In dogs bladder tumors are a rare occurrence. Bladder tumors are of two different forms, one is potentially fatal while the other is benign. To ensure your dog remains healthy and free from such tumors continue reading this article.
The symptoms of bladder tumors in dogs are as follows:
- The dog may go to the toilet a lot more than usual
- There will be a slight amount of blood in the urine produced.
- They dog may struggle to produce any urine.
As mentioned above there are two different forms of bladder tumors one being malignant which can be potentially life threatening while the other being benign. The benign or non progressive type of bladder tumors usually leaves the tissue which surrounds the growth relatively unharmed and does not spread to other parts of the body
Squamous cell carcinomas and transitional cell carcinomas are the two most common types of bladder tumors . Both of these are highly malignant which means that they may spread to other parts of the body. Polyps are very rare but unlike the two mentioned above they are benign and do not spread to other parts of the body.
To make sure that the dog remains healthy any such growth will be need to removed. Complications arise depending on where the tumors is located inside the body. If it is close to an organ or a vital body part then the risks of surgery increase.
Treatment is not really effective when it comes to dealing with cancer and tumors in a dog’s bladder and this can prove to be a very costly option. Most people try and keep their dog on antibiotics and painkillers to try to relieve the pain as much as possible as the dog begins to suffer and then on a later stage the dog is put down as humanely as possible. Get more info from some of the reliable and reputable websites online that provide quality, relevant and helpful information about the proper way of taking good care of your pet.
Your vet may conduct a number of tests such as ultrasound scans, x-rays and even passing a camera through the bladder of the dog. Only after all these tests will the vet know for sure whether the dog has been affected by a tumors or not. To determine the type of tumors the dog has the vet will have to conduct a biopsy.
If it is a polyp tumors then it will require surgery to be removed. Potential complications arise depending on the location of the tumors . If it is located at the bladder neck skilled surgery or complicated reconstruction would be required to keep the connection between the bladder and the urethra intact and even if the surgery goes as planned there are always chances that the dog may become incontinent for a short while after the surgery.
If the tumors is either squamous cell carcinomas or transitional cell carcinomas the vet will have to conduct further x-rays of the abdomen and the chest in order to determine how far the tumors cells have spread.
If the vet has determined that the tumors hasn’t spread then they may try and remove the malignant cell. Of course there are many difficulties and risks in doing this. A Lot of healthy tissue may need to be removed in order to remove a cancerous tumors from the dog’s body and to be certain that all the effected cells have been removed. This results in the vet having a lot less room to work with as compared to the polyp tumors . It is also likely that vital body parts and organs will cause hindrance.
Most vets will still try to remove the tumors first and then use chemotherapy and radiation to remove the remaining cancerous cells. A histopathologist will decide the type of therapy depending on the samples given to them
