{"id":1954,"date":"2016-11-02T03:55:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T03:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aercmn.com\/?p=1954"},"modified":"2016-11-02T03:55:24","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T03:55:24","slug":"pet-cancer-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Cancer Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As people increasingly view their pets as members of their family and veterinary care improves, we are recognizing and treating more cancer in our furry companions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Symptoms<\/strong><br \/>\nSymptoms can vary significantly depending on the type of cancer, but here are some common signs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unexplained weight loss<\/li>\n<li>Lethargy or weakness<\/li>\n<li>Asymmetrical and growing masses<\/li>\n<li>Wounds that won\u2019t heal<\/li>\n<li>Lameness without an injury<\/li>\n<li>Ongoing vomiting and diarrhea<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your pet is showing these symptoms, bring them to your family veterinarian for evaluation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Veterinary Testing<\/strong><br \/>\nIf there is concern that your pet may have cancer, your veterinarian will recommend a series of tests to determine where the cancer is and what type of cancer is present.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1955 alignright\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Steve-Sarah-resized-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>History and physical exam:<\/strong>\u00a0Your veterinarian will begin by asking you a series of questions about what symptoms you are seeing and how long they have been going on. They will then look your pet over from head to tail.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lab work:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Full blood work and urinalysis are recommended. While there is no magic blood test for cancer, there are some classic changes that can suggest certain types of cancer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Radiographs:<\/strong>\u00a0Many types of cancer can spread to the lungs and nearby lymph nodes.\u00a0These changes can often be seen on chest radiographs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ultrasound<\/strong>\u00a0of the abdomen is used to look for tumors of the liver, spleen, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract.\u00a0Lymph nodes in the abdomen can also be enlarged with cancer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Needle Aspirates or biopsies:\u00a0<\/strong>Once an area of suspected cancer is found, submitting samples of the tumor to the lab can help determine what type of cancer is present.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Treatment<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1956 alignright\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/teddy-bear-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Treatment depends on the type of cancer present. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of these therapies will be recommended. There are often multiple levels of care available. Your veterinarian can help you choose the treatment that is right for your pet and family.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Outcomes<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are a wide variety of cancers that affect dogs and cats. Unfortunately, some types of cancers are very aggressive and carry a poor prognosis&#8211;with pets surviving only days to weeks after diagnosis. Other types of cancer can carry a good prognosis. With appropriate treatment, some cancer patients can go into remission and live a normal life for several years.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions or concerns about your pet\u2019s health, consult with your family veterinarian. If your pet was diagnosed with cancer and you\u2019d like to learn more about treatment options, ask your family veterinarian for a referral to our Board-Certified Veterinary Internist,\u00a0<a href=\"\/blog\/veterinary-services\/internal-medicine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Shadwick<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; As people increasingly view their pets as members of their family and veterinary care improves, we are recognizing and treating more cancer in our furry companions. Symptoms Symptoms can vary significantly depending on the type of cancer, but here are some common signs: Unexplained weight loss Lethargy or weakness Asymmetrical and growing masses Wounds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; As people increasingly view their pets as members of their family and veterinary care improves, we are recognizing and treating more cancer in our furry companions. Symptoms Symptoms can vary significantly depending on the type of cancer, but here are some common signs: Unexplained weight loss Lethargy or weakness Asymmetrical and growing masses Wounds [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/50bbf04df56a8f8be5d5d9d637cb827f\"},\"headline\":\"Pet Cancer Awareness\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\",\"name\":\"Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pet Cancer Awareness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota\",\"description\":\"Our Veterinary Blog | Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota (AERC)\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ms-tile.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ms-tile.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/50bbf04df56a8f8be5d5d9d637cb827f\",\"name\":\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f46ceaad3df4fa231de22989fe6a3cefb1b0420f2f1a7da4b76fd429428bdf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f46ceaad3df4fa231de22989fe6a3cefb1b0420f2f1a7da4b76fd429428bdf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/author\/beyond\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota","og_description":"&nbsp; As people increasingly view their pets as members of their family and veterinary care improves, we are recognizing and treating more cancer in our furry companions. Symptoms Symptoms can vary significantly depending on the type of cancer, but here are some common signs: Unexplained weight loss Lethargy or weakness Asymmetrical and growing masses Wounds [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/","og_site_name":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota","article_published_time":"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00","author":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/"},"author":{"name":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/50bbf04df56a8f8be5d5d9d637cb827f"},"headline":"Pet Cancer Awareness","datePublished":"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/"},"wordCount":425,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/","name":"Pet Cancer Awareness | Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-02T03:55:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/pet-cancer-awareness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pet Cancer Awareness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/","name":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referal Center of Minnesota","description":"Our Veterinary Blog | Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota (AERC)","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota","url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ms-tile.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped-ms-tile.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/50bbf04df56a8f8be5d5d9d637cb827f","name":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f46ceaad3df4fa231de22989fe6a3cefb1b0420f2f1a7da4b76fd429428bdf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f46ceaad3df4fa231de22989fe6a3cefb1b0420f2f1a7da4b76fd429428bdf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Animal Emergency &amp; Referral Center of Minnesota"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/author\/beyond\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}