Another breast tumour

Discodog

After all my trials & successes with breast tumours on my oldest girl it now seems that my younger Greyhound could be in serious trouble. In only 48 hours her two rear mammaries have become swollen & sore. She will in the Vet tomorrow but I am seriously concerned.

The maddening thing is that I check them meticulously especially after the other episode but this could be an inflammatory type of aggressive tumour & they are normally fatal.

Just to remind people that an early spay reduces the risk enormously. This girl was rescued so she was too old to benefit.

So I won't be able to focus on anything until I get her to the Vet - here's hoping that it's not what I fear.

Whispered

Fingers crossed for you and your girl DD

Discodog

Thanks. I don't know if the internet makes thing better or worse. I have become an authority on breast tumours but it's scary. I am hoping that the swelling is due to some other cause for example like a tick bite. Even an infection would be good news in this case.

But she is eating like a horse & charging around like a lunatic.

Tranceypoo

Hope it all goes ok at the vets, fingers crossed she will be fine.

Have been told by 2 different doctors NOT to look up symptons on the internet!

Discodog

Well if you google "sore swollen mammary dog" you get cancer or mastitis & I am pretty sure that it's not the latter.

One type of tumour, which is the one that my other dog had, are like little "rice crispies" under the skin & are easily removed. The other type lie deeper, only show when the mammary starts to swell & surgery is rarely effective. Also usually tumours occur in the rear mammaries.

The amazing thing is that in un- neutered females the rate for breast cancer can be as high as 50%.

Tranceypoo

Discodog wrote: »

The amazing thing is that in un- neutered females the rate for breast cancer can be as high as 50%.

Christ I didn't know it was that high!!

The reason not to google symptons is that the word 'cancer' will always appear in a link. Try not to think about it too much until you've taken her to the vets (I know that's easier said than done)

slashygoodness

Fingers and paws in this house crossed for you, that it will be good news at the vets

Discodog

slashygoodness wrote: »

Fingers and paws in this house crossed for you, that it will be good news at the vets

Thanks. By nature I am a very positive person but I am a realist. Her symptoms are seriously worrying & bear a strong resemblance to Inflammatory Mammary Cancer. In 48 hours she has gone from having a slightly swollen mammary to it now weeping & showing possible signs of ulceration. It is also very sore to touch but she will be charging around on her walk this evening.

A lifetime of dogs & a previous scary but positive encounter with breast cancer, has taught me to hope for best whilst preparing for the worse. If it is IMC then the only option will be euthanasia. She will of been unlucky as IMC is fairly rare & does not often occur in younger dogs.

magentas

I'm so sorry to hear this discodog but try not to think about it too much, talking about euthanasia? please just wait until the vet has examined her and try to keep your mind off it for tonight if you can at all. Much easier said than done I know.

I hope it's not the bad news you're expecting to hear. It's good to be realistic but it's so important to remain positive IMO. How old is she?

Discodog

About 3-4. Hard to tell as she was dumped in Galway. My positivity is expressed by evaluating all the options & possibilities so that when I meet with the Vet we can have a clear plan.

If it is bad news then this form of Cancer is totally incurable even with chemo & radiotherapy. It also develops very rapidly with an average life expectancy of 6 weeks. If as I suspect the Vet may want to x ray her or do an exploratory op it will be on the express understanding that she is not revived unless the prognosis is good.

There may be other conditions, that I am not aware of, that mirror these symptoms. If so I will be incredibly relieved & I will post here in case anyone else ends up in the same situation.

If she has to go then another Greyhound will take her place. She has shown me that they are wonderful dogs & the least that I could do would be to help another one.

star-pants

Fingers are crossed for you Discodog -- that would just be heartbreaking if it's worst case scenario. I can understand you trying to be both positive and realistic, but I do hope it's treatable whatever it is.

magentas

Well best of luck tomorrow, you're well clued in but here's hoping it won't be such a heart-breaking outcome. Let us know how you get on with the vet, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. What's your girls name?

You gave her a second chance in life by taking her in when you did and that's something to be very proud of. Whatever the outcome, always remember that.

ISDW

Sorry to hear this, hopefully you're just worrying yourself unnecessarily and it will be something treatable and she'll be fine.

Best of luck at the vets, please keep us updated.

toadfly

Really sorry to hear she's not well DD but I really hope you aren't right in this instance.

Please let us know how you get on tomorrow.

Discodog

Pearl & she will be like this in about half an hour.

magentas

She's a real little stunner. Good luck tomorrow and try not to worry too much

piperh

Such a beautiful expressive face. Discodog i really hope on this occassion your wrong. Fingers crossed for tomorrow hoping all goes well for her.

Gremlin

Aw she's a real beauty discodog, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have some good news in this thread tomorrow evening.

belongtojazz

Thinking of you all, fingers crossed it's much better than you fear x

Discodog

Well the good news is that it's looking less likely to be an inflammatory tumour but something is sending her hormones haywire & that could be a tumour or a cyst. Since my last post her remaining mammaries started to show slight signs of swelling so she may have a kind of false pregnancy going on.

Anyway I now have €100 worth of drugs to administer. We have antibiotics, painkillers, anti inflammatories & a €50 bottle of Galastop to stop her trying to lactate :eek:.

Once & if we can get the whole lot to calm down then it will be an exploratory op & probably a full spay. So bang goes the idea of a keyhole spay. But the positive signs are that she is lively & bright.

Now before any of you smarty pants say told you so , bear in mind that over the weekend only one of her mammaries was severely swollen which is totally unlike a false pregnancy. Also my other bitch ended up having two separate ops to remove two different tumours within a period of 10 days .

So for now Pearl can keep treating my youngster like a Hare by chasing him all over the beach. Many thanks for all you kind thoughts - maybe the karma is working .

Whispered

Discodog wrote: »

Now before any of you smarty pants say told you so ,

I bet this is one of the times you're delighted people can say it

delighted it's not as serious as you thought.

ISDW

Brilliant news.

Now stop looking up symptoms on the interwebthingy:rolleyes:

Really pleased though for you and her obviously that its not what you had feared.

slashygoodness

Well, we will keep chucking the positive vibes your way....delighted to hear that it is not as serious as you feared...

Discodog

Well I shouldn't be surprised that it could be female hormones causing all the grief .............:pac:

Whispered

Good job you're single then

star-pants

Delighted to hear it wasn't the worst, heres to her getting better!

Discodog

Whispered wrote: »

Good job you're single then

Yep. It means that I have the money to pay these Vet bills

PS Where have all the rich single women gone !

Gremlin

Discodog wrote: »

PS Where have all the rich single women gone !

They all got Bischon Frises:)

Delighted to hear than its good news regarding the swelling.

dragona

Thrilled Have been thinking about her all day!

piperh

Brilliant news DD :D

Discodog

Well this stuff may be €50 for 15ml :eek: but it sure seems to work. Still sore & swollen this morning but I came home to a different dog this afternoon. As soon as she jumped up I knew that she must be a lot better. Just had a good feel around the nethers (make sure no one is looking !) & she was happy to let me - last night she would of screamed the place down.

Her reward for getting better will be surgery & 10 days with a bloody lampshade but as long as we find nothing nasty it will be worth it.