My dog has swollen glands. Should I get a second opinion on cancer?

I'm sorry Shiloh isn't doing well! Unfortunately cancer can be common in senior dogs, and I'm not surprised your vet suspects lymphoma. Without seeing her in person, I can't say for certain what is her diagnosis, so I recommend taking her into another vet for a second opinion. Best of luck.

I would recommend removal or at least a biopsy of the lymphnodes (where a little piece of the lymph node is removed). This can be done under geeneral anesthesia, which nowadays is very safe or, if your dog is very quiet, may be done under sedation and a local anesthesia (I would prefer the general anesthesia though). This could indeed be lymphoma or it could be reactive lymph nodes, swelling because they are filtering out bacteria and other material that the body does not deem healthy. Should it be lymphoma and you do not want chemotherapy , your dog can indeed be made comfortable with steroids. Rather than hoping and guessing whether it is lymphoma or not, the biopsy, whether done by taking the whole lymphnode or just part of it, will give you a diagnosis and then you can deal with the disease.

If it has come back after the initial course of treatment, I would see if your vet can perform a fine needle aspirate and send it out for cytology review with a pathologist. This will help determine if the lymph node in question is suspicious for lymphoma or not. Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any further questions / concerns. I am also available via consultation.

Sometimes there are diseases like lymphoma where there are characteristic symptoms that the vet just knows are caused by that disease. But I recommend getting a fine needle aspirate of Luna's lymph nodes to be sure.

Yes! If there is no improvement then he definitely needs a recheck. They can always aspirate or biopsy a sample of that growth to determine if it is a lymph node or a salivary gland because it may need a surgery ir simply stronger antibiotics. Blood work may not be a bad idea either to make sure there isn't a systemic infection.

Hello, thank you for your question about Boomer. Based on the symptoms and the tests that have been done so far I agree with your veterinarian's concerns. The two most common causes of enlarged glands in dogs are lymphoma and systemic infection. Since the glands change size an infection is still possible. It could be that the initial antibiotic did not treat the type of infection that Boomer has. Alternatively, it is also possible that Boomer could have lymphoma, and the aspiration of cells could have missed the abnormal portion of the gland. In terms of the next options for testing/treatment you could try starting Boomer on a different type of antibiotic to treat potential infection. Alternatively, I would consider biopsying one of the enlarged glands as this provides a larger piece for the lab to review. Hope this helps, good luck!

The FNA was reported as "suggestive" not diagnostic - this would indicate some evidence of cell changes such as rapid/disorganised growth or poorly defined cells due to severe inflammation but not definitively cancerous. This is not uncommon as an FNA only looks at a small amount of loose cells and can often give inconclusive results. The rapid reduction in signs is positive that it may have been a benign, inflammatory process but unfortunately many tumours are also inflamed by their nature and do sometimes respond temporarily to medication! I would continue to monitor closely for any relapse as a precaution