Senior dog tumor, high ALP, lethargy, joint pain. Is it cancer?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unfortunately ALP is such a vague value and does not tell us much in the way of specific diseases that it is not a very useful value. In older dogs with a high ALP, this may be a normal finding not related to any disease. Cushing's disease can cause an elevated ALP along with many other causes. If the ALP continues to rise or does not resolve, I would consider testing for Cushing's disease and have an abdominal ultrasound performed. Bronchitis and a tooth infection generally would not cause an increase in this value in my experience. 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.

i am afraid these could be benign or malignant tumors. Since Nealy is an older dog, this is not uncommon. Lipomas (fatty tumors, usually benign, they can actually be hard) or mast cell tumors come to mind when looking at your photos. It could also be a very extreme allergic reaction to possibly a shampoo at the groomers. 1) do not panic 2) make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam. He will likely want to take a so-called FNA (Fine Needle Biopsy) where he takes a small amount of tissue through an injection needle, puts this on a glass plate and looks at it under the microscope. This will give your vet an idea what he is dealing with. He may also send this material to a lab to be examined. Once you and dyour veterinarian know what type of mass you are dealing with , you can discuss treatment plans.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. The ALP is quite high but this also depends on their reference ranges there. The symptoms you are describing could be consistent with a condition called hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's disease) which is when there is excessive steroid production in the body due to a pituitary tumor or adrenal gland mass. There is treatment for the disease but it needs to be confirmed first. If you want to know for sure, testing such as an ACTH or low dose dexamethasone test should be performed. You can try using melatonin and flaxseed lignans to treat cushings disease naturally. I have had some cases respond to this treatment but not 100%. Also, I see that cre is 18. If this is creatinine, this is very high. Again, this depends on the machines reference range, calibration and unit of measure. Creatinine elevates typically with renal disease, which could also explain the increased thirst. If you attach a picture and repost to the forum here, it may help us better guide you. I hope this helps! You can visit a website called lignansforlife.net and order the holistic medications that I spoke of earlier. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I'm sorry to hear about Chi Chi's recent issues. Vomiting and an anal gland abscess/rupture may cause some changes on the blood panel, but not typically ALP. When you have a significantly elevated ALP and normal ALT it is highly suggestive of Cushing's disease. Cushing's can be diagnosed with a few different tests, these tests involve taking blood, injecting a substance then taking blood again to see the body's ability to respond. I think it would be wise to have her checked. If she dies have Cushing's thankfully it is treatable with medication but this will be for life.

First, I would want to get to the bottom of why Zoe's ALP is so high. This may be indicative of a hormonal disease like Cushing's (overactive adrenal glands) and if she has any of the symptoms, such as increased thirst, increased urination, panting, increased appetite, or a big belly, it's worth it to consider ruling out Cushing's disease. An abdominal ultrasound may be helpful in this quest, as it will show changes to the liver as well. If you are sure the mass is benign, I'm not sure I would even remove it, unless it's bothering her. It's hard to tell based on the pictures and without something for scale, but it seems small and I would consider talking to your vet about whether it could be removed with just some local anesthetic instead of general anesthesia.

These lumps needs to be checked and analysed as there are many conditions and types of tumors that could look like that. take Cain to the vet, they will perform a fine needle aspiration on the growths and send it to the lab for analysis. when the result comes, the vet will advise what needs to be done according to the diagnosis.

I suppose it could be pain - some dogs just tend to be stoic at the vet hospital and will not react painfully. The fact that Ace doesn't want to jump and avoids being picked up makes me wonder if he might have some back pain. There are of course many other diseases that could cause lethargy with normal lab work - tick borne disease and splenic disease are two possibilities. You may want to recheck with your vet and see if they would recommend more tests, or you could ask about a trial of pain medication to see if Ace improves.