocarcinoma, that we were able to cure by surgery to remove the cancerous tissues and reconstruct the anus.

     Unfortunately, some of the cancerous growths cannot be cured by surgery alone.  These may require follow-up chemo-therapy, radiation therapy or one of the new cancer vaccines to offer your pet a better chance for long term good health.
     This lump in the pet's groin was found by the owner during a routine home exam.  The patient was seen as a Sunday emergency and the lump was diagnosed as Lymphosarcoma at the time of the exam.  This is a treatable cancer that usually responds well to chemo-therapy and the patient was referred to an oncology specialist to begin therapy.

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     Internal cancers, by their very nature of being "inside" the pet, are nearly impossible for the pet owner to find at an early stage of the disease.  Pet owners usually notice that the pet is "sick" with signs of weight loss, decreased appetite, vomiting, etc.  This usually means that the cancer is quite advanced and our chances of curing the pet are greatly reduced.  However, even these internal cancers can be caught in the early stages with proper diagnostic testing.   
     This x-ray shows a tumor in the lungs and on the spleen.  Neither of these cancerous tumors were evident on routine physical exam or indicated by blood testing.   X-rays were required to show the presence of the masses.  Both of these masses are potentially surgically removable.

     Cancerous tumors of the spleen are are very common in older dogs.  Early diagnosis is best done by ultrasound examination.   Ultrasound allows us to determine the size and shape of the mass and to better assess the possibility of surgical removal.   Ultrasound also allows us to biopsy an internal mass without the need for full exploratory surgery.   This ultrasound image is from the spleen of the dog in the previous x-ray.

     This x-ray shows the presence of a large cancerous mass in the abdomen of a captive Bobcat.  This mass was detected far beyond the point of being curable.

     At risk pets should be thoroughly examined and properly tested every 6 months.  These tests include a complete blood count (CBC), chemistry profile, urinalysis, chest x-rays, abdominal x-rays and abdominal ultrasound exams.   At risk patients include large breed dogs over 7 years of age, small breed dogs and cats over 10 years of age and certain breeds that are prone to cancer.
     If your pet falls into one of these categories, consider having a proper cancer screening scheduled for your pet at your earliest convenience.
     We at the Verandah Pet Hospital are committed to providing the very best medical care to help insure a long and healthy life for your pet.  To that end, we have developed discounted diagnostic cancer screening packages to help make proper medical testing for your pet more affordable.   Please call us to find out what we recommend for your pet.