Just discovered a growth on my cat Orson. He’s had a mole on his side since we got him over five years ago.
It’s growing! It looks like a giant wart now. He has an appointment at the vet on Tuesday (they are closed for Easter until then), but I want to be prepared. Is this likely to be cancer? My searches online tell me that squamous cell carcinomas can be “cauliflower-like.” That would describe his former-mole quite well.
Anyone with experience with pet cancers?
As you can see, Orson has quite a lot to say about all of this.
I don’t have any experience with cats and cancer but I do have a dog who had cancer. Thankfully, my dog had the tumors surgically removed and has made a full recovery. I know this is a scary thing to deal with, but try not to panic until your vet has had a chance to biopsy it or such. Even if it is cancer (indeed, it might just be a big wart!), that isn’t necessarily a death sentence, as my dog’s case showed me. Hope everything turns out well for you and Orson.
Incidentally, while looking on the web to try to learn more about skin cancer in pets, I found this advice about cat vaccines that I had never heard before, so just FYI for any cat owners who might not already know:
I had a scare like this with my cat Bo back in 2000. I found a pea-sized lump on his flank, and he had it removed a few weeks later - it had grown rapidly and was the size of a fifty-cent piece by then. The lab report came back and it was reported to be tested “very malignant”. So far he is still alive and healthy, and I check him frequently for lumps. I had read about the fibrosarcoma in cats, and that is what my previous vet had hinted might be the problem, but my current vet swears cats don’t get vaccinated at the site of Bo’s lump. If your cat has had the lump for awhile (years) it probably isn’t vaccine related. (IANAV)
Bo is doing great, I am happy for every day he is still with me. Good luck to you and Orson. keep us posted how it goes.
Because our cats are indoor-only, we vaccinate them solely for diseases we can carry and give to them. Our vet only recommends distemper vaccinations for indoor cats, mainly for cancer reasons.
I don’t think this is likely a vaccine related site, though I guess anything’s possible!
Whatever it is, your vet will probably want to remove it just to make sure. If the lesion is just on his skin, odds are excellent that even if it is cancer, he’s going to be fine. In that sort of situation, it’s really easy to get good clean margins. If it’s under the skin, the situation tends to be less clear-cut–depending on how deeply invasive it is, it might not be possible to get clear margins.
If they don’t get it all (although with what you’re describing they probably will), where to go from there will depend entirely on the histopath report. Some cancers respond well to chemotherapy, if that’s something you’d be interested in pursuing. Veterinary oncologists can even do radiation therapy. I’ll warn you, though, these options are very expensive and time consuming. Your vet can give you a better picture of what’s going on after he gets the report back.
Nope. His tail is brown and black stripes. We were excited for a minute, thinking we had found a member of the Orsifamily. CrazyCatLady, it does feel like it’s just on his skin, and now that I’ve calmed down a little, it seems smaller than it did before.
We can handle (some) money and difficulty. We had a diabetic cat who developed kidney failure and ended up with a tube through his side. In retrospect, though, I feel we kept that beloved furkid going way past when it stopped being humane, so someone is going to have to convince me about quality of life issues before I’d do something that extreme again.
Orson’s getting even more attention than usual and he’s loving it.
I work at a vet clinic. “Check lump” appointments are very common and are usually nothing to worry about. Wednesday, a cat came in for a chemo appointment. He’s doing very well. The vet said that animals, unlike people, don’t have the ability to dwell on their illnesses and can respond quite well. There are many treatment options, even if it turns out to be cancerous, there’s a lot you can do. Have hope.
Orson’s bump seems to have been an inflamed mole, perhaps irritated by grooming. So that part is good.
The fact that he attempted to rip the vet’s face off with his teeth and back claws isn’t good, but the fact that Dr. Dunn has very quick reflexes is a plus.
The fact that Ors does have a yeast infection in his ears also sucks, but the fact that hubby can sit on him while I put drops in his ears is also a plus.
I have seen several indoor-only cats that have had exposure to rabid bats that have gained entry to the house. You may wantto reconsider vaccine strategy to take this into account if it is a possibility.
