----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I was asked by someone for an opnion and I thought I needed to ask all you you. A friend of mine has a new puppy. >Last Saturday, they took their new puppy to the vet for an exam and the puppy had a swollen lymph gland near one of >his rear legs. The vet checked the pup's temperature, normal. The puppy is about 12 weeks old.
>The vet, against my personal ethics, vaccinated the puppy for not one but two things, one of which was Lyme. First of >all I do not agree with the use of the Lyme vaccine and I told my friend as much, but she sent her husband who didn't >know better and he went by the vet's recommendation. Why do you have a problem with the Lyme vaccination? The efficacy is not fabulous, although it seems to offer some protection, and to the best of my knowledge it does not have any more chance of ill effects that any other vaccination which has been tested and used extensivly. I've had four dogs vaccinated and two not vaccinated; the vaccinated dogs have not had Lyme, although *both* unvaccinated dogs have had it. I kick myself daily for not getting the Lyme vaccination for Nessie, as it contributed not only to her illness with the Lyme but her ACL double ruptures. >Second of all, I would not have vaccinated the puppy at all with a swollen gland issue going one. Post vaccinations, the >gland became more swollen, obviously aggrivated by them. Well, this is a little bit of a logic fallacy--you can't know if the gland was starting to swell and continued on its course of swelling irregardless of the vaccinations or if the swelling was indeed aggrivated by the shots. That said, I think I personally would hold off having a puppy vaccinated which was showing signs of potential illness. >My question is, what could be the cause of the lymph node swelling. Are there other things besides cancer? Yes, many things can cause a lymph node to swell. Sometimes they get infected, sometimes it is part of an immune response to an illness brewing. Cancer in a 12 week old puppy would be quite unusual but not impossible. A link to a typical puppy ailment is more likely. > Should he be tested right away for that or is there anything else, bloodwork for instance, that should be done? Just to >give a more clear picture, as of last night the puppy is now on pain killers (bad for kidneys, but helping, as he was very >sore) and some form of antibiotics for 2 weeks. The swelling has gone down and the puppy seems to be feeling better, >but I am still not convinced. Convinced of what? I don't know quite what you mean. Detecting cancer is often a huge PITA and not very conclusive unless you find something really clear on a biopsy. With no actual tumor, you have not got much to go on. Blood work is always a good starting point for seeing if the body is out of balance or fighting something. The fact that the swelling is reducing is a good sign--it probably is linked to a round with a common minor ailment, or the gland iteself might have had a mild infection. That happened to me once with one of my lymph glands and it hurt like h*** and was very sore indeed, but it was an isolated thing and not connected to any larger problem. >Thanks in advance for suggestions. Welcome. Let us know how the puppy gets on. Eileen Morgan The Mare's Nest http://www.enter.net/~edlehman --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.488 / Virus Database: 287 - Release Date: 6/5/2003
