Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Boxer dog lost weight from brain tumor causing cachexia
By Borrelli, A et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2009·Department of Animal Pathology - Clinical Section, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cachexia secondary to intracranial anaplastic (malignant) ependymoma in a boxer dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An eight-year-old female boxer was brought to the vet due to significant weight loss over several months. Initially, the only noticeable issue was cachexia, which is severe weight loss and muscle wasting. In the last days of her life, she showed some neurological symptoms like changes in behavior and difficulty with coordination. Sadly, a post-mortem examination revealed a large, soft tumor in her brain, diagnosed as an anaplastic ependymoma, a type of malignant brain tumor. This case highlights that unexplained weight loss in pets can sometimes indicate serious conditions like brain tumors, even if there are no obvious neurological symptoms at first.
People also search for: boxer dog weight loss · dog brain tumor symptoms · cachexia in dogs · dog neurological problems · ependymoma in dogs
Abstract
An eight-year-old female boxer was referred because of weight loss of several months' duration. On physical examination, cachexia was the only reported abnormality. Neurological symptoms were shown only in the last days preceding death and consisted of altered mental status, compulsive behaviour and left rear proprioception deficit. At post-mortem examination, a voluminous, soft, haemorrhagic mass was found invading the floor of the brain. Based on the morphological features of the tumour, marked parenchymal invasion, extensive necrosis and cellular atypia, the mass was classified as an anaplastic ependymoma. This case report shows similarities to the diencephalic syndrome reported in human paediatric medicine in which the main clinical sign is a profound emaciation in spite of normal or slightly diminished caloric intake. Weight loss and cachexia are clinically relevant problems in small animals and these clinical signs should raise a suspicion, among the other differentials, of a brain tumour, even in absence of neurologic signs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19796316/