Breast Cancer in Pets

Breast Cancer is common among dogs and cats alike - both female and male (although the disease is much more rare in males than females). I'm going to tell you about symptoms, treatments, and prevention of Breast Cancer in your pets, so I hope this post will save the life of an animal.

I think the best things to talk about first are which animals are at risk, and the symptoms of the disease. This type of cancer is most commonly seen in middle-aged, unspayed, female dogs and female cats around 10-14 years of age. Occasionally, breast cancer is seen in puppies as young as 2 years of age. Your cat runs a 1 in 4,000 risk of being infected (this is about half the rate of dogs), and a female cat any age, can get cancer.

The symptoms you might see differ in dogs and cats, so I'm going to talk about each animal separately.

Cats:

Tumors will appear as tough, firm nodules that can either be firmly attached to the skin and/or underlying muscle. In about 50% of all cases, the tumors show up in more than one mammary gland. The symptoms you should look out for include: pain, infection, possibly a fever, and swelling. Pay close attention to your cat and her behavior, if you see any of the above symptoms, contact your vet immediately!!

Dogs:

Tumors in dogs show up as either a solid mass or multiple swellings. The tumors are easy to detect - all you have to do is push gently (almost like massaging) on the mammary glands. At first, the tumors will feel very hard (almost like rocks) and will be located just under the skin. Once the tumor has shown up, its' growth can be incredibly rapid in a very short amount of time - it has the possibility of doubling its' size every month. Once again, if you see any of these symptoms, do not hesitate to call your vet!!