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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!!
Service Cats U.S. 