My daughter's cat had an enlarged lymph node recently and it turned out to be an infection. The antibiotics took care of it. The pup is awfully young for the awful "C" so I wouldn't panic.
Let's keep him in our thoughts that he will be just fine.

I think the vet is correct, try antibiotics first THEN try the next most logical test.

A bad vet only looking for money would do expensive tests first. IF the dog has cancer, 10 days on antibiotics wont make the cancer worse. Heck judging by my husbands cancer, you have to be germ free before chemo is even started anyway. lol

Tell your friend to make sure the vet takes a close look at her dogs teeth on that side if the antibiotics help. A broken tooth or cavity can cause an abscess just like with us humans.

My girl couldn't say Mommy my tooth hurts and probably chewed on the other side. When she had a lump on the side of her neck, I rushed her to her vets office and the student vet in training looked at her teeth first (my girl was 10 back then) and found out she had an abscessed molar. My vet of 30 years looked and agreed. She was on antibitotics for a week, the swelling left, she had surgery to remove that tooth and hasn't had that problem again.

God willing, my girl will be 14 in June, do not tell her she is old, she thinks she is a young pup. LOL

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I was (am) confused about the antibiotics. Elsie had no fever or other symptoms of infection. Vet did mention it was good that the swelling wasn't unilateral (in both glands) & that cancer in the lymph nodes spreads quickly to other areas. I don't know why I feel so uneasy, but I do.

Dogs and humans can have an infection without a fever. Also with dogs, unless the vet tells you, or you know how to read a doggy rectal temp, you wont know if they have a fever.

Tell your friend to let the antibiotics run its course and have the vet look really close at the dogs teeth. If the vet still says cancer really, really question him and maybe turn to a different vet who doesnt say doom and gloom first.

The dog is only 8 months old, I bet it isn't cancer but just an infection.

I hope you'll keep us posted on this. With the dog only being 8 months old you know we're all pulling for a full recovery and a happy life for this little one, and certainly for no Big C.

A lymph node aspirate and cytology would have been an easy test to do and they would have known immediately if it was infection, inflammation, or cancer. I hate to see critters put on antibiotics for no reason just as much as scaring the beeejesus out of the owners for no reason. I've known dogs to die of cancer at 8 months, so it is not unheard-of, but definitely rare. I would have been much more concerned about an infection, but without further information what kind? If the dog was a late bloomer, it could have easily been inflammation from say a last tooth coming in or something equally inouccuous, but ya hafta look. I'm always for sticking needles in things and doing cytology, but I guess not every vet is as comfortable in reading the cytology as I am. Having an extra cytology course by the people who wrote the book sure comes in handy.

My guess is that whatever it is will go away on its own, with or without antibiotics. But definitely it is something to keep an eye on, especially if the dog becomes ill in any way.

Just a thought - I didn't see you mention if she was spayed. My last Dobie girl had several lymph nodes swell to the size of grapes or larger just before she came into her first heat, also about 8 months old.

I panicked, vet tried anti-biotics which may or may not have helped, but as soon as her first heat cycle completed, they went down and never swelled again.

Alexa

Thanks Alexa! It's about time for my dog to go in heat. I'll bet you're right about the two being related. I sure wish a vet would chime in and confirm your theory.

HELP! I am so worried now I can't even sleep because I'm afraid the grossly enlarged lymph node will choke her. I have been to the vet 3 times already. I had a second opinion cuz I did not think my vet was moving quick enough and now I'm terrified that my vets option is to extract the gland.

So here it goes. Two weeks ago I noticed her left lymph node was a bit swollen, took her to the vet immediately, they checked teeth, ears, eyes and skin. She had an ear infection and from birth I know she has eye allergies, so they gave her ear treatment, eye cream and something else because she was licking her paw, oh and also medication for the swollen lymph node.

A week goes by and the thing is still there, slightly growing. They gave me a different medication.

Another week goes by and, as weird as it may sound, during 3 hours before her follow-up appointment the lymph node grew exponentially I'm talking it felt like the size of a small grape and it ended up looking like a small orange, and it keeps growing as I type.
I ran to the vet, and they tell me that they have to go inside and extract it that an aspirate wouldn't help much at this point, because they have determined that is not going away just with medication. That what ever it turns out to be lymphoma or glandular reaction or what ever, I will still have to get it extracted.
They basically recommended to get it extracted right away, get the biopsy from the extracted lymph node and have it examined to check what that is.

I took her to a second vet the same day and they performed an aspiration only to tell me that it was inconclusive, but that there was no pus inside.

Now I just don't know what to do. All I'm asking is for some to tell me that my primary vet is correct or that it makes sense and that I should do as recommended.

I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

I have a 9 yr old King Charles and she has enlarged glands on both side of her neck, just below the jaw hinge. She snores loudly and sounds as though she has laryngitis when she barks. Her vet. aspirated the lumps and it came back that it was blocked salivary glands. They would have to be removed and that is barbaric if you ask me. She would not do well during surgery anyway, she has a large heart murmur. I have her on Claritin, so far no change in the snoring. I can tell she is getting more blocked in her airway and she can not eat anything dry or crunchy, she chokes. I wet her food down with hot water and use canned food with it. Poor girl is so sweet, I don't know what else to do for her.