Gun Dog Forum

Hi All,

A little back story..I have a 5yo black lab, always heathy never any issues. About 5 months ago I changed his food from Science Diet Adult to Purina Pro Performance.

Last weekend I was giving him a bath and noticed the lymph nodes we inflamed just on his rear legs, the lymph nodes on his neck and scapula were not noticeable. I made an appointment with the vet last Saturday and he was concerned and did a full blood and urine work up. He called me today and seemed concerned because he had elevated protein levels in his urine and blood. My questions is/are: Could the change in his food have anything to do with it? Second: WTF else could it be? If I Google our use pet md by the time I am done reading I am convinced he has every disease passable.

The vet is going to contact the lab tomorrow and follow up with me but in the mean time I figured i would reach out to this forum....

Thanks in advance

I'm not a vet,, but normally enlarged lymph glands indicates an infection somewhere. I wouldn't think the worst. Could be something simple.
Dog foods and strenuous exercise can cause a high level of protein in the urine, but not the enlarged lymph glands .
Let us know what the vet says. We are all still learners here.

(Welcome to the forum.):)

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/uri ... roteinuria

Don't think diet change is part of the equation. In my part of the country, based on this brief history, I'd look at tick borne diseases as my first differential.

You can have your vet do a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) of the swollen nodes for a more definitive diagnosis. Ask that the slides are sent to a veterinary pathologist for viewing as well.
Could be a localized infection/reaction of some sort, or could be something very serious. Report shouldn't take more than a few days.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for your comments! I should hear more today... Hopefully it is nothing major, he seems normal and his lymph nodes have definitely gotten smaller in the last 48 hrs.