Tag Archives: pathology

Lumps in and under the skin are a very common problem veterinarians are asked to assess. I’m not only saying this as a cancer specialist—skin lumps are common in primary care practice as well. According to a 2025 Clinician’s Brief Survey, primary care veterinarians evaluate an average of 2.7 masses each day in the clinic. What happens next—once a veterinarian examines a patient with a mass—is the subject of this blogpost.

November 7th is Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day. This is a day dedicated to helping dog families recognize the signs of lymphoma, understand how it affects dogs and learn what to expect from lymphoma treatment. With those goals in mind, I’ve written today’s blogpost to answer common questions about canine lymphoma, one of the most frequently diagnosed types of canine cancer.

A biopsy is one of the most important diagnostic tools in veterinary medicine. It’s so important that I can’t think of a veterinarian who never does a biopsy. Whether it’s a dermatologist, dentist, surgeon, internal medicine specialist or your primary care veterinarian, all use biopsies to diagnose different conditions. At the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, veterinarians submit between five and fifteen biopsies on any given day. In many cases, a biopsy is the only way to confirm a diagnosis, especially for internal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, liver problems and most kinds of cancer. In today’s blogpost, I’ll discuss how biopsies work and why they’re essential for diagnosis.

The soundtrack of my college years went silent with Jimmy Buffett’s passing over Labor Day weekend. The cause of death was widely reported as a rare form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma. Animals also suffer from this rare form of cancer, so today I’ll discuss Merkel cell tumors in animals, in honor of Jimmy Buffett.

“Everyday Medicine” is an intermittent series of blog posts highlighting tests, treatments, and procedures common in daily Animal Medical Center practice. Some past examples of this type of blog post