Prognosis and Treatment of Dog Lymphoma - Depending on the Disease Stage

In some cases, they will also have to do a needle aspiration on the lymph node. If you want to look for other types of cancer, you can use the analysis of blood, ultrasounds, biopsy of the bone marrow and x-rays to reveal their location. If you want to know the prognosis and the treatment, you first need to know at which stage is the disease.

In the beginning, only a small number of cells are affected in lymphoma cases and detecting the cause is not possible. At this point, you should just treat it. You should focus on a good quality life with long survival target when you do that. If the disease is detected from the beginning, there is a good chance that he will recover and the cancer will not show up again. About half of the dogs that have lymphoma can get into remission. If the dog isn't treated, he will live around two months from the moment he is diagnosed.

Treating your dog should be done with the help of a veterinarian oncologist, so that the treatment is as effective as possible. This treatment consists of vincristine, cyclophosphamide, L-asparaginase, prednisone and doxorubicin. In some cases, they will also use lomustine, chlorambucil, mitroxantrone and cytosine arabinoside during the treatment. In most cases, dogs will not suffer from complications during the chemotherapy treatment. However, in around 7% of the cases, the dogs will have to be hospitalized because of the side effects. But, as I said, in most cases they don't suffer during chemotherapy. Ask your vet for more information on this.

A lot of vets think that the main reason why dogs have lymphoma is their diet.

A lot of dogs are given grain based foods, but there is no dog race that eats grain when they're in the wild (not hyenas, dingos, coyotes, wolves). Since their body is not designed to produce the needed enzymes for grain, they should be fed mainly meat. Grain based diets for carnivores can lead to different health problems, cancer being one of them.

When you treat a dog that has lymphoma, diet is one aspect that is important and shouldn't be avoided. Cancer is rarely the cause of death in dogs. In most cases they will die because of kidney or liver failure, which are side effects of cancer. Fortunately, these side effects can be avoided if the diet is done right. You can add amino acid arginine and fish oil to the diet of a dog to encourage the production of fatty acids in the body of the dog. These fatty acids seem to have a lot of success in fighting the cancer.

The price of the food is not an indication on the quality.

You can give the dog cottage cheese, canned sardines (very good), meats and eggs to their diet. You need food with higher fat content. While some people say that a raw diet is better, others think that the food should be cooked. The fat contained in the food is more important than that. Meat should be the basis of the dog's diet.

While you can treat lymphoma in dogs easily, it will return in many cases. You can use fish oil to try to prevent that from happening. It can also prevent muscle waste and weight loss. The immune responses can be improved with the help of arginine supplements.

This article is not meant to replace the advice of a veterinarian. Talk everything there is to discuss with your vet.

Want to learn more about dog lymphoma? On CanineLymphoma.Net you can find articles about canine lymphoma dealing with the main canine lymphoma symptoms and about the effects of chemotherapy on dogs.

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Lymphoma In Dogs - The Stage Of The Disease Is Important To Treatment And Prognosis

There are many types of cancer with many possible causes, and there are important genetic factors as well. With lymphoma in dogs, a biopsy of affected lymph nodes or organs confirms the diagnosis. A needle aspiration of an affected lymph node may also be necessary. X-rays, ultrasound, blood analysis, and bone marrow biopsy can reveal other locations of the cancer. The stage of the disease is important to treatment and prognosis.

Lymphoma in dogs starts with one or a small group of cells that have "gone wrong". There is no way to verify cause. It is best to concentrate on treatment. Focus on a realistic outcome which is longest possible survival with good quality life. If lymphoma in dogs is diagnosed early, immune modulation usually assures the greatest chance of remission, and the best chance the cancer does not reoccur. About 50% of dogs with lymphoma can be put into remission; untreated, average life expectancy is about 2 months from the time of diagnosis.

Ask your veterinarian for a referral.

If your dog could speak, it would tell you of the hope that you will open your mind to what decades of research and clinical experience has taught us about chemotherapy. It is crucial to work with a veterinarian oncologist to achieve maximum effectiveness in your canine's treatment! Treatment for dogs with lymphoma is a combination of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, L-asparaginase, doxorubicin, and diet. Other chemotherapy drugs such as chlorambucil, lomustine, cytosine arabinoside, and mitoxantrone are sometimes used. With chemotherapy for lymphoma, nausea or infections are possibilities but most dogs do not experience any such complications. Only 7% of patients require hospitalization due to side effects. The bottom line here is to know that dogs rarely get sick from chemotherapy. The information on this is changing daily so allow a specialist to present you with all the options.

Many experts believe diet is the main reason for lymphoma in dogs.

Many dogs are fed a diet that is based mostly around grain. However, none of the dog family feeds on grains in the wild -- not wolves, coyotes, dingos, or hyenas, none of them. Dogs do not have the necessary enzymes to digest or utilize grain in their diet. They are basically carnivores. When you feed a carnivore a diet based on grain, they will develop various immune dysfunctions, including cancer.

Diet is an important part in treating a dog with lymphoma. In fact, dogs rarely die of cancer. They usually succumb to secondary liver or kidney failure. These are cancer side effects that can usually be avoided by controlling the diet. Fish oil and the amino acid arginine, when added to the diet, help produce higher blood levels of two fatty acids called C20:5 and C22:6 in dogs with lymphoma. These two fatty acids seem particularly effective in fighting the disease, increasing survival time, increasing remission periods, and increasing period of time before disease reoccurred.

Just because the food is expensive, do not assume it is good.

Add canned sardines (excellent source), cottage cheese, eggs and just about any kind of meat such as hamburger or ground turkey. High fat content is good. Some veterinarians advocate a raw diet, while some say it should be cooked. More important than cooked or raw is the amount of animal-based protein and fats. Make sure the first ingredient is meat. If the first ingredient is corn meal, rice, or wheat, choose another brand.

Dogs with lymphoma are easily treated but, as with humans, their cancer tends to return. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, like those found in fish oil, may help prevent the growth and spread of cancer tumors, and may help prevent weight loss and muscle wasting. Arginine supplements have been reported to improve immune responses, and might help the body fight cancer.

The information provided here is not intended to substitute for the advice of a professional. Discuss all forms of treatment with your veterinarian.

We have existed as a company since 1985, but it was a love of dogs, the dogs that have been a part of our life, and the passing of one dog in particular, Rusty, that inspired the creation of http://www.CalloftheDog.com and http://www.CalloftheDogShop.com created to provide the things your dogs and pets need. Visit us for great information and quality dog supplies! Be sure to see our About Us page as well.

The two sites are dedicated to the dogs we have loved so deeply, and who have given us so much love in return. Purebreds and mixed breeds, but mostly rescues in need of a home. We educated them, but each one has had something to teach us in exchange.

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