My cat's lymph nodes are swollen, but he's active. What's wrong?

Swollen glands can be due to a number of things, sometimes they are reacting to an infection, sometimes they swell for no real reason and sometimes it is a cancer called lymphoma. In Albert's case I would not be overly worried as he is so young, but I would definitely have him checked as the vet will know better how much swrlling is significant. He may have an infection that needs treated or the vet may want to sample the lump to get a definite diagnosis.

Lymph nodes can become enlarged because they are draining an infection or inflammatory part of the body, because the lymphatic flow is being disrupted, or because of cancer in the nodes. I would discuss additional diagnostics with your vet, which may vary depending on which lymph nodes are involved. Aspiration of the affected lymph nodes is easy and can often be done without sedation. The samples are sent to a pathologist for review. X-rays of the chest and or abdomen may be indicated. Ultrasound of the abdomen may be needed. Dental cleaning and removal of diseased teeth if the lymph nodes are near the head.

I would definitely have a biopsy done on Bosley's lymph nodes. but I'm not sure why a blood test wasn't run first. In my opinion, that would be a logical step, but because I can't see him in person, the vet treating him would be the best to make the diagnostic test decisions. The vet may be concerned about the possibility of cancer such as lymphoma since this has been a long time for a lymph node to be enlarged due to infection. In addition, with an infection, you would expect the lymph node enlargement to be localized, not in both the neck and back legs. If he had a systemic infection causing multiple lymph nodes throughout his body to be enlarged, I would expect to see physical symptoms of the infection. . While cancer is not common in young cats, it can happen. I would speak to your vet to see if a blood test can be done first, or at least ask their reasoning as to why they want to do the biopsy. I hope this helps!

I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about getting an aspirate of Tiny's lymph nodes. My concern when all the peripheral lymph nodes are enlarged this can be lymphoma. If the aspirate is definitive then ideally you would start treatment as soon as possible. The aspirate can tell you if it is lymphoma or reactive from inflammation or infection. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi. An enlarged lymph node usually is due to infection or inflammation in the area that lymph node drains. The blood and mucous in stool may or may not be related. I would recommend seeing your veterinarian on monday. They will do an exam, a fecal test, an oral exam, and possibly a sample of that lymph node. I would also recommend a feline FELV and FIV test. Good luck

Swollen lymphnodes can be reactive, meaning that they are responding to infection or inflammation somewhere. They can also be swollen due to lymphnod cancer (lymphoma), or metastatic cancer from somewhere else. I would encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian soon. They may consider doing a needle aspirate to help diagnose if there is anything concerning or not. Best of luck and I hope Rusty does well. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

If witchy does have enlarged lymph nodes I would recommend doing a fine needle aspirate of the lymph node. This is where a vet places a small needle into the lymph node and looks at the cells under a microscope. This will tell you why the lymph node is enlarged. The most common causes are viral, bacterial, fungal, inflammation or cancer. I would not recommend using systemic strong anti-fungals without a diagnosis of fungal disease due to the affect on the liver. Hopefully between blood work ,x-rays and aspirate you can get a better idea of why Witchy is having big lymph nodes and start proper treatment.