Lymphoma Caner In Dogs | Timber Dog Cancer

Lymphoma

Lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system.  The lymphatic system is part of the immune system.  It is one of the most common types of dog cancer; between 7 – 25% of all dog cancers are lymphoma.  There are certain breeds of dogs that seem more prone to getting lymphoma: boxers, golden retrievers, St. Bernards, Scottish terriers, Airedale, Labrador retrievers, rottweilers, bulldogs and bassett hounds.

Symptoms

Dogs that have lymphoma may or may not show any symptoms.  Some typical symptoms are: Enlarged lymph nodes, loss of appetite, lethargy, weight loss, swelling of the legs and face, increased thirst or urination.

Your veterinarian can do a biopsy of sample taken from the affected lymph node.  A proper diagnosis can then be given.

Causes

The cause of lymphoma is not entirely known.  There have been reports in pets and humans that the herbicide 2,4-D can cause lymphoma.  Here is a more detailed article on the herbicide http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/2,4-D.pdf It is best not to use pesticides, herbicides etc in your yard or in your home if you have pets.  There are many non-toxic compounds that you can use in your yard that will be safe for you and your dog. Vinegar is one good example.  I use vinegar as a weed killer and fabric softener.  It works great.  It does require a little more work but I think it is well worth the extra efforts.

Diet

There is a diet that has been used for dogs with cancer.  It has worked well with dogs that have lymphoma.  You can get more details on the diet by getting the free booklet or a brief overview on the dog cancer diet here.  The basics of the diet is it “starves” the cancer but helps keep your dog healthy and keep his weight up.

Dogs with cancer will often times loose weight.  The cancer is using the nutrition to grow and spread while your dog is not getting the nutrition he needs to stay strong.  Cancer does not utilize fat to grow very well.   Cancer uses carbohydrates to grow and spread.  A diet that is low in carbohydrates and higher in fat has been shown to help dogs with cancer.  You can learn more about the diet and receipes by getting the free booklet.

Therapy

Chemotherapy has been shown to help dogs with lymphoma go into remission.  Dogs can have their life extended from 1 to 3 years.  There is a new vaccine that has shown great promise to further extend a dogs life.  The vaccine, still in trials, is used along with chemotherapy treatments.  The vaccine was administered to dogs that were in clinical remission following chemotherapy.  The dogs were given the vaccine three times.

It appears that dogs will still come down with lymphoma at the same rate, dogs that were vaccinated and dogs that were not vaccinated, but with the second treatment of chemotherapy the dogs that were vaccinated had a very high rate of survival compared to only 7% survival of the dogs that were not vaccinated.  It appears the vaccine works synergistically with the chemotherapy.

The vaccine is used to help boost the dog’s immune system so it can fight lymphoma better.  The vaccine is given 3 weeks apart.  The researchers will be doing more trials to see if more vaccine shots (instead of 3 shots they will be trying more shots) can help the dogs stay in remission and not have a relapse in the first place.

We hope this treatment will be reasonably priced.  Chemotherapy is an expensive treatment with many people just not able to afford the treatment.  At least with the vaccine the dog’s chances of long-term survival are greatly increased.

We do hope a better more cost effective alternative to chemotherapy can be found.  Many dog insurance do not cover chemotherapy treatments.  These treatments can be very expensive.  You may want to talk with your veterinarian and see if they cannot come up with a better price for the treatments.  A diet that is healthy, exercise and regular checkups can go a long way to helping keep your dog healthy but there are options if your dog does get sick or get cancer.