Has anyones dog had a mammary tumour?
Sadly one of my ex-broods developed mammary cancer – she had more than one tumour. She was 12 at the time, had been spayed, but only after her maternal career was over (2 litters but only 3 puppies in total). We discussed her best options, but decided against any invasive surgery, taking into account her age and the prognosis if we did this. It only progressed very slowly, and she had a happy life until finally, a couple of years later, it was obvious that one of the tumours, which had opened up, was causing her pain so we had to let her go. The sad thing was although I knew her down days were starting to outnumber her up days, she still tucked into her breakfast the day she was pts. But she’d ‘switch off’ and sit in her bed looking at the wall. I knew she’d started to suffer. I think you will find (but ask!!) the vet has to remove the tumour and send it off for analysis rather than just take a small segment (biopsy). But if you are not happy with what you are being told, don’t hesitat
I found a dog last year a BC,trying to find some shelter in the fields, she was very underfed, her head sucken, looked like she was having puppies her belly was so big and I knew she wouldn’t survive, so I brought her home, she didn’t look more than 5 years old and her coat was matted and green she could hardly stand. The first thing was to give her puppy milk and she was starving, soaked her to get rid of some smell ( had been living with sheep) then noticesd the fat belly wasn’t pups it was tumours…I didn’t think she would survive the night, fed her every 2 hours, bathed her, noticed her teeth were worn down totally took her to the vet would said she would need building up and it would be months before they could safely operate on her……….they said she was possibly 8-9 yrs old, brought her home and continued for 6 days, we had a different dog in that time, starting to play, looking well fed. I had done all the right things, called and reported to the police, RSPCA, dog warden
Thankfully, I have had no experience of mammary tumours in my dogs. They are quite often breed related, some breeds being far more likely to develop them than others. Maybe, it would be an idea to contact other JRT owners to find out what their experience is. http://www.jack-russell-terrier.co.uk/fo… Good Luck with her – she’s lucky to have such a caring owner. Add: Tictree obviously has little real experience of b1tches. In my breed, b1tches are rarely spayed before they are 6 or 7 and in 30 yrs I’ve only come across one b1tch with a mammary tumour – she was nearly 14yrs when she died.
I’ve taken in 2 older dogs with mammary tumors, one had several. In both instances, the tumors were removed, biopsy showed they were benign, and the dogs are living “happily ever after” in good homes. Have your dog’s tumor removed, most likely it is benign, just a fatty tumor. The biopsy is done after the surgery. Best of luck to you and your dog, but I would bet she will be fine and have many more years of life. Note: tictree is so wrong — both the dogs I took in were breeders that the lovely byb dumped after they were no more use to her – and neither one had cancer, they were just benign fatty tumors. While it is true that unspayed females who have been bred are far more likely to have mammary tumors (one more reason to spay your dog early) it is NOT true that most of those tumors are cancerous – quite the opposite, most are benign and the dog is fine once the tumor is removed.
If the dog was left intact for a few years or was used as a breeder dog the lump is almost certainly cancerous. Most dogs who are not spayed and have been bred will get some form of mammary cancer if they live that long. Vets are going to remove the lump and then send it off for biopsy. In dogs they do not biopsy first like they do in humans. In humans they do it this way to save cost and to save the body from deforming surgery. In dogs it is better to take it all and not worry so much about the look. If your dog is in otherwise good health you could be buying her years of life. If you are not comfortable about what the vet is suggesting get a second opinion. I have seen a few dog go through this and over all most would do it again as it was not that bad for the dog and they had more time with the dog and the dog had better quality of life.
