Breast Cancer In Dogs

Cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs over two years old. Dogs suffer from the same cancers that many people do. As an example, dogs can get testicular cancer, osteosarcoma, melanoma, lymphoma, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer. Dogs also get breast cancer, otherwise known as mammary carcinoma. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in unspayed female dogs. The good news, is that many dogs can survive breast cancer, if caught early.

You can catch breast cancer early, by implementing a monthly check up, that can easily be done at home. This is done by gently palpating the mammary glands, which are the nipples on your dogs tummy and chest. Most dogs will have a total of 10 mammary glands, 5 on each side. As a side note, the mammary glands on a dogs tummy, reportedly have a higher incident of developing cancer than the ones on the chest. Feel for any hard bumps, especially those with an irregular shape that do not move easily under the skin. If you discover any unusual bumps under the skin, especially ones that tend to be growing rapidly, it would be a good idea to take your dog into the veterinarian ASAP.

Your veterinarian can perform a biopsy, to test for mammary carcinoma. When a bump is tested, about 50% of the time it is malignant, and 50% of the time it is benign. If the biopsy does come out positive for cancer, your veterinarian may recommend mastectomy surgery to remove the cancer, and a lung x-ray to make sure the cancer has not spread. If the breast cancer has not spread, your dog will have a good prognosis and should be able to make a full recovery.

Note: According to statistics, female dogs that have been spayed before they go into the first heat, have a significantly lower chance of getting breast cancer. Yet, if they are spayed after the third or fourth heat, spaying has almost no effect on the chances of getting breast cancer.