Pampered Dog Blog

Melanoma can affect your dogs mouth, skin, or toes. This is a very serious disease. Keep reading to learn all about melanoma in canines.

Signs

Dogs with melanoma usually develop lesions on their skin. If your dog’s mouth is affected by the cancer, he will experience numerous symptoms. They include bad breath, trouble swallowing, coughing, and drooling. This leads to loss of appetite and weight loss. Tumors may also develop on your dog’s toes.

Diagnosis

The vet will initially perform a physical exam. This is usually followed by analyzing a blood sample to get a complete blood count. The condition of the lungs may also need to be checked. This can be done with an x-ray. A biopsy of the tumor may also be taken.

Treatment

Your dog will have three treatment options when dealing with this disease. If your dog isn’t treated for this disease, it will spread quickly. Surgery involves removal of the tumor. If the whole tumor can’t be removed, only a part of it will be. Radiation and chemotherapy can be used to try to reduce the size of the tumor.

Prognosis

As mentioned earlier, melanoma in dogs is a very serious cancer. Most dogs have a poor prognosis. The best chance of survival is presented when only the skin is affected. Even with treatment, the tumor can still spread. It’s not uncommon for melanoma to recur sometime in the future despite sucessful treatment.

Your precious pet can be susceptible to illnesses in canines. Fortunately, dog-illnesses.com provides a wealth of information on a range of these conditions. So, stop by today to learn about a wide range of these conditions.

Grab useful info to house training dogs – welcome to your personal knowledge base.