My dog has lymphoma. Why are his eyes turning orange or yellow?

Hello. If you believe Lobo's scleras are yellow tinged, you really need to make an appointment with your veterinarian for blood work. Yellow scleras can be an indication of jaundice, so you want to get this checked out as soon as possible. I hope all is well with Lobo & thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

What you are seeing in Zane's left eye may be something that we call Horner's Syndrome. I am attaching more information on Horner's Syndrome below. https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951369 While Horner's syndrome does not pain or problems with vision, the underlying problem that causes Horner's syndrome may require treatment. I am concerned that Zane has swollen lymph nodes, and would recommend having your veterinarian examine him ASAP to determine what might be going on with him. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so sorry for your loss. Lymphoma is a terrible cancer for people & animals. This is a very complicated question with no easy answer. Lymphoma is a rapidly growing malignancy that can go & grow anywhere there is lymph tissue. This is virtually every tissue in the body. Eventually, the cancer will infiltrate the tissue to such an extent that the organ fails (often this is bone marrow or the liver). As the patient loses appetite, begins to vomit, & develop diarrhea, he will continue to weaken, & eventually dies. Sometimes we can put a patient in remission for a while with chemotherapy, but then the tumor cells become resistant to the drugs, & death ensues. This is a bit simplistic, but it is actually the mechanism by which all cancers take over, kill normal cells eventually killing the host. It is a terrible disease.

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a common question I encounter as I only see cancer patients and lymphoma is very common in my practice. Prednisone is good for lymphoma though as you are noticing, lymphoma will eventually progress, as noted by peripheral lymph node enlargement. Normally, lymphoma will not cause clinical signs for some time until it enters more of the end stage. Lymphoma is not typically a painful disease and it is more of a debilitating disease. For this reason, what you will notice at the end is clinical signs such as lethargy, decreased appetite and Brandi just not being interested in the normal things that she enjoys. The median survival time of dogs with multicentric lymphoma just on prednisone is about 2 to 2 and 1/2 months. Usually I tell my clients that the time to consider humane euthanasia is when they are not doing 3 out of their 5 favorite things. Good luck with your girl!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be due to something like an infectious conjunctivitis for example. I recommend that you have them evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They may be able to check for this and other possibilities and treat accordingly with anti-microbial medications. Good luck and have a great day!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Thunderbolt has lymphoma but I'm happy he has been doing fairly well with his prednisone. It is possible that this area could be his lymph node which has swollen/grown significantly in size. This can happen pretty acutely, over the course of several hours to a day. This would suggest that his lymphoma is progressive, and his body may not be responding to the prednisone any longer. There are other chemotherapeutic options that may benefit Thunderbolt. I worry that a mass on his neck could continue to grow and possible cause difficulty breathing or swallowing. I recommend having Thunderbolt evaluated by your veterinarian to determine what the swelling is exactly (lymph node vs. mass vs. abscess, etc), and discuss other treatment options. I hope this is helpful!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Lymphoma is in fact a cancer. This is typically treated with chemotherapy. There are many chemotherapy options that can be considered such as a multi agent protocol called CHOP. There are other chemotherapeutic medications that can be considered depending on what your veterinarian has available. In general, chemotherapy is well-tolerated in dogs when done appropriately. If not able to proceed with chemotherapy, there are other options like prednisone therapy alone which in itself can help dogs with lymphoma though for a very short amount of time. The prognosis with chemotherapy varies and depends on the type of lymphoma he has (B-cell vs. T-cell) and the treatment chosen. The prognosis varies between 6 to 12 months with chemotherapy and about 2 months on just prednisone. Please feel free to request a consultation with me if you have more specific questions. Good luck!