I fear one of my bitches has mammary cancer (rear gland) and it has come up
fast.  She is currently having a heavy phantom pregnancy but only one side
is affected and it is not mastitis.  We are seeing the vet later today.

I have had mammary strips done on two bitches before, one with cancer who
only lived a few months and the other turned out to be benign and she is
still fine.

This is a horrible operation for a bitch and I now get to my question - for
those of you whose bitches have had a strip due to cancer what age where
they and how long did they survive the op (and do you know the type of
cancer)?

Christine

How big is this lump? Are there more than one? Just wondering whether a mammary strip is necessary. It's likely the vet will either aspirate or remove the lump, but I doubt they'd perform a mammary strip for one lump. We were told that for one lump its best to remove, biopsy and start aggressive chemo, or the other way around. Unfortunately for us neither option is open to Ruby.
Best of luck
Kathy
xxx

Hi Kathy

It is big, v. large chicken egg maybe, tender, and goes up into her groin, I cannot feel the top of it but as it is tender am not going to fiddle.  It could just be an infection of course but I wanted to hear the experiences of othe people on mammary strips, before I go to the vet later in case this is what he recommends.

Chemo is not an option to me as I could not bring myself to impose this on one of my dogs.

I am sorry to hear about Ruby but in some ways you are lucky, you know your time is limited and can make the most of it.  Not how you feel at the moment I imagine but when I know one of mine is terminally ill I tend to relax the house rules and she gets thoroughly spoilt.

I have heard of three Dobes recently (two of them I bred) who have died in their sleep, one in a patch of sun whilst her owner was cleaning out the stables, one during the night and one in the car, this was lovely for the the dogs as they just drifted off but in each case the owners felt they missed out by not saying goodbye.

Christine

Hi Christine :)

When did this lump first appear? If it has come on very quickly during this false pregnancy, it could well just be infection, but it's still best that it gets checked (which I know I dont need to tell you *lol*). Does it feel hard/soft, fluidy/solid?

I have mixed feelings about chemo for dogs. When I first heard of it being used, I must admit I thought it was a bit cruel, as you cant tell a dog you're putting them through it for their good. However, since then, a lot of people have told me that most dogs dont feel any different on chemo, so I dont know. Ruby wouldnt survive chemo in the state she's in, so its not an option for us anyway. At the moment we have just switched tactics. Instead of trying to fight a losing battle with her cancer, we are focusing on getting bloodwork done (in a fortnight), and seeing how her organs are coping. Seeing as its already spread to her lungs, it's likely that it's in her liver/kidneys/intestines too, so bloodwork would show if theyre beginning to fail. Vet is pretty certain her liver is. So, we can get the results, and get her organs supported through diet and medication, which may well keep her comfy for longer. Right, I'll stop myself there - I'm waffling on in your thread *lol* :D

Right, on the subject of mammary strips. Theyre normally performed in the cases where there are several lumps and/or severely aggressive cancer. Theyre pretty huge/drastic operations depending on whether theyre bilateral/partial/full, but at the same time many dogs cope extremely well. Before a vet will perform a mammary strip, he'll need to do a biopsy/aspiration of the lumps to see if they are malignant, and if so, what kind of cancer it is. Once a diagnosis is made, he/she will be able to go through the different treatment options and any further testing with you.

I'll see if I can dig out some links for you, but there is an American message board where they know a hell of a lot more than me about this kind of thing http://forums.delphiforums.com/petcancer/messages

Take care

Kathy
xxxxx
ps: Let me know how you get on! Fingers, toes and paws crossed here.

Hi Christine.

My Elka developed a pea size lump in her hind gland just before she was due in season (planning to mate her), when she was 5.

The Vet said wait until the season was finished.  I wasn't happy wityh this but did wait, and it was still their but possibly a little bigger.

I had it removed and analysed, and the results came back as Carcinoma, and bloods etc said unlikley to have Metastisised.

Three years later at 8 1/2 I found the same size lump in exactly the same spot close to the nipple.  This time she had a Part8ial mammary strip removing the glands attached to the same Lymph nodes, ie the rear two on that side.

