My senior boxer has a cough & losing weight. What's on her X-ray?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concerns. I am sorry to hear that Tara is not doing well. With her history of mast cell tumors, I am concerned that some, if not all, of the tumors you are seeing are mast cell tumors. If the veterinarian is advising euthanasia, it may be the most humane decision to make if she is suffering. If she is no longer eating, is getting sick and if the mass in the throat is causing complications I would take the veterinarian's recommendation into consideration. If she is still eating / drinking and seems to have a good quality of life, then I would maybe consider having the lumps removed and having her blood tested to see if there are any other abnormalities. I would also have chest x-rays taken to see if there is any spread of cancer into the lungs. 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.

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.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Coughing and bringing up clear liquid could be coughing up stuff instead of vomiting. This is important to try to differentiate. Coughing up liquid is more consistent with heart disease. The x-rays are difficult to read as the image transfer through is of poor quality and to really assess the lungs you need good quality images, however the heart does look a bit enlarged and the lungs do look a bit 'white'. I cannot assess the liver on these radiographs as you cannot see them. An enlarged heart, white lungs (fluid in the lungs), and an enlarged liver is consistent with both right and left sided heart disease. I recommend you return either to your vet, or another vet, and get a specialist ultrasound of the heart (an 'echo') to determine if heart medications are required. Your vet can also listen to the heart to see if a murmur is present in the heart, or 'crackles' are heard on the lungs. Heart disease is very serious and needs medications to manage. Without these Lily unfortunately will essentially drown in her own lungs, if heart disease is the problem. I suggest a recheck as soon as possible to get this figured out. Best of luck with Lily, I hope she feels better soon.

You might ask your veterinarian if the X-rays could be reviewed by a radiologist. While the resolution that the forum pictures allow makes them a bit difficult to interpret, I am concerned that the X-rays do not appear normal, and she may have a more serious underlying condition. It may be that she has some underlying heart disease, cancer, or an infection that requires a more broad spectrum of antibiotic. I agree the blood work you've attached is unremarkable. Was a CBC performed as well? Check back with your vet about a radiology review, and a recheck exam as well. A consult with a cardiologist may be recommended, depending on the radiologist's opinion. I'm sorry I don't have better news, or a solution to offer you to try at home, but I think you need to circle back and followup with your vet on this. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry for your loss! I do see pleural effusion (fluid) on the X-ray but I would also suspect a mass, which is likely the cause of the fluid. That could be why your Vet couldn't get any. Most of the white on the X-ray is likely the mass and only a small amount of fluid. I wish you the best!

First off, I'm so sorry Sasha died. Please accept my condolences for your loss. I wish I could be with you to explain this, but I will do my best. So her heart is completely obscured in this x-ray. You should be able to see the heart and both lungs in a normal x-ray. In this one, you can't see her heart or one of her lungs, that should be at the bottom of her chest. There is a big circular mass that the top right part of it touches the lung. I suspect that is the tumor. In addition, there are scattered white spots through the visible lung and in the chest. Those would be metastasis from the original tumor. Again, I'm so sorry and I hope this helps.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear that Kan is having a problem. This could be tricky but the next step would be a CT scan or MRI Scan. Not sure if ultrasound would be helpful but maybe. A fine needle biopsy or aspirate of the mass or a surgical biopsy would hopefully be able to obtain some tissue from the mass to determine what it is. I cannot make out much on the xrays due to the quality over the internet. Possibilities of a mass always fall into some broad categories including an abscess (pus filled pocket from infection), a granuloma or collection of inflammatory cells), a seroma of fluid fulled sac, a hematoma or pocket of blood, or a tumor which could be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Kan is very young to have a tumor but it must be on the differential list. What else could it be? A very congested lung lobe from multiple things, a lung lobe torsion where a lobe of the lung turns on it's axis and is out of place, an area of calcification, etc. I hope this helps and I hope Kan does really well for you. I'm hoping for the best for you two.