My dog has swollen lymph nodes and low blood counts. What's wrong?

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that Daisy has been feeling so poorly. It is very concerning that she is experiencing difficulty breathing with wheezing, and weight loss. Difficulty breathing indicates that she is already in some degree pain with a diminished quality of life. Given her enlarged lymph nodes, weight loss, and respiratory changes, lymphoma would be my primary concern. This would be diagnosed by fine needle aspirates that use a needle to draw a few cells out of her lymph nodes for microscopic evaluation. However, even if you opt not to pursue further testing (which is understandable), I still strongly recommend taking Daisy to her vet for a physical exam and thorough discussion of her current quality of life. It may be in Daisy's best interest to consider euthanasia to alleviate her suffering. I realize that this is never an easy decision to make, but I hope that an open discussion with her vet may provide some clarity. I'm sorry that you and Daisy are going through this situation.

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.

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.

I'm sorry Vaida has lymphoma. There is a condition known as cachexia when a dog has cancer where they lose muscle mass and weight even if they eat enough. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done for it, and nothing that can help her gain weight. I don't know how much time she has left or what stage of cancer she is in without seeing her in person, but cachexia is not a good sign. I'd start marking on a calendar when she has good days and bad days, and when the bad days outweigh the good days, it would be time to consider letting her go. I hope this helps during this tough time.

It looks like Jasmine may have a bone marrow cancer. The prognosis for this is generally poor and treatment may include expensive aggressive inpatient supportive care including possibly IV fluids, antibiotics, blood transfusions and forced nutritional support. Chemotherapy is the classic treatment for most types of bone marrow cancers. I recommend taking her to an oncology (Cancer) specialist at a specialty/referral hospital for a consult/workup to determine options and to discuss endpoints for humane euthanasia. Best wishes-

I would await her biopsy results (preliminary cytology results should be available within 72hours) before embarking on such as radical diet change in a puppy as many 'cancer' diets are designed to starve the tumour of easily available energy (as well as being enriched with antioxidants etc) which is not necessarily an ideal diet for such a young puppy and tumours are quite rare although not impossible in this age group. In the rare event of a positive result. referral to a specialist oncologist would be recommended with such a young dog

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.