I feel like I am just full of random health questions/problems with my cats lately.
I just discovered that one of my cats has a lump on either her jawline or neck...I can't quite tell exactly where it is because she's squirms too much when I try to feel it. Obviously, I know this isn't good and she'll be going to the vet tomorrow, but now I'm panicking, which I tend to do any time something happens to one of my babies.
Several months ago Samantha had an abscess in this same general area. She had it cut open and drained, took antibiotics for a while and then she was fine.
I'm wondering if this is also an abscess based on the fact that its in a very similar location. I know no one here can answer that question for me, but does anyone know if certain cats are just more prone to getting abscesses? I have 11 cats so they are constantly playing and there is definitely the ability to get scratched or bitten, but Samantha is the only one of mine who's ever had an abscess before.
The last time this happened it started with a REALLY high fever of almost 107, when we rushed off the the emergency vet. He couldn't find any specific problem other than the fact that she was recovering from a URI. He said that while its not common for URIs to cause fevers, its also not impossible. He gave her a really good examination, gave her something to get her fever down, kept her overnight and when I picked her up in the morning everything seemed back to normal. Then that afternoon, I noticed the abscess. It seemed to just appear out of nowhere, because it definitely wasn't there when the E-vet examined her, but that at least explained the high fever the night before. When she had the fever she was also acting lethargic and when I noticed the abscess it was because she looked like she was uncomfortable eating.
This time around though, she's not acting lethargic, has no fever and seems to be having no problem eating. Everything seems completely normal except she has this lump which I definitely didn't notice yesterday.
I'm not going to rush her to the E-vet because she doesn't seem to have any signs of anything life threatening at the moment, like she did last time, but she'll definitely see a vet tomorrow. So again, I know no one can diagnose her here but is it possible that she's just prone to getting infections from scratches or play wounds? And if she is prone to them, is this a bad thing as far as her immune system is concerned? (She's Felv and FIV negative) I obviously hope this isn't cancer, but I also don't know if I should hope that its just another abscess either.
I just discovered that one of my cats has a lump on either her jawline or neck...I can't quite tell exactly where it is because she's squirms too much when I try to feel it. Obviously, I know this isn't good and she'll be going to the vet tomorrow, but now I'm panicking, which I tend to do any time something happens to one of my babies.
Several months ago Samantha had an abscess in this same general area. She had it cut open and drained, took antibiotics for a while and then she was fine.
I'm wondering if this is also an abscess based on the fact that its in a very similar location. I know no one here can answer that question for me, but does anyone know if certain cats are just more prone to getting abscesses? I have 11 cats so they are constantly playing and there is definitely the ability to get scratched or bitten, but Samantha is the only one of mine who's ever had an abscess before.
The last time this happened it started with a REALLY high fever of almost 107, when we rushed off the the emergency vet. He couldn't find any specific problem other than the fact that she was recovering from a URI. He said that while its not common for URIs to cause fevers, its also not impossible. He gave her a really good examination, gave her something to get her fever down, kept her overnight and when I picked her up in the morning everything seemed back to normal. Then that afternoon, I noticed the abscess. It seemed to just appear out of nowhere, because it definitely wasn't there when the E-vet examined her, but that at least explained the high fever the night before. When she had the fever she was also acting lethargic and when I noticed the abscess it was because she looked like she was uncomfortable eating.
This time around though, she's not acting lethargic, has no fever and seems to be having no problem eating. Everything seems completely normal except she has this lump which I definitely didn't notice yesterday.
I'm not going to rush her to the E-vet because she doesn't seem to have any signs of anything life threatening at the moment, like she did last time, but she'll definitely see a vet tomorrow. So again, I know no one can diagnose her here but is it possible that she's just prone to getting infections from scratches or play wounds? And if she is prone to them, is this a bad thing as far as her immune system is concerned? (She's Felv and FIV negative) I obviously hope this isn't cancer, but I also don't know if I should hope that its just another abscess either.
