My dog's vomiting, losing weight, has a liver nodule. Cancer or IBD?

The symptoms do overlap for all of these disorders. Most have vomiting and diarrhea and the appetite is variable. In advanced cancer or gastritis they are anorexic but early on can still have an appetite. An ultrasound is a good way to distinguish cancer and IBD from gastritis though. However IBD and cancer have thickened intestines and are hard to distinguish unless there is an intestinal biopsy obtained.

An enlarged liver is unfortunately one of the common side effects of Cushing's disease so it is not unusual that Ginger's liver appeared enlarged. Her urine concentration is very low (normal for a dog is 1.040) but again, this can be attributed to her Cushing's disease as well (because she is probably drinking more water and therefore causing her urine to be more dilute). In Ginger's case I would be worried about Diabetes and possibly cancer as well. I know it can be frustrating (and expensive) to keep doing more tests, especially when you aren't getting clear answers as to what is going on. I would recommend talking to your vet about costs/additional testing versus palliative care/keeping her comfortable for the time being. It may also be worth beginning treatment for her Cushing's disease because it could help allieviate some of her symptoms. Good luck. Please let us know if you have more questions/concerns.

I am so sorry to hear about Buddy. You do not mention Buddy’s age but a few things could be going on. Foreign body obstruction is possible in any dog that is vomiting profusely. (Especially if he is known to chew or eat things he shouldn’t.) This can also be an infection like parvo or leptospirosis. Kidney or liver disease, and, as you mentioned cancer (possible melanoma or hemangiosarcoma by appearance) is possible. I strongly encourage you to see your vet as soon as possible. S/he will recommend bloodwork and/or X-rays to help narrow down which of the above might be causing the problem. The skin lesion may be totally unrelated to why Buddy is vomiting, dehydrated, etc. Best of luck to you and Buddy!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Betty Lou. A lot of dogs develop splenic masses and many of them are not cancerous. There is no way to know by looking at the spleen. It needs be removed and submitted to the laboratory for a pathologist to evaluate microscopically. The same holds true for the liver. Just because a lesion is seen on the liver in surgery does not mean cancer has spread from the spleen. It is best in this case to remove the spleen and biopsy any abnormality in the liver. You may consider having an abdominal ultrasound performed prior to surgery by a board certified radiologist. This will allow a full evaluation of the abdomen and give you a better idea of what to expect in surgery. I hope this information helps. Good luck to you and Betty Lou!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, especially IBD and GI lymphoma. Usually GI lymphoma doesn't respond well or for long if treated as IBD. Dogs in kidney failure do not do well usually. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Patsy. Has she had an abdominal ultrasound yet? I will typically recommend this as well as a gastrointestinal specific blood panel prior to biopsies. I assess cobalamin and folate levels as well pancreatic values such as TLI and PLI. These results can help to guide treatment. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately, cancer is not uncommon in older dogs and can cause weight loss. Weight loss can also be caused by conditions such as IBD, diabetes, or be a normal part of the aging process. I recommend having Milo seen by a vet for blood work and x-rays to check if he has any masses and make sure his organs are functioning normally. I hope all is well with Milo!