Dog and Cat Cancer

Learning More About Cancer in Dogs and Cats

Unfortunately, many of our older canine and feline patients are diagnosed with cancer, ranging from lumps and bumps on the skin to bumps in the mouth and cancer in their internal organs. The types of cancers we often encounter in dogs include bone cancers, skin cancers, cancers right under the skin, liver and spleen cancers, and oral cancers.

Another type of cancer we often see in older female dogs is mammary gland carcinoma. This is almost eliminated if we spay early, before the first heat cycle. If the patient is unspayed or was spayed late, the risk of mammary gland carcinoma increases significantly.

Unfortunately, we don't know everything about what causes cancer. There are certain types of cancers that tend to be seen in certain species, like hemangiosarcomas in German Shepherd dogs or osteosarcomas in Bernese Mountain dogs.

Dr. Jacque Stahl

Signs of Cancer in Pets

When your pet has cancer, often there aren't any signs initially, which makes it hard to diagnose. If you feel a lump or bump under your pet's skin, be sure to mark where you felt it, and then make an appointment with your veterinarian to further assess what's going on. But often, there aren't any symptoms initially. Some symptoms of later-stage cancer can include not eating well, being lethargic or sleepy, not wanting to run around or exercise as much, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, and sometimes weight loss.

During a routine exam, we're always looking for and asking about any signs or symptoms that are abnormal in your pet. If we find something abnormal during the physical exam, we would want to follow up with diagnostics specific to that abnormality.

What to Do if Your Pet is Diagnosed with Cancer

If your pet is diagnosed with cancer, please sit down with your vet and ask any questions you might have. There are many different treatment options, palliative options, referral to oncology options, everything. Just sit down, and we can answer all your questions.

Depending on what type of cancer your pet is diagnosed with, we may want to refer you to a specialist because there are certain treatment options that we can't perform in general practice. However, we can perform surgery to hopefully remove and cure your pet of certain types of cancers. We offer many different treatment options here at the clinic as well.

Importance of Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer in Pets

While getting a cancer diagnosis for your pet can be really scary, if caught early, often during a routine physical exam, we can greatly increase the chance of a positive outcome. Treatment is not as scary as people think it is. Our pets are not going to lose their hair. The goal is to not have them feel sick, be vomiting, not eating—all the things that we associate with chemotherapy and radiation treatments in humans. The goal is to keep them happy, as healthy as possible, and feeling as good as possible.

Routine annual exams and diagnostics are the most important things you can do for the health of your pet. We often can diagnose things because we see the trends year after year. If we start to see some weight loss happening, or if we start to see some organ values going up on our blood work, then we get suspicious and follow up with more tests.

At Columbia Pike Animal Hospital and Emergency Center, your pet is our priority. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call our team at (703) 256-8414, or you can email us at [email protected]. Our staff would love to talk with you.

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