Sudden Lump?

Hey all,

The other night I was petting my baby boy, Riley (just over a year old), and noticed a lump on his lower back near his right hind leg. It seemed to appear out of nowhere - I am constantly petting him and stroking his back so I know that I would have noticed it had it been there sooner. It is about the size of a grape and not too firm, but not entirely squishy. If I wiggle it around, I can also kind of encapsulate the whole thing with my hand, so it doesn't seem like it is attached to anything really.

Earlier on the night that I noticed the lump, I heard a crash and noticed that either Riley or his baby sister Sophie had knocked over a hockey stick. It didn't appear that either of them got hit, and when I touch the lump or stroke Riley's back he doesn't appear to be in any pain, but I'm wondering if this could be related?

I have a vet appointment on Monday morning, but I just wanted to get a little insight from others so I don't worry myself sick over the weekend while I wait for the appointment. Has anyone had an experience like this? If so, what did it turn out to be?

My poor Riley has been through so much already in his young life, I'm just praying that it's nothing serious!!

Aww... If it doesn't hurt, I wonder if it IS a bruise? :dk: Flowerbelle and Ming Loy both developed cysts that had to be removed. That's kind of what they feel like. Is it "defined"? Meaning - does it seem not to be a bump like you'd get from being hit by something falling on your arm, meaning does it kind of move around independently under his skin?

Either way, it's best to get to the vet, but even if it is a cyst - fatty or otherwise - shouldn't be a problem. :rub: Try not to fret until your appt Monday!

BTW - am I remembering correctly? Was Riley treated for toxo? How's he (and the kitty) doing?

Thanks for the response, LDG. Yes, it does feel defined. Like a little grape just floating around in there. He doesn't seem bothered when I touch it or pick and poke at him, so I don't think it hurts him, but I guess I'll just have to wait until I get the vet. I hope it's nothing bad!

And yes, you are remembering correctly - Riley was treated for toxo. The last day of antibiotics was today and he seems to be doing much better. He's definitely more active and seems to be happy and adjusting to the kitty (she tested negative for the toxo, so she's in the clear). He actually grooms her now, so I think he's taken on the big brother role quite nicely. I'm bringing them both to the vet on Monday and he's going to retest their stool (they are both also on worm treatment because she brought roundworms into the house).

Riley has definitely been through the ringer this year - he had two surgeries in December. He swallowed a hair elastic and had to have it surgically removed and then he developed an incisional infection in the hospital and they brought him back into surgery to remove fat/muscle tissue that was affected. He was 7 months at the time. Then in February, he was exposed to a lily and a noticed a piece missing from the flower and pollen dust on his nose so I rushed him to the emergency animal hospital and he was on a kidney flush for 4 days. Thankfully, they never had any indication of kidney damage. It's been torture for him (and me!) 

I think because of this, I worry about him more than I normally would, but I just want to make sure he is healthy and happy because he is the sweetest thing!

Aw, poor little fella! And poor you! And they say having pets reduces stress! :lol3:

Wow, he really has been through the ringer. We've been lucky - whenever someone ingested a foreign object, they were able to pass it. And hubby no longer buys me flowers, I don't keep any plants in the house anymore, and if someone sends us flowers for some reason, we give them to the neighbors. :anon: (We have one kitty that simply will not leave any plant or flower alone!).

Let us know what the vet says. :cross:

Poor guy.  Keep us posted on what you find out if you have the time!
 

AW vibes for Riley :rub: Hopefully it is just a fatty lipoma. The vet can aspirate the lump on Monday and look at the cells under the microscope. If it is a whitish greasy fluid then most likely just a fatty tumor. Usually more common on dogs, but cats can get them too. My Pipsqueak has one. Keep us posted and good luck at the vet on Monday :cross:

My Eko had a lump suddenly appear recently (near his shoulder) and it was a reaction to an antibiotic injection they had given him 4 weeks earlier for a kitty cold.  It was not serious (they looked at some fluid under a microscope for anything cancerous) and went away.  But I did do a lot of reading about injection site tumors.  I know my vet gives the rabies vaccine near the right hind leg.  From what I've read rabies and feline leukemia are the vaccines most commonly associated with injection site tumors.  If he has had injections near that spot it is something to consider and ask the vet about.  I hope you get some answers at the vet.

Thanks for the good vibes, everyone! Txcatmom, you were spot on. The vet said it was a reaction to the rabies vaccine. He had the vaccine about 3 weeks ago, so I didn't even think to connect the two. The vet said it should go down for good within a month or two.

