Not only is October national Adopt-A-Dog Month, it’s also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Although these two subjects aren’t typically associated with each other, dogs can get breast cancer – referred to as “mammary cancer” in the canine world – just as humans do.

Fortunately, mammary cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer in dogs since it rarely occurs in female dogs that were spayed before their first heat. Gerald Post, a veterinary oncologist, told ABC News, “It’s important for owners to spay female animals before the animal first goes into heat, because each following heat cycle increases the risk of developing the cancer.”

Mammary cancer is more common in five- to 10-year-old female dogs that have not been spayed, because with every heat cycle, their bodies endure a 60-day hormonal pregnancy regardless of whether or not they breed. Veterinarian Michael Watts writes, “This hormonal cycle continuously stimulates the mammary tissue for at least four months of each year. The constant stimulation leads to very high rates of cancer. Fortunately, 99% of canine breast cancer can be prevented by spaying young dogs.” (more…)