Pets and Ebola

If you have been anywhere near a newspaper, television news broadcast or computer screen in the last month then you heard about the death of Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan who contracted Ebola. He was the first Ebola patient diagnosed with the disease in the United States. Duncan was treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and during that time two nurses who provided care also contracted the disease responsible for over 4,000 deaths during the current outbreak in western African nations.

You may not have heard, however, that healthcare workers in European nations are also dealing with exposure to Ebola. In fact, a Spanish nurse was hospitalized with the disease earlier this month and government officials there elected to euthanize her dog as a precautionary measure. On the flip side of the coin, however, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel that belongs to one of the sick Dallas nurses has been placed in quarantine with no plans to euthanize the animal. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that no evidence exists to prove that pets can spread the Ebola virus to people or other pets, and no reports of dogs or cats falling ill with Ebola have been filed.

Photo: CDC / Cynthia Goldsmith

While Ebola continues to dominate the national conversation it is inevitable that pet owners will have questions and look to their veterinarians for answers. And that is the best place to turn - your veterinarian. The worldwide web is a valuable source of information but oftentimes there is no way to verify the accuracy of information on a website or what the source of that information is. That's why your veterinarian should always be your most trusted source if your pet becomes ill.

In the meantime there are some proven facts about Ebola and pets that you can find online. We turned to our friends at the American Veterinary Medical Association to help compile some important facts for you:

• In the United States the relative risk of exposure to Ebola is low. As of today there are only three documented cases of Ebola patients in the country. Duncan contracted the disease while traveling in Liberia (he since passed away) and the other two were nurses who provided care for Duncan. There are no documented cases of pets contracting the disease.
• Ebola is spread only through the transmission of bodily fluid. It is not an airborne disease like the flu.
• Currently there are no approved vaccines or drugs available to treat Ebola. According to the CDC Ebola patients are treated according to their symptoms as they appear.
• Ebola is a zoonotic disease. There is, however, no evidence that it has ever been transmitted from a human to a dog. The AVMA references a study conducted during the Ebola outbreak in Gabon from 2001-2002 that found no infected dogs in the area, and reported no signs of symptoms or deaths among Gabon's dogs during the outbreak.
• Two organizations, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association and the CDC, do not recommend euthanization for dogs that could have been exposed to Ebola. The WSAVA says that the animals should be quarantined, while the CDC maintains that the animal's risk of exposure needs to be evaluated and an appropriate course of action planned out based on that evaluation.
• No evidence has been found by animal health professionals that domestic animals play an active role in transmitting Ebola to humans.

The AVMA website has a wealth of information regarding Ebola, pets and humans. You can visit it yourself to conduct more research but don't forget that your family veterinarian is your best source of information. And, as always, we are here for you 24-7 in case of an emergency. Call us at 317-872-8387 or visit us at 9650 Mayflower Park Drive in Carmel if we can help you in an emergency.

Mammary Cancer In Dogs and Cats

By Kim Wirth, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

The month of October is famously known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all across the nation pink is prominently displayed to raise awareness in the fight against the disease. According to the 2013-14 version of the American Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Facts & Figures publication an estimated 232,340 cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in women in 2013 and 2,240 men were diagnosed as well. Additionally, roughly 37,000 women died from breast cancer in 2013 which made it the second deadliest cancer in women behind only lung cancer.

Those figures clearly demonstrate a continuing need to keep the fight against breast cancer in humans at the forefront of our collective conscious. What might not be so commonly known, however, is that in the pet world mammary cancer is as big of a concern as breast cancer is in humans.

Mammary gland tumors are the most common tumors in dogs and the third most common tumor type in cats. Unspayed females have the greatest risk of developing mammary cancer and this can increase with each heat cycle. Mammary gland tumors can be benign or malignant and in contrast to dogs, at least 85 percent of feline mammary tumors are malignant. Approximately 50 percent of canine mammary tumors are malignant.

The principal sign is a painless lump or mass. Most masses occur in the glands closest to the groin. A mass may be large or small and can feel just like a small ‘bb’. Some masses are freely movable, while others adhere to the overlying skin or underlying muscle. Occasionally the mass ulcerates the skin and bleeds.

Malignant tumors can spread (metastasize) to lymph nodes, lungs and other organs. Chest x-rays are recommended prior to definitive treatment to evaluate for any evidence of spread to the lungs. Abdominal ultrasound is useful in determining whether there is any lymph node or internal organ involvement.

Treatment involves surgical removal of the lump with adequate margins of normal tissue. How much tissue will be removed depends on the species, size and location of the tumor. Removing a small tumor with a rim of normal tissue is called a lumpectomy. A simple mastectomy is the removal of the entire mammary gland. A complete unilateral mastectomy is the removal of all five mammary glands on one side of the body. The local lymph nodes are often included in a unilateral mastectomy. A specimen is then submitted to a pathologist for a tissue diagnosis to determine the prognosis.

The prognosis for mammary cancer depends on the how aggressive the tumor is. Some patients with aggressive tumors or evidence of spread may require chemotherapy treatment after surgery and some patients are cured. Cats tend to require a larger surgery and often need chemotherapy as well. 

Please remember that the only reliable way to determine if mammary cancer could be affecting your pet is through regular checkups at your family veterinarian. Additional testing and treatments can be performed here at Circle City Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital so be sure to ask your veterinarian about your options for a referral here.