Dog cancer is now the #1 cause of death among dogs today. What do you do when you find a lump on your dog? The obvious answer is to make an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible. Unfortunately, what often happens is that dog parents may feel a lump or bump on their dog and not take any action. They just hope that it goes away.
Some vets are to blame for this as well; they don’t talk to pet parents about lumps and cancer in the same way they talk about parvo and heartworms. Perhaps it’s because bringing up cancer in a conversation can upset their clients. Or it may be that there hasn’t been a marketing push for “dog cancer” like there has for rabies and lyme disease and the appropriate vaccinations.
Since we are able to prevent the things I just mentioned from happening to our dogs, pharmaceutical firms make a point to help spread the word about them. Get vaccinated! Get your dog tested for Lyme disease! So why not protect a dog from cancer in the same way? Why should a dog parent wonder what to do if a they feel a lump on their dog? Obviously, if a woman felt a lump in her breast, she would get it checked out because there’s been enough press on breast cancer that finding something unfamiliar would raise a red flag. But in vet medicine, there’s a psychological disconnect between lumps and bumps in dogs and cancer, despite the statistical data.
Many times, misdiagnoses occur and cancer is caught only after it has spread and gotten worse. It’s not uncommon for a vet to just “feel” the lump and diagnose it as a harmless fatty tumor. Had that vet taken the time to do an aspiration or get a biopsy, the cancer could have been treated more successfully much sooner.
When you feel a lump, take your dog to the vet.
It all comes down to this: remember the dog cancer stats. According to the Dog Cancer Foundation, one in three dogs will contract cancer during their lifetime, and this number increases to one in two if the dog is more than ten years old.
So what should you do if you find a lump on your dog? Go to your vet and get it checked! I cannot stress this enough. When you feel or see something strange, make the appointment. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
