Whiskey's Enormous Mammary Tumour
Whiskey, an 11 yr old female neutered Jack Russell was presented to us with an enormous mammary tumour hanging between her back legs. She had no apparent discomfort and was well in herself but the lump was beginning to drag on the floor and ulcerate. She looked a bit embarrassed about it!

She'd had a plum-sized tumour removed from the same place about 2 yrs previously and had been neutered at the same time. She'd had no recurrence until about 3 months ago when the present lump began to grow.

Whiskey was admitted for a general anaesthetic and prepared for surgery.
The tumour was well encapsulated and probably benign so surgical removal was likely to be successful.
A - the skin ulceration over the tumour.
This type of surgery can be messy as the area has a very large blood supply.
B - the tumour partially separated from the body and clamps controlling haemorrhage.

A                                                                     B

C                                                                            D
C -  the operation site after removal of the tumour but before skin closure.
D -  the completed operation with the wound closed using 40 skin staples.

E                                                                  F
E -  2 weeks post surgery, healing well, no discomfort, Staples were remove that day.
F -  6 weeks later - Whiskey is fully healed and the skin back to normal.

LATER: We are sad to have to tell you that Whiskey developed secondary lung tumours about a month after the last picture above. She began to have breathing difficulties and a chest X-ray showed large shadows in the lungs. She made no response to supportive treatment and we had no choice but to put her to sleep.
So sad, after she had done so well in her recovery from the operation.

David H.

In bitches that are neutered before their first season (i.e. at 5 - 6mo.) mammary tumours are almost unheard of. Whiskey wasn't neutered until she was 9 yrs old which didn't prevent the tumour regrowth but could have prevented a mammary cancer. In this case it didn't.  Early neutering is the best option always.