Pets quite often get sick. Unfortunately, they are also susceptible to various infections that are sexually transmitted. One of these ailments is venereal sarcoma. In dogs, this pathology in advanced cases leads to death. Therefore, owners should be more serious about the health of their pets and not to forget about preventive measures. To avoid the appearance of such a tumor, it is necessary to carefully choose partners for the animal.
What is venereal sarcoma in dogs?
The cells of this connective tissue tumor are constantly dividing, as a result of which it grows all the time, increasing in size while the pet lives. Veterinarians sarcoma of the external genitalia in animals are also called venereal granuloma, canine warts, transmissible reticuloendothelial tumor. Moreover, any dog can become infected, regardless of breed. However, in some places such a disease can be rare, and in others, on the contrary, quite often.
Venereal Sarcoma in Dogs: Causes
Symptoms with such an ailment begin to manifest only 3-6 months after infection. Today it has been established that transmissible sarcoma is transmitted from one dog to another sexually. In other words, during physical contact, macrophage histiocytic cells infect a healthy pet.
In this case, the tumor cells act as infectious agents. Propagating on the body of one animal, an allograft penetrates the tissues of another and continues to develop in a new biological environment, losing contact with the previous owner. In this case, the tumor conglomerate behaves like a parasitic organism.
In cells affected by transmissible sarcoma, the composition of the chromosomes changes. Instead of 78, in epithelial cells there are only 57-64 of them.
Russian experts are confident that venereal sarcoma in dogs does not produce metastases, and the formation of a tumor in the muzzle and mouth is explained by the transfer of infected cells from the genitals during licking. But foreign veterinarians think differently. They claim that sarcoma metastases in approximately 5% of cases to the subcutaneous tissue, lymph nodes, liver, spleen, muscles, brain, eyes, and testicles.
Tumor development process
Venereal sarcoma in dogs forms about 2-6 months after infection, however, its growth rate is subject to strong differences - from slow progression over several years to rapid development with metastasis.
After infection, spontaneous regression may occur within 6 months, but if the tumor does not disappear for more than 9 months, then the chances of self-healing are reduced. The development of transmissible sarcoma in healthy pets is localized, however, in some cases, the disease metastases to the lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissue, spleen, bone marrow, eyes, oral mucosa and liver.
Since a venereal granuloma is transmitted by sniffing, biting, licking, it is difficult to distinguish true metastasis from development due to mechanical spread. Transmissible sarcoma is an immunogenic tumor, which is why the response of the protective functions of the dog’s body critically affects its biological behavior.
Tumor developmental stages
All neoplasms have their own classification, which is formed on the basis of data on their effects on internal organs and sizes. In the first stage, the tumor develops on the surface of the genital organs, its size does not reach 4 cm. In the second stage, further growth of the sarcoma occurs, in addition, it begins to affect the tissues of the organ.
During the third stage, education continues to increase and goes beyond the localization site. In this case, metastases in the lymph nodes occur. When the fourth degree occurs, the dog's body is completely affected. That is why it is so important to seek help from a specialist in time if a tumor is detected. Timely therapy will help to avoid relapse and painful treatment.
The main signs of the disease
At the early stages of development, as a rule, transmissible venereal sarcoma does not manifest itself in any way. Dogs, however, can behave uneasily. An attentive owner will immediately notice that the pet often began to ask for a toilet and constantly licks the genitals.
First, at the site of the appearance of the sarcoma, a small condensation occurs, then a pea-sized outgrowth forms. The tumor will increase all the time and can reach large sizes. Moreover, its shape can be diverse, but usually the sarcoma is uneven and tuberous. On the surface of such a formation, blood vessels are visible, prone to bleeding and destruction.
The main symptoms of a venereal sarcoma include:
- Redness and swelling of the external genitalia of the animal.
- The appearance of bloody discharge, not associated with estrus.
- The appearance of rounded tuberous bumpy growths from gray to reddish-brown, up to 10 cm in size.
- The formation of seals in the field of prepuce.
- Purulent discharge from the genital fissure.
- Elongation and protrusion of the perineum
Moreover, the tumor can occur not only on the genitals, but even in the oral cavity of the animal. Often a venereal sarcoma is formed in the nose of the dog. Such a condyloma causes great discomfort to the pet.
Diagnostic measures
The main goal of a veterinarian in a similar situation is to distinguish canine sarcoma from other pathologies. After all, a transmissible tumor can be confused with a pyometra in bitches and prostatitis in males.
Further actions of a specialist are the detection of a neoplasm. As a rule, in females, the tumor grows in front of the vagina, and in males, in the area of the glans, onion and prepuce. Upon careful examination, you can notice that a venereal sarcoma appeared in the dog. It is difficult not to see baldness over a tumor. Even when this formation occurs, many tumor nodes appear, which can reach 4 cm. They are soft to the touch, and when damaged they begin to bleed.
If all of the above symptoms appear, then the animal is probably sick.
Therapeutic methods
There are many ways to treat venereal sarcoma in dogs. The most decisive method is surgical removal of the tumor. However, surgery, especially on the genitals, has many risks due to possible postoperative complications, such as adhesions, metastases, and urethral damage. That is why today in rare cases resort to such treatment.
Often, radiation is used to eliminate this formation, since tumor vegetations of the transmissible sarcoma are sensitive to such an effect. Sometimes a single X-ray procedure at a dose of 10 Gy is enough. It is carried out under anesthesia, which animals tolerate well. But to perform this session, special protective equipment, trained personnel and the necessary equipment are needed. That is why the procedure is available only in large veterinary clinics.
To date, the main method of treating a venereal tumor is chemotherapy.
Features of drug therapy
So, we discussed what are the symptoms of a disease like venereal sarcoma in dogs. treatment and diagnostics carried out on time will help save animals from torment. Chemotherapy brings excellent results. The following drugs are used:
- "Cyclophosphate".
- "Methotrexate".
- "Vincristine."
The last drug is a plant alkaloid. It can inhibit the division of pathological cells. As a rule, the drug is effective in 95% of cases, especially in combination with other medicines of complex chemotherapy.
The duration of treatment is at least 4 procedures. The drug is discontinued when complete elimination of the pathological process occurs.
How to prevent the appearance of dog condyloma?
The most effective measure that will help prevent the occurrence of a tumor in a pet is the care and caution of its owners. To prevent the transmission of a venereal tumor, dogs should not be allowed to walk alone. On top of that, the owner should not allow, much less approve of the occasional mating of the animal.
Even when mixing your dog with a proven and thoroughbred individual of the opposite sex, it is necessary to ask the owner whether his pet had sexual contacts with random partners. If the answer is yes, the mating should be abandoned.
If you still could not protect your pet from contact with a homeless dog, it is better to take appropriate measures. Be sure to disinfect the genitals and mouth of the dog with furatsilinom, potassium permanganate or iodinol. If there are clinical signs of the disease, you should immediately contact your veterinarian.
In general, the prevention of this disease is a public affair. To reduce the incidence of infection, sterilization should reduce the number of stray animals within the same settlement. Everything else, it is necessary to conduct veterinary control.
Disease prognosis
Since a venereal sarcoma is usually locally invasive, the tumor can be treated successfully, so the prognosis is often favorable. Even isolated cases of unexpected cure from a neoplasm are known.
Every day more and more dogs become infected with vector-borne sarcoma. Owners of animals should, at the slightest suspicion of this disease, contact a veterinary clinic for analysis and prescribing appropriate therapy to the pet.