Studies on Prevalence of Mammary Gland Tumors of Female dogs in Ludhiana (Punjab)

Abstract

The female dogs with mammary gland tumors (n=106) presented at the small animal clinical complex, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab from different locations of Ludhiana city were studied for prevalence of the disease. Body temperature and respiration rate of tumor bearing bitches were comparable to that of values of healthy dogs but the pulse rate was observed to be significantly (p<0.05) increased in the tumor bearing group of bitches. 69.81% of cases presented were observed to be obese, 58.49% of were not regularly exercised and diet of 78.3% bitches consisted of red meat. Spaying was done in most (62.1%) of the tumor bearing bitches after 3 years of age. Most of the bitches (62.22%) presented gave birth to their young ones after 3 years of age. Adult female dogs (5-10 years old) were most frequently affected (54.71%) followed by old aged dogs (>10 years old). Spitz breed accounted for 39.62% of cases presented followed by German shepherd (31.13%), non-descript (16.98%) and Labrador (12.26%). Bitches from industrial areas are most susceptible to mammary tumors (79.24%). Gross pathological investigation reported that most of the developed tumors (45.28%) affecting first two glands. 79.24% of tumors were palpated to be hard and 20.75% are soft. Nodular type tumors consisted of 74.52% of cases and 49.05% of tumors were observed to be recurrent. Histopathological analysis revealed that 66.03% of tumors were malignant and 33.96% belong to benign group. Most of the tumor affected bitches were in stage III (41.50%). The present study observed that mammary tumor in female dogs is an emerging animal health problem and special attention is needed for its prevention and treatment.