# Lymphoma



## Keisha

I've been doing a lot of reading up on cancer ever since my chihuahua Nuno was diagnosed with mast cell cancer a year ago. Tonight on one of the canine cancer sites I read that Lymphoma was much more common in German Shepherds and golden retrievers. This cancer with Nuno has been very heart breaking for me to deal with. It's something I'd like to try to avoid when I get my gsd. Obviously I know that cancer can occur in any dog (or person for that matter). I'm just curious if anyone knows if it more likely to occur in certain bloodlines? 

I know that you can only really stack the deck in your favor; I'm just curious if there are any trends, since the site made it sound like a big health concern for those two breeds in particular.


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## djpohn

I feel there is a link between lymphoma and vaccinations. My boy Rainer was the only pup I had that received all his puppy vaccinations and was diagnosed with lymphoma before his 4th birthday. He successfully achieved remission twice and lived over 2 years from diagnosis. Unfortunately he developed heart problems from one of the chemo drugs and died 1 week short of his 6th birthday.

In the words of my oncologist if you have to have one cancer, lymphoma is the most treatable. With chemo, dogs can maintain a high quality of life if all goes well. Unfortunately, only a few survive long term. If they respond well to chemo, you can keep trying for remissions if they come out. But all in all you are just on borrowed time. It was a long two years, but I wouldn't trade a minute of the extra time I was granted with my boy.

For me, I don't vaccinate my dogs and I feed a raw diet. I also do not use chemicals on my dogs either. Immune support is the most important thing. Also you should add a source of Omega 3 to your dogs diet as well as antioxidants. These help the body fight off the cancer cells before they become a problem. I also have filtered water in the house, which removes the chlorine and other things in the tap water.

Hemoangiosarcoma is a sneakier, more deadly form of cancer which strikes quickly and treatment only gives you a little time, if it is found in time. The only good thing about this form of cancer is the dogs usually die quickly, bleeding out and going into shock, so they don't suffer that long.


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## Keisha

Thanks GS Mom. I've read a lot and have found that mostly people think that outside sources cause lymphoma. I guess I just wondered if it was more common in GSD's if there was an element of genetics to it that I could look into avoiding with certain lines. I think having Nuno go through two surgeries in the last year or so has made me a little skittish in regards to cancer. I just hate it.









I've changed his diet, and have put a hold on all vaccinations that I normally would get every time they told me he needed them. I'm doing further research on them now. It makes me so angry to think that maybe it was something I did. I'll drive myself crazy wondering about whether it was bad breeding (he came from a byb), vaccines he didn't really need, or the crappy food that I fed him for most of his life, that caused him to have it.


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## LisaT

I think it's a combination of things. Sometimes you just can't beat genetics. Max's Dad died of cancer a bit after he was born - I wonder about the influence of that too. 

I think we can do things to cause cancer (food and vaccines, toxins, etc), and I think sometimes, no matter what you do, it still strikes. In those latter instances, I do think what you do can help influence outcome once the cancer is there in many circumstances. For example, Indy had a MCT for nearly 5 years, but with some luck, it stayed slow growing and relatively contained until it was discovered. I attribute that to the type of care that she gets.

For lymphoma in particular, I think tick diseases and blood borne diseases make a dog more susceptible. We have seen it too much on the boards, but we've also seen far too much Hemangiosarcoma. 

GSDs are known for having low IgA, a part of the immune system. I don't know how that affects cancer, but I do think it creates more immune system reactions, and also susceptibility to infections.


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## anetaze

> Originally Posted By: GS Mom
> For me, I don't vaccinate my dogs and I feed a raw diet. I also do not use chemicals on my dogs either. Immune support is the most important thing. Also you should add a source of Omega 3 to your dogs diet as well as antioxidants.


Hi GS Mom,

I was wondering if you can share what antioxidants and immune support products you use.

I too feed raw, don't want to vacc (though breeder already did 1 set), give Omega 3, but was wondering what else can be beneficial that I am perhaps missing.

Thank you and happy holidays!

Aneta


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## LisaT

aneta, have you read the Cancer sticky in Health? There might be some useful things in there.


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## amandak.tu32

Keisha said:


> I've been doing a lot of reading up on cancer ever since my chihuahua Nuno was diagnosed with mast cell cancer a year ago. Tonight on one of the canine cancer sites I read that Lymphoma was much more common in German Shepherds and golden retrievers. This cancer with Nuno has been very heart breaking for me to deal with. It's something I'd like to try to avoid when I get my gsd. Obviously I know that cancer can occur in any dog (or person for that matter). I'm just curious if anyone knows if it more likely to occur in certain bloodlines?
> 
> I know that you can only really stack the deck in your favor; I'm just curious if there are any trends, since the site made it sound like a big health concern for those two breeds in particular.


 
I do not know about other breeds. But I just buried my 3 1/2 yo german shepherd today.She died from Lymphoma. We were caught off guard, in all the research I did , never did I come across cancer as a conern for the breed. hip dysplasia, was the biggest, of coarse there were others names like heart problems, skin issues, and eye problems. but the biggest was w/ the hips. not cancer. So I am at a lose, because I never thought I would loose such a young great girl to cancer. even when I had her micro chipped, the vet talked about some issues but again never cancer.


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## amandak.tu32

I just lost my Jasmine to Lymphoma. She was 5 days away from being 3 yrs and 6months old. yes she had her shots, and no we never used chemicals on her, I did treat my yard so she never had ticks, and she was always put up so not to be in the chemicals. So I do not understand why she got this. my last pic of her was 8/21/11 and she was healthy and happy. on 9/05/11 she was very sick like other night. our vet was out of town and so she was seen on 9/07/11 she was diag. w/ lymphoma. the worst case 2 vets have ever seen. we tried treatment yet she did not respond. she died this morning. 9/13/11. 2 days before she showed any signs of being sick she was playing in the pool ( her pool ) no chemicals w/ the kids. I do not under stand this one bit.


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## Chicagocanine

My Golden Retriever had cutaneous lymphoma. I feel with her it was probably a combination of things that caused it...
She had several bouts with strange health issues for quite a while before that which my vet thought may have had a central cause or possibly pointed to a poor immune system, so she was also on immune supplements for several years before she got lymphoma. For example she had bouts of weight loss, where she'd be eating well but losing weight and I'd switch her diet to something with higher calories/protein and feed her more and she'd gain the weight back but then eventually start losing again. She had an enlarged spleen as well but we did x-rays and ultrasound to find the cause and the spleen appeared totally normal except for the enlargement. There were other things as well. It could also have been influenced by vaccinations I suppose or chemicals(flea/tick), as she got those periodically since she was a therapy dog and they required them. There was likely an environmental factor as well as I was living with my parents when I had her and my mom smoked. I have no idea about her genetics because she was a stray.
However she was 12 years old when she got lymphoma so her age played a big role as well I am sure, I've been told that if they live long enough most Goldens will eventually get cancer, and 12 is within the expected lifespan for a Golden.


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