If it's caught soon enough, your dog's cancer can be treated fairly successfully, giving you additional years with your beloved companion. But the key to catching cancer early enough is monitoring your dog for symptoms at home and being proactive about getting the right tests---even when the symptoms seem mild. If you have a close relationship with both your dog and your vet, you will be able to detect cancer early.
Instructions
Checking for Cancer Symptoms at Home
Know your dog's normal and healthy behavior well so you can immediately notice any behavioral changes. Two major changes that can signal cancer are general lethargy and refusing to participate in previously enjoyed activities.
Check your dog carefully for any lumps on a regular basis. Though not all lumps are cancerous, and not all cancer produces lumps that you can actually feel, and lumps you find on your dog have the potential to be cancerous.
Look for sores that are not healing. A dog's sores should start visibly healing within 24 hours; if this doesn't happen even when your dog isn't scratching or chewing them, you need to have the sores examined.
Monitor your dog's food and water intake. A dog with cancer often eats and drinks less than a healthy dog, and may even find it difficult to chew or swallow. Even if your dog doesn't have cancer, these are signs that something is wrong.
Notice if your dog has any difficulty defecating, urinating or breathing. Difficulty in any of these things can indicate cancer and always indicates a health problem.
Schedule a visit to the vet if you notice any of these symptoms, and be ready to share your observations with your vet.
Getting Tests for Cancer at the Vet
Get your dog an initial physical exam. During the exam, your vet will take your dog's vitals and will investigate any of the symptoms that you've noticed. Your vet may recommend additional tests if there is a chance that your dog has cancer.
Request blood and urine tests to see if cancerous cells are present in either of these body fluids. Though not all cancers show up in blood or urine, these are fairly noninvasive methods of testing for some cancers.
Obtain an x-ray or an ultrasound if your vet believes your dog may have internal tumors. Either of these procedures will allow your vet to see tumors within your dog's body, though the ultrasound gives a more complete picture.
Use a CT or CAT (computed axial tomographic) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan to get a better image of the potential tumor, especially if the diagnosis isn't clear from the previous tests. With either of these more expensive methods, you can gain information that is otherwise available only through invasive methods.
Ask your vet about cytology, which is a group of cells taken from your dog with a need and examined. Though it can indicate that a tumor is malignant if the sample works, some samples contain only blood from which a diagnosis can't be made.
Opt for surgical biopsy when you or your vet has located a tumor and you want a definitive answer about whether your dog has cancer. This is the most accurate method of diagnosis, but is it also the most invasive.