Can anyone help, please? I have been asked if you have a bitch, and don't spay her, is she necessarily more at risk of developing mammary tumours? I am not sure of the answer ... I can only think of all the elderly bitches I've known, unspayed, who DIDN'T get tumours. Were they just lucky?
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Unspayed Bitches
- Thread starter wilfred
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Yes, unfortunately they are much more common in older unspayed bitches. Here is a quote from veterinary surgeon's website in Kent.
Neutering your bitch will stop her getting pregnant, prevent uterine, ovarian and vaginal tumours and stop her suffering from false pregnancies, pyometra or vaginal prolapses. It also greatly resolves the chances of her developing mammary tumours: if she is spayed before her first season there is only a 0.05% chance of her getting a tumour, 8% if she has one season and 26% if she has two seasons. So there are very good health reasons to spay your dog. In fact a study found that spayed bitches live, on average, 12 – 18 months longer than entire ones.
Here is the whole article http://www.darwinvets.com/dogs/olderbitch.htm
Neutering your bitch will stop her getting pregnant, prevent uterine, ovarian and vaginal tumours and stop her suffering from false pregnancies, pyometra or vaginal prolapses. It also greatly resolves the chances of her developing mammary tumours: if she is spayed before her first season there is only a 0.05% chance of her getting a tumour, 8% if she has one season and 26% if she has two seasons. So there are very good health reasons to spay your dog. In fact a study found that spayed bitches live, on average, 12 – 18 months longer than entire ones.
Here is the whole article http://www.darwinvets.com/dogs/olderbitch.htm
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[SIZE=14pt][/SIZE]Zephyr said:
You are saying that 26% of bitches get mammary tumors if allowed to have two seasons. What absolute total and utter rubbish. I can guarantee that 26% of the bitches I have kept ALL of which are/were entire have not developed mammary tumors.
If you are going to post such sensationalist messages please try to ensure the truth in your 'facts' even when taken directly from another site
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Well I can't quote exact percentages, but mammary tumours ARE common in older unspayed bitches. I help to run a small rescue that rehomes older dogs, and a fair number of the unspayed bitches we take in need mammary strips.
The last two dogs I have taken in myself, both seven year old bitches, had mammary tumours. In one case they were relatively benign, in the other they were quite an aggressive form of cancer, and there is a chance even after spaying and stripping that there will be complications and secondary tumours in the future.
Personally I would always spay after the first season as protection from pyometra and mammary tumours (quite apart from other benefits of avoiding any chance of unwanted pregnancy, not having to put up with seasons and phantom pregnancies).
The last two dogs I have taken in myself, both seven year old bitches, had mammary tumours. In one case they were relatively benign, in the other they were quite an aggressive form of cancer, and there is a chance even after spaying and stripping that there will be complications and secondary tumours in the future.
Personally I would always spay after the first season as protection from pyometra and mammary tumours (quite apart from other benefits of avoiding any chance of unwanted pregnancy, not having to put up with seasons and phantom pregnancies).
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Well i must just be very lucky then, none of my bitches are ever spayed, my eldest died at 14, then 12 then 14, none of them had any tumours at all. :huggles:
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My opinion,
If you want to prevent a dog getting cancer of a particular organ, removing the organ is the obvious preventative. However, there are risks associated with operations and for me personally, those risks have to be justified. As a cancer preventative, I'm sorry but I don't see this as a justifiable reason.
Cancer is a common disease in dogs with the vast majority succumbing to the disease in elderly age. Hormones whilst being beneficial to the body can well be causative to cancers. I accept this as a natural occurance and feel that the risks of incontinence, death under general anaesthesia, post operative infection and not to mention the resultant hormonal imbalances are issues I don't want to chance with one of my dogs. As I don't feel seasons as a particularly traumatic occurance to live with, I just feel unless there's a problem then leave well alone.
If you want to prevent a dog getting cancer of a particular organ, removing the organ is the obvious preventative. However, there are risks associated with operations and for me personally, those risks have to be justified. As a cancer preventative, I'm sorry but I don't see this as a justifiable reason.
Cancer is a common disease in dogs with the vast majority succumbing to the disease in elderly age. Hormones whilst being beneficial to the body can well be causative to cancers. I accept this as a natural occurance and feel that the risks of incontinence, death under general anaesthesia, post operative infection and not to mention the resultant hormonal imbalances are issues I don't want to chance with one of my dogs. As I don't feel seasons as a particularly traumatic occurance to live with, I just feel unless there's a problem then leave well alone.
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You are saying that 26% of bitches get mammary tumors if allowed to have two seasons. What absolute total and utter rubbish.
