A vet is urging pet owners to perform a simple two-minute check on their dogs every month, saying it could catch cancer before any symptoms appear. The check focuses on the lymph nodes, which can become hard and swollen in the early stages of lymphoma.
What is the 'bean check'?
Dr Alex Crow, known as Alex the vet, described the routine as the dog "bean check". He said: "If I had just two minutes a month to catch cancer in my own dog before they ever showed a single symptom, here is exactly what I would do."
Experts at PDSA explain: "Lymphoma is a cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. White blood cells protect the body against illness and disease. Lymphoma is most commonly found in the lymph nodes (glands), but it can also affect the liver, spleen, bone marrow, thymus, kidneys, digestive system, and skin."
Alex noted that lymph nodes are "dotted around the body and act a bit like the body's early warning system". He warned that something "most owners don't know" is that "lymphoma is the most common blood cancer in dogs".
How to perform the check
He shared: "In classic cases, the very first sign isn't your dog being unwell, it's the lymph nodes becoming hard and swollen - often weeks before they feel sick."
Owners should look for nodes that feel like small, soft beans. Any that feel hard, swollen, lumpy, irregular, or fixed to surrounding tissue can be a warning sign. The check involves three locations:
- Under the jaw: slide finger and thumb together along the angle of the dog's jaw to feel one small, bean-like node on each side.
- In front of the shoulders: sweep the hand down either side of the neck towards the shoulders, pressing gently into the muscle just in front of the shoulder blade to feel a lymph node on each side.
- Behind the knee: on the back leg, feel behind the knee (opposite the kneecap) in the soft hollow between the two large muscles.
Alex said if owners don't find the last two nodes, "don't worry too much because that's probably a good sign and it means they're not obviously enlarged". However, "if you do think your dog's lymph nodes are hard, irregular or they have changed since you last checked, don't wait and get them looked out by your vet".
He added: "Remember, soft beans are normal, hard beans are not. So two minutes a month, three places - that's all it takes. Two minutes could buy you months of warning. And months are everything when it comes to cancer."
Other symptoms to watch for
According to the PDSA, other symptoms of lymphoma in dogs include: lumps under the jaw or elsewhere on the body which are big, swollen lymph nodes; reduced appetite; drinking and peeing more than usual; low energy; weight loss; vomiting; diarrhoea or constipation; pale gums; yellow gums (jaundice); breathing problems and/or coughing; and lumps in or under the skin or skin that is crusting, scaly, or ulcerated along with hair loss.
