My senior Yorkie has high white cells, clear X-ray. Is it cancer?

Low white blood cells can be caused by several things including: viral infection, sepsis, bone cancer, etc. This is just one parameter so it isn't very specific. If there are more findings on bloodwork that you would like to discuss, or any clinical symptoms then feel free to repost your question on the forum or request a consultaiton soon.

With a white count that keeps getting higher despite antibiotics I would be concerned there is cancer hiding somewhere. An ultrasound would be my next test as it can look at the intestine, lymph nodes, liver and spleen. The spleen makes the red blood cells, and if it has a tumor then that can cause that count to drop. An immune disease can also cause a low red count.

Thank you for sharing Millie's bloodwork results. She has VERY high white blood cell counts which may be indicative of a severe infection, autoimmune disease, or even cancer. I would have her evaluated for the underlying cause which may require radiographs, an ultrasound, and or a blood smear evaluation by a pathologist.

I am sorry Fluffy has not been feeling well. It is possible that patients can have normal blood work and still have cancer. Sometimes cancer does not show up in blood work. Typically cancers that are locally invasive like the nose do not show up in blood work. The best option is to try and take skull x-rays or have a CT/MRI completed to look at the swelling to help determine the cause. Fluffy might have an infection causing facial swelling or infection around a mass. Unfortunately with out more information we cannot tell if Fluffy has cancer. I hope he feels better soon

I don't see any abnormalities in the radiographs that you show. Bone cancer can occasionally be difficult to diagnose before it is very severe. To biopsy a bone for possible cancer, you need to know where in the bone to sample, so it is not as simple as just picking any part you want. Advanced diagnostics like MRI or CT may be more helpful at looking more closely at the soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments) and bone to see if there are any abnormalities. You will likely need a referral to a specialty hospital for this procedure. If you are concerned about something life-threatening like bone cancer, I would recommend that you speak with either vet about a referral.

I am so sorry to hear about your poor yorkie. First, I want to applaud you for allowing the veterinarian to perform diagnostic testing in the form of x-rays and bloodwork. This is a great first step and can provide them with a baseline in case they need to do further testing in the future. Unfortunately, there are still so many diseases or conditions that a dog can get that will not show up on an x-ray or routine bloodwork. For example, gastrointestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease do not show up positive with only x-rays and routine bloodwork. Another example is if your dog is In pain for some reason such as a muscle pull or they hurt their back while jumping on the couch, etc. pain can cause a dog to exhibit all of the clinical signs that your dog is showing such as not eating, not drinking, and not playing at all. And pain cannot be diagnosed in x-rays or bloodwork. The point being that there are so many different diseases and ailments that a yorkie can get that just wo

It may be cancer but it could also be an autoimmune disrase. More testing is going to be needed. Are the lymph nodes enlarged? If so, your vet needs to do an aspirate of the lymph nodes. That will give you a better idea of what’s going on.

I suggest your vet take a fine needle aspirate (FNA) biopsy of the tumor to find out what kind of a tumor this is. He would be taking a little bit of tissue from the tumor painlessly with a fine needle which helps determine what kind of a tumor this is. As for the elevated Alkaline Phosphatase level: this could be a sign of liver disease/gall bladder disease or bone cancer in your dog. However, if your dog had bone cancer, it would likely have some bone pain somewhere. 51% of dogs over 8 years have a high ALP. Because there are so many causes of a high ALP, many of which are benign (harmless) processes, determining the cause of an individual dog's high ALP is difficult. Your vet may want to refer you to a veterinary internal specialist. Joint pain can also be caused by arthritis, and the lethargy could be caused by pain or disease

You can start with a CBC and chemistry panel. This will show any infection and check the red counts. IF there is a stomach ulcer, then sometimes an anemia will show. The chemistry panel will check liver, kidney and blood sugar and check the protein levels. Certain changes in these values can indication a GI problem or ulcers. From there, an ultrasound will be your best tool as this can look at the stomach and intestines to evaluate their thickness and check for any abnormalities to get you more answers.

Hello Yes, it sounds like it may be pre-cancerous. I would recommend having your vet remove the mass and submit the entire thing for histopathology to get a final diagnosis and make sure the entire mass was removed. Best wishes to you and Bailey. Thanks for using Pet Coach!