Mammary Monday

Meowllo evewypawdy and happy purresident’s day. We don’t weally celebwate here and so mommy wuz gunna post hers luv letter to me today but she didn’t want it to get lost in da shuffle of a silly holiday. And then we membewed meez furst Blogoversawy be comin’ up on Wednesday so da day afur wuld be da purrfect time fur mommy to tell da world how much she luvs me. Don’t you agwee? Okay so maybe it’s not da World, but me will be happy anyways. So we fawt today we wuld focus on anudder healff issue suwwoundin’ unaltered cats. Specially since this be Cat Healff mumff.  Ifin yous missed any of ow educational posty’s you can enter da word “educational” in da search baw of meez page and find the posty you wuld like to wead.  

Mommy just checked me and now meez gettin' sum luvvin.
Mommy just checked me and now meez gettin’ sum luvvin.

We want to cover breast cancer today. Altho’ more common in females, it can occur in males also. Breast cancer, or mammary cancer as it is called usually affects older cats between the ages of 10 – 14 years of age. Again, this is not a rule and can occur at anytime. There are a few breeds that are predisposed to mammary cancer, and they are Siamese or tri-colored cats. Another at risk female is one spayed after going through a heat. Whether or not she has had a litter of kittens makes no difference. Typically it is malignant, so all mammary cancer is treated as if it is from the start. No biopsy is performed. Instead surgery is performed and the breast and surrounding glands are removed.

 mammary cancer

Treatment is most often removal of the mammary gland chain, that means all of them. It’s safer that way as mammary cancer is aggressive and removal of all the glands reduces the risk of it’s return. After removal a sample can then be tested to determine the type and malignancy of the tumor. If malignant there may be follow up treatments of chemotherapy. There is no sure fire way to prevent this dreaded disease, but you can decrease the risk with a simple spay. The prognosis is very guarded as most cats only live a year after being diagnosed. An early catch and aggressive treatment can result in an extra 2-3 years.

mammary cancer calico
Feline Mammory Tumor

mammary cancer foto1

Some drugs used in the treatment of miliary dermatitis and some behavioral problems  such as Progesterone like medicines can cause mammary cancer. It’s always good to know the side effects of a drug before you give it to your pet. Weigh the benefits to the worst case scenario before proceeding. And as always talk to your vet about all available treatments and options for any problem that arises with your pet. And just as women should be performing breast checks on themselves, you should do the same with your female cat. Remember you know your cat, her behavior, and her body. For most kitties, until there’s a serious disease; only see the Vet once a year. Your self exams may just be the difference between that 1 year and 2-3 years.  

Feline Mastectomy
Feline Mastectomy

We wealize one or more of da fotos may be a little gwaffic, but we wanted to show da actual tumor on an actual cat. Obviously this is not the early stages, but by seein’ it we hope you will understand better what to look for. Early in ow social media time we lost a Facebook furiend to feline bweast cancer. This is a very serious disease. Purrlease Spay//Neuter your pets. Dat will go a long way toward purrventin’ a lot of da diseases dat can affect yous kitties life. 

Till da nex time……………….Be Blest!!!

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses  

Dezi and Lexi

45 thoughts on “Mammary Monday

  1. Another good reason to spay your queens. Parker and her friend Inky were spayed (and their littermate brothers neutered) at a low-cost facility around the age of 8 months. Parker then made the transition from farm cat to house cat at about 16 or 17 months.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Mee-you Dezi an lexi mee shudderin so over to LadyMum ok??
    Hello girls & Mum A. Thank you so much for this post. I had NO idea a cat could get Breast Cancer & except for Siddhartha Henry ALL my feline companions have been female…
    I did notice last year Nylablue had a swollen area; small but swollen & rather pinkish…we will never know obviously….but it is food for thought! Poor girl had enough to deal with. Again thank you for sharing this.
    Love Sherri-Ellen ❤ ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    1. So glad we kuld help. There’s so many fins out there dat lots of peeps don’t know ’bout, and we can’t weally do them justice, but we hope to educate peeps enuff so dat maybe they will seek out more info. ifin they be in dat situation.

      Luv ya’

      Dezi and Lexi

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  3. Thanks so much for a great post. Several of our dear friends on Catster got this disease and fought bravely for several years with early treatment.
    We really benefit from these posts
    Purrs and prayers
    Timmy and Dad and family

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh purrlease don’t worry ’bout what you can’t change. Just be glad hers not hav to do dat anymore and is safer now. She’s fur sure happier and heallffier.

      Luv ya’

      Dezi and Lexi

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    1. They sure can awnty Theresa. At least we hav sum knoowin’ ’bout how to deal wiff sum of them these days. Altho’ mommy sez she wuld hate to hav to put us fwu any of this.

      Luv ya’

      Dezi and Lexi

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  4. We knew some kitties that succumbed to this bad bad disease.
    Thanks for maybe teaching a lot of other kitties that they need to be vigilant.

    Meowmy herself is an example of an early detection of a bad cancer back in 2006…(but not BreastCancer).
    Every day is a new blessing, and every one needs to be educated about things like these issues, so they too can enjoy each day’s new blessings.

    Liked by 1 person

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