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Dogs + Surgical Conditions

  • Laryngeal paralysis is probably more common than generally recognised. It affects middle aged and older dogs, usually of medium and large size.

  • The lens is the transparent structure within the eye which assists focusing. In some dogs, particularly the terrier breeds, the ligaments can break down allowing the lens to dislocate from its normal position.

  • Cancers of the liver cells are called hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas.

  • The liver has a massive blood supply so many cancer cells from elsewhere arrive within it and start to grow. In dogs metastatic tumours are three times as common as primary tumours and over 30% of malignant cancer is said to metastasize to the liver.

  • Most lung cancers originate from the epithelium lining the airways. In dogs, most are from the alveoli where oxygen is taken up into the body but in people and in cats, most originate in the main airways (bronchi).

  • The patella, or knee cap, should be located in the centre of the knee joint. The term "luxating" means out of place or dislocated.

  • Cancer of the cells of the lymph nodes (lymphoma, lymphosarcoma) has to be distinguished from other causes of lymph node swelling by histopathology. Some types of cancer are slower growing than others but all are potentially life-threatening.

  • This is a tumour originating from the mammary gland tissues that has been classified as malignant (invasive and capable of spread). Although some of these cancers are cured by surgical removal, others recur and some spread to other parts of the body (metastasis).

  • This is a tumour originating from the dog's mast cells. These tumours include both benign (relatively harmless) and highly malignant (more dangerous and spreading) types.

  • There are two main types of internal (visceral) mast cell tumours, one originating in the blood forming (haemopoietic) organs, such as the spleen and bone marrow, and the other originating in the gut (usually the intestine but occasionally the stomach).