• Suddenly unable to log into your ZooVille account? This might be the reason why: CLICK HERE!

Veterinarian here: ask me anything!

SultryHellhound said:
Hey Deagle! You're a really awesome person for answering these questions! My 8 year old Golden Retriever girl has one large, soft mammary tumor. The vet thinks it could either be breast cancer or a lipoma, but won't know for sure until he sends it off to pathology for testing. My question is: my vet also wants to do a spay at the time of the tumor removal to prevent future instances of mammary cancer, just to be on the safe side. Based on the article you mentioned, would it make no difference if I decided to not have her spayed? Due to her age, I'm kind of afraid that recovery for a spay surgery will be a little more than she can handle, although her bloodwork indicates everything will be good for her in terms of being able to handle the anesthesia and surgery itself.
Click to expand...
Based on the data I have read and the way I interpret it, spaying after 2 doesn’t decrease the risk of mammary tumors any further than normal. One of the risk factors in the development of mammary tumors is progesterone, which is produced in larger amounts by the ovaries, but also made in the adrenal gland. Could removing the ovaries decrease the amount of progesterone and decrease the incidence of mammary tumors? Sure! Will you still absolutely get mammary tumors anyway, because cancer does what it wants, ultimately, and all we can do is control the risk factors? Yes.

So I guess my answer would be maybe wait on histopath and see what it is. A spay is an elective surgery, after all, and you can chose to not do so. Ultimately, this is a decision that you make, with the guidance of medical folks, weighing in the pros and cons of spay vs not.
 
Im not sure I should be concerned but my dog before she goes into heat her breast fill up with a clearish white and yellowish thick liquid and i notice that they must be sore or hurt because shes always licking her abdomen when this happens. When i express the liquid out she seems relieved and more relaxed and she will tell me to keep doing it untill it shes feeling better.
 
@Deagle113 I saw a graph somewhere showing the times during a female dog's heat cycle when sex should be avoided to reduce risk of infection due to a drop in their immune systems and chemical changes in their parts or something. My missus has just come out of season and I remember it saying something about the week after season end. Have tried to find it again but no luck.
 
mike_smith24 said:
Im not sure I should be concerned but my dog before she goes into heat her breast fill up with a clearish white and yellowish thick liquid and i notice that they must be sore or hurt because shes always licking her abdomen when this happens. When i express the liquid out she seems relieved and more relaxed and she will tell me to keep doing it untill it shes feeling better.
Click to expand...
Any discharge other than milk coming from the mammary glands is indicative of infection. I’d get that checked out!
 
ZephyrZoo said:
@Deagle113 I saw a graph somewhere showing the times during a female dog's heat cycle when sex should be avoided to reduce risk of infection due to a drop in their immune systems and chemical changes in their parts or something. My missus has just come out of season and I remember it saying something about the week after season end. Have tried to find it again but no luck.
Click to expand...
Great question—this is something I’m personally fascinated by so I’m going to info dump on you a bit here.

The barrier function of the canine vagina is aided by making different kinds of mucus, the viscosity of which changes across the cycle. During estrus, for example, the body secetes low-viscosity mucus that lubricates the vagina to prepare for copulation and optimization of sperm transport, and this changes to a high viscosity out of estrus as an anti pathogen measure. There’s some cool bacteria that are part of the normal healthy vaginal community that build anti mucus enzymes so they can make small homes for themselves and not be swept away!

Additionally, many immune cells have both estrogen (high in estrous) and progesterone (high after estrous) receptors on their surface. Sadly, even in people, how these cells are modulated at the vaginal mucosal level is poorly understood, but we know something’s going on based on those receptors being there!

We also know that the number of neutrophils (the white blood cells that fight a lot of things, but commonly bacteria) are suppressed in the vagina during estrous in mice ?, and we don’t usually see them on vaginal cytology in canines either—this could be what the chart was getting at.

There’s not nearly enough science out there for me to be able to give you a definitive yes or no on the risks of vaginal infection at certain times in the estrous cycle, but I can reassure you dogs are fully immunocompetent at the whole body level throughout the entire thing.
 
Deagle113 said:
Great question—this is something I’m personally fascinated by so I’m going to info dump on you a bit here.

The barrier function of the canine vagina is aided by making different kinds of mucus, the viscosity of which changes across the cycle. During estrus, for example, the body secetes low-viscosity mucus that lubricates the vagina to prepare for copulation and optimization of sperm transport, and this changes to a high viscosity out of estrus as an anti pathogen measure. There’s some cool bacteria that are part of the normal healthy vaginal community that build anti mucus enzymes so they can make small homes for themselves and not be swept away!

Additionally, many immune cells have both estrogen (high in estrous) and progesterone (high after estrous) receptors on their surface. Sadly, even in people, how these cells are modulated at the vaginal mucosal level is poorly understood, but we know something’s going on based on those receptors being there!

