dobes4us

Riggs has allergies/skin issues and his lymph nodes will swell at times when his skin is bad, Dr says it was OK.

__________________

Sue & Crew
Chessie, Riggs and Kylee

Doberdog

Lymph nodes can be seen with ultrasound VERY EASY with a linear transducer. You can look and see if they are morphologically correct and if they are enlarged. You can also measure them then do it again a few months later to see if they are bigger or smaller. If you can feel it with you finger then you can see it with ultrasound. She would not even have to be put under if someone knows what they are doing. It takes a few seconds to squirt gel on (enough for hair, may have to shave the area), then set down the transducer and boom, it is a lymph node or is not. That easy I swear. I look at them all the time in people for the same reason. Ask your vet about it. I have no idea the correct size for dogs but for adults it should be 1.5 cm or less with a fatty hilum.

__________________
Have a great day, Sheila-owned by Quentin (b&t,M, dobie), Maggie Mae(1/2 shar pei, 1/2 ?, F, from the pound), and Peaches (red dobie, F)

Doberdog

Ultrasonography of cervical lymph nodes

The second ultrasound picture on this page is of a normal lymph node. The first is doppler on an abnormal node. Look for the first series of 3 pictures. The first is normal. The two next to it are abnormal.

__________________
Have a great day, Sheila-owned by Quentin (b&t,M, dobie), Maggie Mae(1/2 shar pei, 1/2 ?, F, from the pound), and Peaches (red dobie, F)

RedFawnRising

Doberdog, just saw this. Thank you for chiming in on this.

It's a great idea, but. Erm, I live in Podunk Central.

No vet anywhere near me, much less within a few hours driving distance, has access to u/s.

I would have to go out of state. Which I would obviously do, if necessary, but hopefully it will not come to that.

We have measured the lumps and are charting their "progress," or hopefully, lack thereof.

She continues to appear well and thriving, so hopefully I am just an avid worrier.

__________________
It takes more than a baby and a box to make a normal monkey.—Harry F. Harlow

Doberdog

Thank for the update, please do keep us posted. My Mom and Dad are both from Clarksburg WV. It is a small Italian town. Are you from anywhere around there?

__________________
Have a great day, Sheila-owned by Quentin (b&t,M, dobie), Maggie Mae(1/2 shar pei, 1/2 ?, F, from the pound), and Peaches (red dobie, F)

RedFawnRising

Clarksburg, really?

No, I'm over three hours south of there, just a hair above the coalfields.

I remember Clarksburg fairly well, though, as my grandparents lived just outside of Morgantown and we often traveled that way during the summers.

There are a few more resources the northern part of the state, and in the eastern panhandle, not so much down thissa way, unfortunately.

Ah well. I do love a lot of things about my state.

__________________
It takes more than a baby and a box to make a normal monkey.—Harry F. Harlow

reddobes

Although ultrasonography of submandibular lymph nodes is possible, many clinics that have ultrasound do not have a linear probe and it really shouldn't be necessary to tell the size of the LN. Many clinics don't have ultrasound and if they do, have to be selective about how many/which probes will be cost effective. Adding another probe runs typically in the $5-8,000 range (on top of the $40-80,000 for the machine itself - these are typically either vet specific models or "last years" model of human ultrasounds - which can easily run $100-400K).
The LN should be very easy to palpate in dogs and if it is suspected to be enlarged, the next step is needle biopsy - which any vet clinic has the facilities to do. You can tell by looking at the aspirate under the microscope whether it is LN vs salivary gland and if there is evidence of bacteria, inflammation, cancer, etc. Because of the way the submandibular LN sits in the dog it is one of the easiest LNs to palpate.

I would recommend a needle biopsy.