Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Dog’s Mammary Gland Cyst

It is fairly common knowledge that the chances of a dog developing mammary gland cancer is increased if the dog is not spayed.

As readers of this site will know, my dog is not spayed and is in fact six weeks pregnant as I type. I was horrified over the weekend to find a small lump just above one of her teats.

I couldn’t take her to the vets until Saturday so I asked my mum to take her this morning.

The vet has said that it is a small cyst on her mammary gland. I was surprised to hear that he recommended we leave it. He says it should get a little larger and will then burst and go away on its own, however, if it gets too large then I should take her back to him.

My immediate questions were what exactly is too big, what timescales are we talking and if it’s going to grow surely that can’t be good?

Naturally, I’ve looked on the internet and am surprised to find a lack of specific information on this issue, however, one or two vet advice sites say that most cysts are benign in dogs but should be removed, including the surrounding tissue and it’s better to do this whilst the cyst is still small.  I have to admit, her lump is pretty small but I would have thought it good that it was spotted so early.  I’m a little worried I now have a vague instruction to ‘wait til it gets bigger’.  Of course, there’s the additional complication of her pregnancy so nothing could be done now anyway and hence I’m not going to rush into a second opinion.  If it hasn’t gone by the time the puppies leave, then we’ll be going back to the vet.

However, I do think a little more research is called for and I’ll let you know what I find. If anyone has any information or knows anywhere I can find it, please post a comment for me.