We also know that the number of neutrophils (the white blood cells that fight a lot of things, but commonly bacteria) are suppressed in the vagina during estrous in mice ?, and we don’t usually see them on vaginal cytology in canines either—this could be what the chart was getting at.

There’s not nearly enough science out there for me to be able to give you a definitive yes or no on the risks of vaginal infection at certain times in the estrous cycle, but I can reassure you dogs are fully immunocompetent at the whole body level throughout the entire thing.
Click to expand...
Fantastic, thanks for all the info. That graph was practically saying that there are periods during the cycle where sex should be a total no-go. Glad to hear that's not the case.

Just wanted to make sure I was doing as much as I can to ensure she keeps in perfect health. Thanks!!
 
On another thread breast feeding is discussed. I know that milk form cows and goats are clean to suckle.
As far as I know dog milk can contain eggs / larvae to intestinal worms.
Can a human get an infestation by nursing a dog ?
 
Mia Pfoetchen said:
How dangerous are normal tennis balls for dog teeth?
Click to expand...
Great question, and not one folks think about often enough, so thanks for asking this!

Two major tennis ball risks: choking hazards and the yellow fuzz. While a whole tennis ball can hopefully be popped out of the trachea in an emergency scenario, half a tennis ball (because your dog broke it!) is very difficult to dislodge. Additionally, though they seem soft, that yellow fuzz on the outside collects dirt and sand, and chewing on it files down teeth over time much like sandpaper.

No need to throw out the tennis balls, they are great fun, just play with them under your supervision. ?
 
Last edited:
GAThrawn said:
Something that has always been on my mind is whether there is an advantage to using a Seresto collar as opposed to the topical liquid and if either of them actually helps. When I owned, she had the collar on and she would be a tick magnet. I was told that it doesn't keep ticks away, but when they try to feed they'll die from what is secreted through the blood and then fall off. It didn't seem to happen that way and she was positive for two of the three big ones and when I took her harness off one time I saw the largest bloated tick I had ever seen
Click to expand...
Whoever told you that is wrong. The main benefit to the collars and topical treatments is the fact they help repel ticks from even wanting to be on your dog and if they go on your dog are supposed to affect them immediately likely leading to them never being able to bite your dog. That isn’t to say they won’t bite your dog, but oral treatment they HAVE to bite your dog.

There is questionable effectiveness on longer thicker coated dogs and people often forget they are rated UP TO a certain amount of months. If it is rated for up to 8 months, it may not actually be all the effective if you always opt to wait the max amount of time.
 
I was always curious as to why tubal ligation was not performed on bitches as a sterilization method? What's the reason behind it? Does it have to do with number of eggs released or the estrus cycle changes?
 
stevv9312 said:
Whoever told you that is wrong. The main benefit to the collars and topical treatments is the fact they help repel ticks from even wanting to be on your dog and if they go on your dog are supposed to affect them immediately likely leading to them never being able to bite your dog. That isn’t to say they won’t bite your dog, but oral treatment they HAVE to bite your dog.

There is questionable effectiveness on longer thicker coated dogs and people often forget they are rated UP TO a certain amount of months. If it is rated for up to 8 months, it may not actually be all the effective if you always opt to wait the max amount of time.
Click to expand...
Correct, Seresto is just like any other topical, just distributed via friction and a chemical infused collar versus a liquid carrier oil.

The whole "they bite, but then will die after some time" situation is regarding the slew of "chewables" out there like Brevecto and Nexgard. I highly recommend against chewables. Some dogs will be just fine , but there is not an insignificant risk of side effects like hair loss, seizures, and who knows what else.
 
Deagle113 said:
Great question, and not one folks think about often enough, so thanks for asking this!

Two major tennis hall risks: choking hazards and the yellow fuzz. While a whole tennis ball can hopefully be popped out of the trachea in an emergency scenario, half a tennis ball (because your dog broke it!) is very difficult to dislodge. Additionally, though they seem soft, that yellow fuzz on the outside collects dirt and sand, and chewing on it files down teeth over time much like sandpaper.

No need to throw out the tennis balls, they are great fun, just play with them under your supervision. ?
Click to expand...
This is good info. My girl LOVES tennis balls, but will destroy them and attempt to eat them if left unsupervised, so you know, we just don't do that. ?
 
humananimal said:
On another thread breast feeding is discussed. I know that milk form cows and goats are clean to suckle.
As far as I know dog milk can contain eggs / larvae to intestinal worms.
Can a human get an infestation by nursing a dog ?
Click to expand...
You probably wouldn’t want to nurse a dog. Canine mammary glands have multiple smaller openings (meaning it’s going to be hard to get anything) rather than a nice single one like a ruminant, and carnivore milk is a lot greasier/thinner than ruminant—the overall experience probably wouldn’t be very pleasant.
 