I was under the impression that this figure of 26% was taken from a veterinary surgeon's site, in which case, one would assume the professional in question had done a thorough job of researching the scientific journals for the information.
If you are going to post such sensationalist messages please try to ensure the truth in your 'facts' even when taken directly from another site
Unless the poster had access to the necessary professional sites/journals/and scientific papers relating to the pertinent research carried out how could the truth of the 'facts' be verified?
I could say that I have had two bitches, one entire, one spayed, and neither of them developed cancer of any kind, mammary or otherwise, and both lived to 16yrs, but that is not evidence merely my experience of those two bitches. Those two bitches could have been the lucky ones, and just because I have never had experience of mammary cancer in bitches it does not mean that the entire bitch was NOT at risk, it just means that she was one of the lucky ones from a very healthy gene pool as far as mammary cancer was concerned, and ditto for the spayed greyhound!
I have not replied in large blue letters! :- "
I was under the impression that this figure of 26% was taken from a veterinary surgeon's site, in which case, one would assume the professional in question had done a thorough job of researching the scientific journals for the information.
If you are going to post such sensationalist messages please try to ensure the truth in your 'facts' even when taken directly from another site
Unless the poster had access to the necessary professional sites/journals/and scientific papers relating to the pertinent research carried out how could the truth of the 'facts' be verified?
I could say that I have had two bitches, one entire, one spayed, and neither of them developed cancer of any kind, mammary or otherwise, and both lived to 16yrs, but that is not evidence merely my experience of those two bitches. Those two bitches could have been the lucky ones, and just because I have never had experience of mammary cancer in bitches it does not mean that the entire bitch was NOT at risk, it just means that she was one of the lucky ones from a very healthy gene pool as far as mammary cancer was concerned, and ditto for the spayed greyhound!
I have not replied in large blue letters! :- "
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I read the passage to mean that 26% of bitches will be more likely to get tumours. Not that 26% of bitches will get tumours.
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Yes, that's how I read it :thumbsup:jezza said:
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I can't quote any statistics, but in my days of working for a vet (for over 6 yrs) I was present at many operations for the removal of mammary tumours and complete mammary strips, as well as pyometras which can prove fatal. Not pleasant operations and one has to consider the anaesthetic risk and the length of time taken to heal for what are often elderly dogs. 
My personal preference is to spay after the first season if one has no intention of breeding with a bitch (for a number of reasons).
I think each decision has to be taken by the owner in consideration of their own personal circumstances and their individual bitch.
My personal preference is to spay after the first season if one has no intention of breeding with a bitch (for a number of reasons).
I think each decision has to be taken by the owner in consideration of their own personal circumstances and their individual bitch.
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My thoughts and experience exactly. I would always spay a bitch I wasn't going to breed from - not sure I would ever have one done before a first season again though - I did once, as it was recoemmended by the vets I worked for - she hasn't had any problems caused by it, but personally I think it's better for them to mature enough to have a season first. My very first whippet had recurring mammary tumours, and was also starting with pyometra when she was spayed, and had a mammary strip. For me, the worry of pyometra in older age (when perhaps they can't take an anaesthetic) is enough to have them spayed when they are young enough to cope with it.~Sarah~ said:I can't quote any statistics, but in my days of working for a vet (for over 6 yrs) I was present at many operations for the removal of mammary tumours and complete mammary strips, as well as pyometras which can prove fatal. Not pleasant operations and one has to consider the anaesthetic risk and the length of time taken to heal for what are often elderly dogs.
My personal preference is to spay after the first season if one has no intention of breeding with a bitch (for a number of reasons).
I think each decision has to be taken by the owner in consideration of their own personal circumstances and their individual bitch.
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My old Mayzee :wub: :wub: developt mammery tumours at 8 years , 5 of them in fact, but she was operated on and spayed at the same time and lived another 8 years
I wonder if they are hereditory like breast cancer in woman ?
I wonder if they are hereditory like breast cancer in woman ?
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Our SBT(unspayed) Molly had mammary cancer - firstly the tumour was removed, it came back so the strip of teats was removed. She developed it on the other side and that strip of teats was removed too. Then she developed it a 4th time at the age of 11, this time we decided not to put her through any more surgery and she lived a happy life for another 6 months up until the day she had to be PTS.
I can only speak from personal experience, but I know the vets do say that the are much more likely to develop mammary cancer than spayed bitches - as for if the figures being quoted are correct or not, I haven't a clue :wacko:
I can only speak from personal experience, but I know the vets do say that the are much more likely to develop mammary cancer than spayed bitches - as for if the figures being quoted are correct or not, I haven't a clue :wacko:
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Both my two bitches are unspayed peggy 7 and bow 3...havent had any problems........
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