Expansion of the process of the mammary glands of cats in the conditions of the city of Lviv and the suburban zone of the regional center
Authors: Maksymovych V. I. , Mysak A. R. 
Published: July 2024

According to the reports of foreign researchers, in the structure of oncological diseases of cats, mammary gland tumors make up from 35 to 50 %. They are usually the first or second in frequency of lesions after skin tumors. Neoplasias of the mammary gland are registered most often in unsterilized animals over 5 years old; they usually have a malignant course and an unfavorable prognosis. At the same time, the analysis of domestic literary sources showed that in Ukraine, the issues of oncological diseases of small domestic animals, and in particular neoplasia of cats, are not given due attention. Available individual studies are incomplete and often contradictory, reflecting the current state of the epizootological situation, distribution, and monitoring of cat tumor diseases. Some publications have the character of only reports on detecting tumors in animals and their treatment or highlight the results of pathomorphological studies based on sectional material. Most domestic studies are retrospective, non-randomized, include a small number of animals, and are not always based on the generally accepted methodology of conducting the experiment and criteria for evaluating the obtained results. Currently, an unsolved problem of domestic veterinary science is the establishment of objective data on the frequency of distribution and the incidence rate of neoplasia of cats in the conditions of the geographical population of Ukraine, as well as the development and introduction into practice of modern scientifically based standards of diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases of animals. The purpose of the research was to determine the frequency of mammary gland neoplasms in cats in the city of Lviv and in the suburban area of the regional center, as well as to determine the frequency of disease in animals depending on the breed, age, and reproductive status. The object of the research was oncologically ill cats (n = 111) of various breeds, aged from 1 to 18 years, which were admitted (in the period from 2019 to the first half of 2024) to the clinic of the Department of Surgery of the Stepan Gzhytskti National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies Lviv and veterinary clinics of the city of Lviv (“Vetplus”, “Sonovet”, “Vetclinic of Dr. Markevich”). The research results established that mammary gland neoplasia in cats is most often registered between the ages of 6 and 14. At the same time, the disease occurs most often in purebred animals (91.9 %) and less frequently (8.1 %) in purebred cats. The highest incidence rates of neoplasia were found among animals aged 10 to 14 years; at the same time, the median morbidity was 8 years, and the mode (the most significant number of sick animals) was 10 years. The established indicators of the prevalence of spontaneous neoplasias, their structural analysis, as well as a 2.7-fold increase (for the period 2019–2023) of cancer incidence among the cat population in the conditions of the Lviv region testify that today, mammary gland tumors are a priority and promising area of further research of research.