She is now nearly 12 and has had two more lumps one on chest and one in groin, both turned out to be Benign fatty Lipomas.  These were sort of flat fatty things compared to the hard little lump of the Carcinoma.  I think she may have another one of the benign ones forming on the rib section when i feel very carefully, but I won't bother having it removed seeing as these have been benign and her age.

Thanks for your replies

The vet is of the same opinion as me unfortunately, he considers her lumps
are cancer and it is just a case of how malignant.

I have been to them a couple of times this year with "Fennel's not right but
I don't know what's wrong" type complaints but blood works and thyroid etc
have all been normal.  As I am concerned that her stomach is bloated, and
not just from her phantom, they will do chest and abdomen x-rays and if
there is any sign of secondaries they will not operate, if she looks clear
she will have the lumps removed tomorrow morning and he assures me it will
be a lumpectomy and just removing the rear two glands rather than a complete
mammary strip.

Please wish us luck

Christine

Fingers crossed here, Christine.

Thinking of you both here - really hoping for the best *hugs*

Good luck Christine, hope it`s not as bad you think.

Christine, Spain.

Fingers crossed here too for Fennel, hope its all ok.

Fingers and paws crossed, Christine - do hope you get a good result.

Regards
Margot

Best of luck Christine. If it any small comfort, my father's collie bitch had a mammary strip aged 11 and lived until she was 15. The lump appeared over a very short time and was quite large at surgery. It was a primarily papillary adenocarcinoma.

Update on Fennel

X-rays were almost clear and the two v. small shadows could not be positivly identified so I agreed to go ahead.

The tumor was bigger than a goose egg and although the bottom was easy to find the top was quite deep inside her.

I bought her home and within five minutes she had started to bleed - heavily, so we went straight back and they put a pressure bandage on her. They have decided to keep her in overnight to give the wound time to settle.

So my poor little Fennel is having a night in hospital

Christine

Oh dear. :( You must be worried sick. Poor Fennel. I'm keeping everything crossed here.

We've got everything crossed here for a quick and full recovery for Fennel *hug*.

How is Fennel today Christine? Hope she`s recovering well enough to come back home & continues over the holidays.

Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine and All,

I have just picked her up, she was very pleased to see me - it is always nice to be greeted enthusiastically by your dogs even if it does cause them to drip fluid all over the floor.

After my grandmother died a few years ago in her belongings were some of those  long legged knickers that cover most of your stomach as well and my Mum gave them to me saying they would come in useful at some time - I have a feeling she meant for me but they are coming in very useful to put on Fennel to stop her licking her wound

They tell me the lump was bigger than a goose egg so now we have to wait to see how malignant the histology report thinks it was.  Not very I hope.

Merry Christmas All

Christine

Dilita had a lump removed about 3 years ago, since then she has got quite a few lumps.  My vet mentioned about having the mammary strip done but we both felt really that it would be more trouble to do this as if it was a cancer could end up making it spread more quickly. 

So here we are a year and a half later still with the lumps but she's fine.  Did have a scare about 7 months ago but she was put on strong antibiotics for a week and she's been fine since.  Dilita is 12 next month.

I hope all's well with you girl and give her lots of hugs and kisses from me.

Bet your G/mum would be happy knowing her knicks came in handy :D Hope all stays well :)

Christine, Spain.

Well, the Biopsy results are back and my vet rang me this morning and the news was better than I anticipated.

They think they got all the tumour, it is a carcinoma but is in the low to mid range of malignancy/metastases so her outlook is Good to Fair (in a range of Excellent, Good, Fair, Bad, Abysmal).  Her G. Grandmother's mammary cancer results came back as high as they could be in both malignancy and mestatases so I had been dreading something similar with Fennel.

Looks like her life can go back to normal once she has recovered from the operation

Christine

Very pleased to hear the good news :)

Good news, Christine - I hope she makes a good recovery.
:)

Lovely news :D Hope all stays well in the future :)

Christine, Spain.

Fantastic news Christine! Give her a gentle squidge from us lot! :D

Ah that's great news Christine, give her a big hug from me too!!

Good news then ! ;) - how old is Fennel?

Hope Fennel makes a speedy recovery Kerioak. :) :) :)

Jo