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Dogs + Surgical Conditions

  • Squamous cell carcinomas are malignant cancers originating from the lining cells of the mouth. They are locally invasive and often recurrent.

  • Bilateral orchidectomy or castration, neuters or desexes the dog. Orchidectomy may also be performed for the treatment of testicular tumours and sometimes infections involving the prostate gland.

  • Some ovarian cancers are benign and others malignant. In some cases, removal of the affected ovary will be curative. Spread to other internal organs (metastasis) is possible with some types, particularly the larger tumours.

  • Panniculitis is usually visible as a lump but it is an inflammation of the subcutaneous fatty tissue and is not cancerous. Steatitis is a similar inflammation of fatty tissue but occurs in any part of the body.

  • Papillomas are benign, but sometimes multiple, tumours caused by viruses. They are commonly known as warts.

  • Parathyroid tumours in dogs include non-cancerous cysts, formed before birth. Enlarged parathyroid glands due to cell overgrowth (hyperplasia) may be secondary to chronic kidney disease and unbalanced nutrition.

  • Most pituitary tumours are benign (and a few are non-cancerous cysts) but because of their location, they still produce serious adverse effects as they enlarge and they are rarely curable.

  • Plasmacytomas in the skin are usually solitary benign tumours that grow rapidly but rarely recur after surgical removal. Malignant tumours are very rare.

  • When a portosystemic shunt (PSS) is present blood in the portal vein effectively bypasses the liver, i.e it is shunted straight into the caudal vena cava, a major vein returning blood to the heart.

  • The prostate gland stores sperm after they have been made in the testicles and produces fluid that contains essential nutrients for the sperm. Cancers of the prostate are rare but usually involve the cells that make the fluid.