This could be a warning sign – and worth getting checked by a vet
A vet is urging pet owners to do a simple check every month. It takes just two minutes and could save their life.
Alex the vet aka Dr Alex Crow said: “If I had just two minutes a month to catch cancer in my own dog before they ever showed a single symptom, here is exactly what I would do.”
Calling it the dog “bean check” he said it’s all to do with the lymph nodes. Experts at PDSA explain: “Lymphoma is a cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. White blood cells protect the body against illness and disease.
“Lymphoma is most commonly found in the lymph nodes (glands), but it can also affect the liver, spleen, bone marrow, thymus, kidneys, digestive system, and skin.”
Alex says that they are “dotted around the body and act a bit like the body’s early warning system. .Warning something that “most owners don’t know”, he says sadly, “Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer in dogs”.
He shared: “In classic cases, the very first sign isn’t your dog being unwell, it’s the lymph nodes becoming hard and swollen – often weeks before they feel sick.”
Two-minute cancer check
Alex says owners should be looking for something that feels like small, soft beans. Any that feel hard, swollen, lumpy, irregular, or fixed to surrounding tissue can be a warning sign.
1. Look under the jaw
Slide your finger and thumb together along the angle of your dog’s jaw. You should be able to feel one small, bean-like node on each side.
2. In front of the shoulders
Sweep your hand down either side of the neck towards the shoulders. Just in front of the shoulder blade, press gently into the muscle, you may feel a lymph node on each side.
3. Behind the knee
On the back leg, feel behind the knee (opposite the kneecap). Check the soft hollow between the two large muscles – lymph nodes can be found here.
Alex says if you don’t find the last two, “don’t worry too much because that’s probably a good sign and it means they’re not obviously enlarged”.
However, “if you do think your dog’s lymph nodes are hard, irregular or they have changed since you last checked, don’t wait and get them looked out by your vet.
“Remember, soft beans are normal, hard beans are not. So two minutes a month, three places – that’s all it takes.
“Two minutes could buy you months of warning. And months are everything when it comes to cancer”.
Other signs to watch out for
Other symptoms of lymphoma in dogs, according to the PDSA, include:
- Lumps under the jaw or elsewhere on the body which are big, swollen lymph nodes
- Reduced appetite
- Drinking and peeing more than usual
- Low energy
- Weight loss
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea or constipation
- Pale gums
- Yellow gums (jaundice)
- Breathing problems and/or coughing
- Lumps in or under the skin or skin that is crusting, scaly, or ulcerated along with hair loss
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