[rosietoby]

Well Holly had her annual and the Vet felt a small mass under her breast tissue.:w00t: She wants me to monitor it and if it changes we should have a biopsy. She said dogs can get breast cancer.:smcry:
Shouldn't I just go ahead now and get that biopsy? Why wait?! What else could it be, does anyone know?:smpullhair: When I googled it it seems unneutered females are more likely to get it. Well she is neutered.

This is way too stressful!:smcry:

 

[Ladysmom]

When was Holly spayed? If females are spayed before their first heat you eliminate their chance of mammary cancer. If you wait until after their they have one cycle, the risk rises to 7%. It jumps to 25% if you don't spay until after the second heat cycle.

If it were me I'd go ahead and get a biopsy. I sure wouldn't want to wait if there was even a chance of cancer.

 

[drclee]

Oh dear, how frightening! I would also do it right away, just for peace of mind. I really hope and pray it's not cancer!

 

[donnad]

I wouldn't wait. I would want to know if it is something that may need to be treated. Why torture yourself waiting?

 

[EmmasMommy]

My sheltie Katie ( who was spayed before her first heat) had mammary carcinoma at age 11 ( last year) luckily it was a subtype that was not aggressive and rarely metastasizes. We had the tumor resected and the vet did wide margins to prevent local recurrence. Katie didn't have to have any other treatment, she wore a blow up soft elizabethan collar and healed fast. She is almost 13 , has some arthritis and still going strong.

I would get the biopsy and pathology and then decide the next step.

Here is Kate:

 

[almitra]

Oh wow....I would be scared to death, too. Please do find out what it is for your own peace of mind and let us know--we're all hoping for the best!

 

[jmm]

If labwork and x-rays are normal, I would have it removed and sent for histopath. No point in worrying, especially when its in an area like that (you often run into a problem with having enough skin to close when doing multiple mastectomies, resecting larger tumors, or repeat surgeries to remove recurrence).
Dogs can also get benign cysts and local cancers which do not spread. The more aggressive cancers are typically seen in unspayed females or females spayed later in life.