I picked up my 9 year old girl kitty the other day and felt something on her side. She absolutely hates being picked up or being touched other than her back or head so I have no idea how long it has been there. When I looked under the hair she had a 1-2 mm skin-colored papule with no redness or drainage. I can’t tell if its tender since she hates even being touched there. She has no hairloss in the area. She is strictly an indoor kitty. It looks almost like a tiny nipple. I will of course take her to the vet but how urgent do you think this is? It doesn’t seem inflamed at all and she is acting her usual self.
I’m sure I will catch a lot of flak for this, but here goes. If it’s not bothering her, why are you going to the vet? If it’s mobile, not red, not warm, not leaking anything, not balding, not growing fast; then I vote benign and just keep an eye on it. I would not be concerned as it is probably a cyst. If you are still concerned, take her to the vet. Hope everything goes OK for you both.
I think you should take her to the vet. One of our older cats had something like that in her excess skin around the elbow 6 years ago, which stayed tiny for a while before exploding into growth. (Turned out to be some sort of skin cancer) By the time we got around to removing it, it was the size of an acorn. I suspect that we could’ve saved money and had a slightly happier cat by getting it out early.
Better safe than sorry.
Wrong answer. When my gf’s cat had an insignificant appearing bump removed, the vet sent it for histopathology. It was a squamous cell carcinoma, and a more aggressive resection of the area led to a surgical cure.
Vet told us that while dog skin rumors are 90% benign, cats are the opposite, with nearly 90% malignancy for skin tumors.
Take her to the vet. Let him/her get a look at it and decide surgery or not. If not surgery (doubtful) at the very least the size, shape, and location can be mapped out for future reference (in case something changes).
But you meant side… Close to where her nipples would be?
If she were standing on her hind legs andyou held her up with your hands under her front legs you could feel it under your fingers. So-about half-way down her side.
It could be a cyst, but it could also be something more ominous, such as a vaccine-associated fibrosarcoma (something that seems to be peculiar to cats). Is the bump at a site of a former vaccination?
My recommendation, as a vet, is to follow the 1-2-3 Rule: IF the lump is at a site of a past injection, and it increases in size within one month of the injection, is bigger than 2 cm in diameter, or is still present more than 3 months post-injection, it comes off and is submitted for histopathology.
If it is NOT at the site of any past injection, if it is bigger than one centimeter, it definitely gets aspirated for cytology. Smaller masses can be watched for changes (and are measured with calipers to get an objective measurement), or they can be aspirated or biopsied, according to the owner’s preference and understanding of the risks.
If the mass is anywhere in the mammary chain, it comes off, as does the local lymph node, because in cats, mammary tumors are malignant greater than 90% of the time and they are very, very aggressive.
I’ve lost two cats to cancer over the years. This (little “nipples”) was the first visible symptom for both of them. Get her to the vet, now – early removal, especially if not near the mammary chain, makes a big difference in lifespan.