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My question relates to my dog Marcel who is a male, 2.5-yr-old Cocker Spaniel. Last week I felt that his paws, nose, tongue were colder than they were used to be. Two days ago this week he seemed to have problems with his throat - he swallows very often but does not have any loss of appetite and eats his food with no problem. He seems to have something in his throat. I took him today to his Vet who said that probably he has a cold and a sore throat. His first treatment seemed to help and the x-ray he took does not show any tumors or something else. However I am still concerned whether there could be a disguised tumor in his throat or another serious problem. What else do we need to check to be sure? (ie. would a blood test help, or some other x-ray maybe?) Many thanks and Best Regards, Ebru

Dear Ebru, Your description of Marcel's behavior suggests a minor irritation in his throat resulting from any of a number of possible causes, i.e. trauma or infection, most of which would be of no lasting consequence. You should take comfort in the fact that your dog's symptoms were short-lived, and I would urge you not to attach undue importance to what you perceived as changes in the temperature of his extremities. In the event that Marcel's excessive swallowing efforts recur, I'd advise you contact his vet at which point he may decide broaden Marcel's work-up to include bloodwork, oral and throat exam under anesthesia, and possibly endoscopy (with which a patient's esophagus and pharynx can be visualized.)

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