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My dog's lymph node still swollen after antibiotics. Is it lymphoma?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Border Collie | Male | unneutered | 5 years and 4 months old | 57 lbs

Hi my 5 year old border collie has a swollen lymph node on his left side, I found it 9 days ago and brought him straight to the vet straight away. He put him on antibiotics and anti inflammatories for 5 days and the lymph node did go down in size and has stayed the same size since the course of antibiotics and anti inflammatory finished 5 days ago (its about the size of a kidney bean now) but has not gone down completely. I’m wondering if lymphoma is likely from what I’ve desrcribed?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 23rd, 2018

Hello, sorry to hear about Giuseppe. Because the lymph node has decreased in size with antibiotics alone and the fact that only a single lymph node is enlarged, this is less likely consistent with lymphoma. Lymphoma typically affects multiple nodes and does not respond to antibiotics. Occasionally, active lymph nodes may remain slightly enlarged for a few days, or if the infection is not being completely treated then the lymph node may remain big. The best way to confirm if this lymph node has lymphoma or not, would be to obtain cytology with a with a needle aspirate to have a pathologist examine the cells. Cytology is generally a non-invasive procedure and could be done by your veterinarian. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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    Answered By Lindsey Edwards MVB, BSc, IVCA

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 18th, 2018

    Although it cannot be completely ruled out from this history, generally lymphoma is multifocal with many lymph nodes enlarged at the same time. It also responds poorly to antibiotics or antiinflammatories. Monitor closely for new lumps or an increase in size over the next 10-14days, if these occur then biospy or sampling of lumps and submission to a specialist laboratory would be recommended. An infected/reactive lymph node would not be expected to be fully cleared in such a short space of time and as it is a normal structure, it would not completely disappear at any stage

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