Quick tumor diagnosis of a dogTumors that form on the skin or mouth are a lot easier to detect than those that are inside the body. Make sure to check your dog each every day by rubbing your hands through the dog's coat to feel any abnormalities or lumps. Superficial cancers tend to get swollen, bleed and increase in size very quickly. Female dogs, six years and over that have not been spayed or had babies tend to get tumors quite frequently, whereas female dogs that have been spayed before the first time they go into heat, don't usually have this problem. About half of the mammary tumors are benign, but it's very important to let the veterinarian check as soon as possible to insure that it is benign, and if it were malignant, to give the dog the necessary treatment immediately. If a malignant tumor were not detected, or if the dog does not get the necessary treatment, new tumors would show up, denominated as secondary tumors, in organs like the liver and the lungs. These types of tumors are a lot more difficult to treat and the veterinarian will probably talk to you to help you decide what is better for the dog; if to let the tumor take its natural course, or if to put the dog down to end its suffering. Dog Tumor Questions and Answers Q: Is it possible for a dog to get leukemia? A: Yes it is. There are some tumors in the white cells that cause a lot of damage. One of the symptoms is fever. In order to diagnose if a dog has leukemia or not, the veterinarian needs to get a blood sample and do a biopsy of the lymphatic nodes. Unfortunately though, most cases are incurable. |