Der.Zoomer said:
Have you ever had to deal with birds, or rather large birds?
Click to expand...
Yes! I have a client who has Emus—hopped on the hype train here in the US about the health benefits of Emu oil, fell in love with em, and still has them even after the bubble of selling the oil burst. I get the pleasure of caring for them, medically—fascinating creatures! I have lots still to learn about them and their medical care, but thankfully the client is more than happy to come along side me and lend their expertise as I learn!
 
Deagle113 said:
Yes! I have a client who has Emus—hopped on the hype train here in the US about the health benefits of Emu oil, fell in love with em, and still has them even after the bubble of selling the oil burst. I get the pleasure of caring for them, medically—fascinating creatures! I have lots still to learn about them and their medical care, but thankfully the client is more than happy to come along side me and lend their expertise as I learn!
Click to expand...
Emu oil is wonderful! I use an AEA certified brand made in the USA. But yes it hasn’t caught on along with the meat. Distribution and marketing failure from what it seems.

All that being said I think emu’s are one heck of a cool animal!
 
Deagle113 said:
You probably wouldn’t want to nurse a dog. Canine mammary glands have multiple smaller openings (meaning it’s going to be hard to get anything) rather than a nice single one like a ruminant, and carnivore milk is a lot greasier/thinner than ruminant—the overall experience probably wouldn’t be very pleasant.
Click to expand...
OK, but my question was - Can a human get an infestation by nursing a dog ?
Here at ZooVille some wrote about suckling dogs.
My experience was nursing a cow, and she has tits with a single opening.

Human anatomy - a womans nipples also have many small openings at the tip, one from each of the usually 15-17 glands in each breast.
 
hirsuteman said:
I was always curious as to why tubal ligation was not performed on bitches as a sterilization method? What's the reason behind it? Does it have to do with number of eggs released or the estrus cycle changes?
Click to expand...
Tubal ligation is absolutely a sterilization method that can be successful. It’s just not taught in many vet schools—to learn it, you have to have a personal interest in reproductive medicine and seek the extra training necessary to successfully perform it. Since it’s not as fashionable in vet med circles to question routine spay and neuter as overpopulation control methods, there’s no reason apart form personal physician motivation to learn how to do it.
 
humananimal said:
OK, but my question was - Can a human get an infestation by nursing a dog ?
Click to expand...
To my knowledge, this hasn’t been studied. But I’ll give it my best stab!

Many Parasites like Toxocara canis, the canine roundworm, use milk as a transmission method, and are also able to infect humans (though they are very unhappy in us and just wander around to no avail) so I wouldn’t be surprised if transmission was possible. However, at least with Toxocara, the infective stage to humans is the encysted egg, while the infective stage to puppies is the actual larvae. Does this make a difference? I don’t really know, but the best way to prevent it would be to have your dog on good parasite control and medication before engaging in anything, just to be safe.
 
I read the whole thread, so many interesting question and answers, between all the derails and offtopics. :husky_laughing:

About spay, I was about to ask about the vaginal canal getting shorter, though they already did. Because after a full spay of my previous girl (as an emergency after a pyometra while travelling), my main vet examined her and she could touch the scar with her half finger (I wasn't able to penetrate her before that anyway, but she could take two full fingers). And her spay got her lots of hormone problems (she already had hypothyroidism under medication, but it went nuts after that). So later I read about OSS to avoid hormonal problems, but if the vaginal canal is stitched in the same way, I'm afraid of a dog hurting her badly, considering dog penises are usually longer than us and have a bone on it...

With my current female, she is almost 3 years old, and I never seen her on heat, what I should do? I haven't been with her all the time when she was around 12 to 24 months, and my mom said she thinks she was in heat once because she saw blood on the floor, but never looked directly into her to confirm it (since she is long haired). I asked the vet when I get her vaccines, and he responded "I don't know, but we can spay her just in case...". Should I get another vet and ask for some blood tests?

You also talked about external parasites control methods. I think the collar is the most effective one in her case, after testing external pippetes that didn't work, and chewables are way too expensive. My only concern, it's since it releases a lot of powder around her neck, specially when brand knew, if it's toxic both for her, and for me, since I inhale that while cuddling.

And last, about internal parasites, a friend told me that her doctor said to her that she should deparasite herself together with her dogs twice a year, since she slept with them. I think it was ivermectin (for her). Do you recomend that? I mean doing it together, and if it doesn't matter if they are different drugs (which one do you recomend for dogs, since I understand ivermectin is poisonous for some dogs like collies).
 
Deagle113 said:
Tubal ligation is absolutely a sterilization method that can be successful. It’s just not taught in many vet schools—to learn it, you have to have a personal interest in reproductive medicine and seek the extra training necessary to successfully perform it. Since it’s not as fashionable in vet med circles to question routine spay and neuter as overpopulation control methods, there’s no reason apart form personal physician motivation to learn how to do it.
Click to expand...
I assume it's a similar story with vasectomies for male dogs - possible but not common? To me it seems like a more humane, less drastic step to take in the name of population control.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top