Phew!!!

Wow, I'm so sorry he had a reaction at all! Does your vet use the PureVax vaccine (required annually?) or the 3-year? The PureVax is designed not to have the problem with injection-site sarcomas. :nod: :cross:

But I'm so glad that's all it was!

Hi LDG,

This is a new vet for me and he used the 3 year. I kind of have a sour taste in my mouth about him now after reading about injection-site sarcomas. I didn't realize it was such an issue. Also, he gave Sophie a distemper vaccine in her scruff and I've been reading that giving a vaccine in the scruff is against vaccine protocol.

The vet did say that if it doesn't go down within two months, he may have to remove it because of the potential to turn into cancer. He seemed very nonchalant about it though, so I didn't really think much of it until I started doing some online research.

Now, I'm a little confused AND scared. The vet didn't biopsy the lump or anything today. Could this be a sarcoma already? Or will it turn into one if left untreated? The vet said that it had the potential to turn into one, but it was normal now (all he did was feel it).

Txcatmom - how long did it take for your kitty's lump to go away? Riley's had his for about 4 days and there hasn't been any growth or reduction in size.

I'm sorry hun, I have no experience with this and really don't know. Rabies isn't even required by law in our county, so we stopped having the cats vaccinated at all a few years ago (they're all indoor only and we don't foster because of the health issues of our kitties). But most of them received the 3-year at least twice before I learned about all the issues with vaccines.

Eko's lump started getting smaller by the day right after the vet poked it with a needle and looked at some cells under a microscope.  It was weird, almost like the puncturing helped it go down (totally non-medical conjecture.)  His was mostly fluid, so maybe that is what happened?  Maybe your vet could tell just by feeling that your cat's lump was mostly fluid?  My vet was very concerned (even though reactions to antibiotic shots are not usually cancerous) and had me come back in 2 weeks so she could feel the lump again.  So, it could still be felt after 2 weeks (6 weeks from the injection), but was much smaller.  Now, a few months from the injection I can't feel it at all.  I will probably always be aware of that area when I am petting him and feel for any changes. 

Your vet's casual attitude would be a bit of a concern for me.  Mine said that lumps in cats are always alarming and should be taken more seriously than lumps in dogs (not that they don't take those seriously too.)

Thanks for the info! I'm going to give it a couple of days to see if it goes down in size and if it doesn't I'm going to go to another vet for a second opinion. It actually seems a little bit smaller today, but that could be my hopeful imagination.

Sophie is due for her rabies shot in a month and I will be taking her to another vet for PureVax!

Just wanted to give an update: Riley's lump is about half the size it was. Very excited about that! I'm still monitoring it very closely to make sure it goes away completely, but I feel much better.

Great!  Thanks for the update.

Aw, that's great news! Hope it won't be long before it's completely gone away. :cross:

Good news about Riley!!!!! Hopefully it is even smaller today OR completely gone!! :cross:

LindzerBee said:

Just wanted to give an update: Riley's lump is about half the size it was. Very excited about that! I'm still monitoring it very closely to make sure it goes away completely, but I feel much better.

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That is GREAT news And I'm glad you are feeling better too More vibes until it goes completely away

This thread is making me start to think about Patricia's lumps. She has one near the back of her right ear and a smaller, younger one on it. No illness symptoms ever appeared, so I always assumed they are just like moles. What else do you call a benign ball-shaped growth on the fur?Of course because the location is not an area that gets petted all the time, I have no way of knowing when or how quickly the growths formed.

txcatmom said:

My Eko had a lump suddenly appear recently (near his shoulder) and it was a reaction to an antibiotic injection they had given him 4 weeks earlier for a kitty cold.  It was not serious (they looked at some fluid under a microscope for anything cancerous) and went away.  But I did do a lot of reading about injection site tumors.  I know my vet gives the rabies vaccine near the right hind leg.  From what I've read rabies and feline leukemia are the vaccines most commonly associated with injection site tumors.  If he has had injections near that spot it is something to consider and ask the vet about.  I hope you get some answers at the vet.

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It is standard practice to inject the FLV vaccine in the left leg (leukemia - left) and rabies vaccine in the right leg (rabies - right) for this reason. My understanding is if you keep the cat indoors, it does not need the FLV shot, but many states require rabies shots for all cats and dogs who are not allergic to it.