anyones dog ever had a mammary strip done? I'm upset

[AnAngelWithin]

Our lovely labrador (who we got off a MNer last year) has developed mammary tumours. The vet said to spay her and have the mammary strips done will cost in the region of £500. I don't care about the cost, at the end of the day, I would sell everything I own to pay for it for her. BUT the vet has said that there are no guarantees that the mammary tumours wouldn't come back. She is an old dog. 9-10 years (ish), so too old to insure as well. I am really concerned about putting her through such a major op at her age. I don't want them to operate on her to lose her on the table or she gets ill afterwards. The tumours can still come back afterwards if she has the op. She seems ok in herself at the moment. They don't know if the tumours are canerous or not. They might not be, and she could go on for the rest of her life with them, or they could be bad and affect her quite quickly. Oh I don't know what to do. I only took her in for her booster injection

[WorzselMummage]

We had a dog who developed cancer, it was pretty untreatable so we didnt have that option but i dont think we would have for financial reasons and the fact hat he was an old dog anyway.

We made the decision to let him go on for as long as he seemed comforable and then have him put to sleep.

It was very hard but defianatly the right thing to do for him, and us.

sorry your having to go though this

[IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast]

Sorry to hear this

A mammary strip is not your only option. You could ask for a biopsy (a less major operation where one of the masses is removed for close examination at a laboratory). This allows you to get information on whether the lumps are definitely cancerous and if so, how malignant they are. It would also be advisable to take chest xrays at the same time to check for evidence of any possible spread of cancer into the chest.

Incidentally, spaying isn't necessary. It used to be advised as a matter of routine in these cases but it is no longer thought to be of benefit. Spaying can help prevent mammary tumours but only if done before the second season, early in the dog's life.

HTH

[AnAngelWithin]

thank you IARCFB. The trouble is she has got loads and loads of 'anterior' tumours. deep inside. doing a biopsy on them all would be a problem I think.

We got up this morning and there is watery blood in her bed. Shes not in season. Maybe a water infection? She seems very desperate to get out for a wee lately!

[emiliadaniel]

I agree with everything IARCFB said but would strongly advise routine blood and urine tests before you even begin to decide whether to go ahead. It does sound quite likely that she has a urinary infection but you also need to know how her liver, kidneys, etc are functioning. This you will give you a much better basis to make a decision re an anaesthetic.
It is very, very unlikely you would lose her on the table, though.
My approach with your dog would be:

1. Blood and urine tests
2. Start on antibiotics for urinary infection if necessary
3. Anaesthetic for chest xrays to check if any sign of lung tumours
4. Biopsy under same anaesthetic if no lung tumours (you wouldn't need to check all the lumps)
5. Mammary strip if biopsy revealed malignancy

But only if you were happy to proceed with each next step.
Even if the lumps aren't cancerous they sometimes can become very large and ulcerated. In this case surgery can really improve the quality of life.
I know there is a lot to think about but hope some of this helps.

[tinagee1234]

my dog who is nearly 12 years old and we have had since she was 8 weeks old, had one side of her mammary glands removed yesterday, in what the vet said was a big operation, she had a few small lumps removed a year ago which were benign, great, since then we have noticed a few lumps and one lump which was getting quite large and hanging down underneath and getting longer, but she did not seem too bothered by it, but we thought it time to have them removed, she was very poorly after the op last night and in a lot of pain, we have been giving her anti biotics and pain killers from the vet, which have now eased the pain, there is a lot of bruising along the large cut which looks like a big zipper, and is very red and purple,
but we are glad as she will only improve from now on and i would recommend anyone who, is still thinking of putting their dog through it, is do it to say you love them and stop them suffering any longer, I know she will now only get better

[lindabudd2000]

Our little rescue yorkie who is 16 plus had mammary tumours one was has big has a golf ball, she had a Mammary strip on thursday, its now monday and she's doing great, l would recommend having your munchkins tumours removed providing they do relevant blood test and urine tests first, to make sure their kidneys are ok, they use a different anesthetic on older dogs than younger ones, a less harsh one, and she's on meds that will not harm her kidneys, leaving tumours will lead them to ulcerate xx