What are the causes of mastopathy in cats: symptoms of the disease, methods of treatment and prevention

When starting such a pet as a cat, you need to be prepared for the fact that some kind of illness will overtake her someday. They often have such a formidable disease as mastopathy. It is characterized by the fact that a tumor occurs in the mammary glands of this animal. Mastopathy in a cat is considered a precancerous condition. If it is not detected in time, everything ends in death.

Causes of mastopathy in a cat

Why mastopathy occurs in these animals is not fully understood. According to most veterinarians, sex hormones contribute to the formation of nodules. Cats that have been spayed before the first estrus are practically not susceptible to this disease.

If this operation was done between the first and second estrus, the likelihood of breast cancer is reduced by 25% than in non-neutered animals.

Thus, mastopathy is often occurs in unsterilized cats, as well as in those individuals that were sterilized after 4–5 estrus, even if they had given birth before.

Most often, this disease occurs in cats aged 8-14 years. In Siamese cats, the formation of mastopathy has a genetic predisposition, so breast cancer occurs twice as often in them.

Symptoms of mastopathy in cats

The mammary glands in a pet can increase both during normal pregnancy and during false. After their increase, lactation occurs, which then passes, putting in order the size of the mammary glands.

This state is temporary. But the pathological breast enlargement is a symptom of the disease. Mastopathy looks like a tumor of the mammary glands, which is soft or slightly elastic to the touch. This disease can manifest itself immediately in the form of a small tumor.

In addition, you can determine that the animal is sick by the following signs:

• Drowsiness.
• Refusal of certain foods or complete lack of appetite.
• Unsociableness.
• Aggression in a normally calm animal.

The sooner mastopathy is detected in an animal, the more effective its treatment will be.

In addition, it is necessary consult a veterinarian immediatelyif there are specific signs of the disease:

1. Vomiting.
2. Hot and dry nose.
3. Spasm.
4. Change in body temperature.
5. Redness of the mucous membranes or their dryness.

Histological examination of mastopathy in cats

In humans, mastopathy does not necessarily turn into cancer, unlike cats. If this disease is not treated in time in these pets, it will definitely develop into a cancerous tumor. Age animals simply do not live up to this.

Unfortunately, in most cases, breast tumors are malignant, so it is very important to start treatment as early as possible. After mastopathy was discovered, with the help of histological examination determine whether a tumor is benign or not.

The process of taking a tissue sample is completely painless and is a syringe injection into the tumor. The tumor cells that have fallen into the needle are sent for research, the results of which reveal what kind of tumor it is. The process of taking cells does not affect tumor growth in any way.

The prognosis of the course of the disease can be as follows:

• If the tumor in a cat is less than two centimeters in size, in this case the prognosis is favorable, that the operation will completely rid the pet of this disease.
• If the tumor is 2-3 cm in size, the prognosis in this case is doubtful. The cat after the operation can live for about a year.
• With a tumor measuring 3 cm, the prognosis is unfavorable.

Mastopathy in cats, treatment

With mastopathy, surgical intervention is indicated, during which the mammary glands are removed, after which the removed tissues are sent for histology. If the operation is carried out in a timely manner, then 50% of cats are completely cured. Surgery is usually well tolerated, complications may arise due to comorbidities or the age of the animal.

Contraindications for the operation is renal failure, heart disease, severe concomitant pathology. In this case, drug treatment is prescribed: every 21 days, the cat is given a dropper with a medicinal substance that begins to destroy the tumor. Such treatment is tolerated by animals quite favorably. Wool from this medicine does not fall out.

If mastopathy has formed in young cats who are not even two years old, they are not prescribed surgery, because over time this disease disappears on their own.

disease prevention

Due to the fact that the causes of mastopathy have not been fully established, it is not entirely clear what the prevention of this disease should be. It is well known that mastopathy and malignant tumors of the mammary glands rarely occur in cats that have been spayed before the age of two. This decision should be made only by the owner of the animal.