My puppy has swollen lymph nodes. What diet for potential cancer?

Cancer would be extremely unlikely in this age group. Swollen lymph nodes are common in puppies as their immune system is still developing and reacting to many new stimuli, continued monitoring for 3-4weeks is advised. Heart murmurs are also quite common in growing pups and most are completely innocent and require monitoring to see if they disappear

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend initiating a bland diet as outlined below. If you think his lymph nodes are swollen, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. The lymph nodes may be enlarge due to infection and it would best to have Gene looked at sooner rather than later. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Lymph nodes that are swollen throughout the body like that is very concerning. I would be very worried about lymphoma. Lymphoma can respond well to some medications, and better if caught early. I would recommend having the nodes sampled to see if they are cancer. Hopefully they are just reactive, but if that is the case you will need to find out what they are reacting too, and treat the infection, as the antibiotic used previously has not worked. Best of luck with Kim.

Swollen lymph nodes can be a sign of cancer, tick borne diseases, or infections. The swollen nodes will not go back to normal until the underlying cause is addressed. I'd recommend seeing a veterinarian - a test for tick disease or sampling the lymph node with a needle might be recommended.

Not necessarily as other disease processes can cause lymph node swelling. Every case is different and some dogs have mild lymphadenoapthy at diagnosis and others have significant lymphadenopathy. In general however reactive lymphadenopathy is usually more mild. If lymphadenopathy is suspected it is important to rule out other causes such as systemic diseases (tick borne, fungal, etc.) especially in a young dog in certain parts of the country (or with a travel history), allergic skin disease, etc. Ultimately needle sampling of the lymph nodes is an initial step but will not always diagnose all cases. There are also different types of lymphoma with different presentations, prognoses, and treatment approach. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say for sure what the cause is based on your description. Lymph nodes can become enlarged due to inflammation, infection or cancer. Seeing that Diamond is a boxer breed, is 7 years old, losing weight and has enlarged lymph nodes leads me to suspect something such as Lymphoma (a type of cancer) as the cause. I would recommend having this further worked up with a veterinarian and have further testing done such as a needle aspirate and cytology to help determine what it could be. This test is not that expensive and can tell a veterinarian a lot about the area tested. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.