Does a head injury in dogs increase risk of brain tumors or glioma?

Some types of brain tumors can be hereditary, while others are not - just like in humans, the causes of cancer are very complex. I'm afraid we would need more specific information about what type of tumor she has, in order to give a better answer.

I can appreciate an increase in size/swelling above the right eye in your photos here. A brain tumor itself normally wouldn't cause a visible swelling, as the brain is encased in the bony skull and a tumor would just cause increased pressure on the brain but not cause changes in the shape of the skull. That being said, we can have bony tumors of the skull that can change the skull shape. We can also have tumors of the soft tissue (skin, muscle, connective tissue) that could be seen on the head, and also tumors of the eye/muscles behind the eye. Your dog should definitely have an examination done by the vet. They may recommend an aspirate of the swelling to help tell what is causing it, an x-ray of the skull, and possibly more advanced imaging like a CT scan. This problem may be something easily fixed or may be more involved, but we won't know without further testing.

I'm so sorry to hear about you losing Shadow. There are breeds that are more prone to cancerous/malignant tumors, however there is no dog, unfortunately, that is immune to cancer. Cancer in animals, just like with people does not really have any rhyme or reason to it. In very general terms, larger breed dogs, such as Golden Retrievers are more prone to cancerous tumors. I wish there was a way that no animal or person got cancer. Hope this helps answer your question. Take care.

The concern is often more linked to a tumour of the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain. The tumour can be benign or malignant and what it does it is stimulating the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. If the pituitary tumour grows, it can cause neurological signs and therefore seizures too. The masses can be quite large , over 1 cm , and cause symptoms related to pressure to the brain structures nearby. If the seizures are not very frequent, it means the tumour rate of growth is not that fast, and this is a good sign in itself. However an MRI would be able to provide more information and allow monitoring, if possible.

No, that is not true at all. Central nervous tissue like brain and spinal cord cannot grow more after birth, even though plasticity and regeneration of nerves is possible. Plasticity means the formation of new connections between neurons. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

In my opinion, it is a long shot to diagnose brain tumor based on one episode like that. First of all, it should be established if the episode was a seizure or not (it could have been a muscle spasm or a bout of neck pain, maybe ?). I assume that neurological examination at the time of your visit at your vet was all ok. If Sookie has another similar episode, ideally you should record a video of that and play it back to your vet. It will help to establish if this is a seizure or not. Even if the episode was an epileptic seizure it is not necessary because of brain tumor. Problems like blood clot in the brain vessel, bleeding from a brain vessel, inflammation of the brain, infection or even diseases distant from the brain (for example diabetes, heart diseases) can result in seizure-like episodes. So, the best approach for confirmed seizure is to run blood test first to rule out diabetes, drop in blood glucose level, liver/kidney function etc. If the results are negative AND your dog is experiencing similar, frequent epsidoes you can consider MRI of the brain. Lastly, brain tumors do not respond well to chemotherapy/radiotherapy therefore this mode of treatment is usually not recommended. However, some brain tumors can be surgically removed.

Poor Red. I hate to hear this is happening. The tumor will not likely pop the eye out but it will make the eye more prone to popping out if there is any type of trauma. Pressure on the eye can be very uncomfortable so monitor him very closely and keep the veterinarian updated to any changes or progression. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.