Mammary abscess in senior dog

[Myka]

Hi all,

Two days ago I saw a red area on Roxy's belly near the last nipples, but didn't think much of it because she has allergies and gets red skin on her belly often. I spray 50/50 ACV/H2O on it and it usually heals up pretty quick.

Late last night I found a hard mammary lump about the size of a tennis ball cut in half on Roxy that was leaking some pus and a bit of blood. She's not bothering it and didn't have a fever, so I cleaned it up last night with some Hibitane soap, and waited until this morning to get a vet appointment. She has an appointment for this afternoon. The lump actually looks less mad than it did last night - if that's even possible.

I'm pretty sure she has had at least one litter of puppies as she has the hanging boobies syndrome (haha). I was told when I adopted her (age 6) that she was adopted from the SPCA at age 2, so she would have been spayed then if she wasn't already. However, who really knows, right?

Has anyone seen mastitis in a senior, spayed female? I'm really hoping it's mastitis and not breast cancer.

I took a photo last night before I cleaned it up, but the photo is *GRAPHIC*, so I will provide a link instead of posting it into the thread. If you don't want to see a draining abscess, don't click.

Monday Feb 16th 11 pm: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...216_225205.jpg

[Myka]

Well the vet appointment went ok I guess. Roxy saw a new, young vet. Fresh off the books I think!

The vet thinks the lump is a tumor, not an abscess because it is hard and a bit lumpy (it looks smooth to the eye). She said statistically, mammary tumors in female dogs are 50/50 cancerous, though she says she's seen more like 75% cancerous. So that's not good.

The prognosis for dog breast cancer (unlike humans) is very poor. The cost of mastectomy is quite significant, so I figured the first thing we need to do is try to figure out if it is cancer or not. If it is cancer, then mastectomy may or may not prolong her life. If it is not cancerous then mastectomy is a good option.

So, apparently when dog breast cancer metastasizes it usually goes to the lungs first (same in humans actually), so she x-rayed Roxy's lungs. The lungs came back as clear, but she noted that Roxy has an enlarged heart, but no heart murmur. This is almost certainly unrelated, but it's something else to keep in mind if Roxy's going to go under general anesthetic.

Next, we did a CBC, electrolytes, and chemical blood profile checking for abnormalities, particularly elevated calcium which could indicate cancer. The blood work came back all within normal range.

The vet said we could do a biopsy, but she said it is very difficult to tell the difference between malignant cells and normal cells. Biopsy is the normal step for humans, so I'm not sure why it would be different for dogs. I don't know if it is because dog doctors aren't as good as human doctors or because dog breast tissue is different than human breast tissue. Anyone know anything about this??

The vet was pushing towards mastectomy surgery rather than biopsy. Although she wanted to send me to a bigger clinic to get Roxy's heart ultrasound examined before putting her under anesthesia.

Anyone have any opinions or experiences?

I might go for a second opinion to a vet I used to frequent who has seen Roxy before. I switched because this old vet is the most expensive one (most recommended too), and also because the new vet is the only holistic center in the area.

[Myka]

I made an appointment for a second opinion tomorrow. I will take the x-ray and blood tests with me.

[Myka]

I just checked the lump. It hasn't been draining at all today except a small amount of clear fluid. The Metacam (assuming) has reduced the size of the lump significantly - about 1/3. I'm not sure what that means. I look forward to the second opinion tomorrow.

[hazelrunpack]

Hope you get good results tomorrow, Myka! Keeping my fingers crossed!

[Myka]

Thanks Hazel, I hope so too!

Here's a pic from Tuesday Feb 17th 10 am (18 hours after first Metacam dose): http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...eb172015AM.jpg