Growth on bone and small ball growth/Cancer??? Pls Help!

librarygirl7

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Hi everyone,

My 10 year old cat has a bone growth on her shoulder on the scapula area. She also has a tiny little ball growing on the left side of her body on her hind leg. It's right under the skin and not connected to any muscles. I don't see any indications where it looks like a bite and she is an indoor cat.
I took her to the vet yesterday and her blood work came back all normal. The vet did say her rear lymph node under her right leg was a little swollen too.

The vet couldn't diagnose her and suggested to just keep an eye on her to see if the growths get bigger. She acts completely normal though she does once in a while  falls when trying to jump on my bed.

Anyone had any similar situations where there was a strange bone growth on the shoulder bone? Any advice? Could it just be some weird random "old lady" thing? I'd hate to put her through invasive tests if she may not even need it. Her labs had all come back normal, white blood counts, everything! If it were to be Cancer, wouldn't she show some type of signs?!

I'd appreciate any advice I could get. Thanks in advance.
 

misty8723

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Hi and welcome!  I'm sure someone with experiece with this will come along, but I think blood tests don't always tell you about cancer.  I thought so too, but Cindy's blood tests were normal and she had a tumor growing in her, so i guess unfortunately that doesn't always mean anything.

the little ball under her skin, though, if it's soft, not attached to anything, and moves easily, it could be a cyst.  Cindy had one, freaked me out, but when they put the needle in it to get a biopsy, liquid squirted out.  So it was a cyst. 

for you and your kitty.
 
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librarygirl7

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Misty8723,

The little ball isn't soft, it's hard and just attached to the skin itself, not to any muscle or bone.
As for the growth on her shoulder, before it was hard like a bone, now there's a part that moves if you push it. It's still hard though. She doesn't seem to be bothered when I touch it, though I don't really like to touch it at all because it freaks me out and makes me cry. :(

 
 
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librarygirl7

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Misty8723,

The ball under the skin is hard and attached to just the skin, not to any muscles nor bone.

The growth on her shoulder actually moves a bit if you push it gently, but it's still attached to the bone. Don't know if it's because it's grown or what. It doesn't seem to bother her at all though she does lay funny at times and shifts a lot when laying down.
 

misty8723

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Librarygirl7, have you thought about getting an XRay?  Not sure that would help, but it would be a place to start.  You might also think about consulting another vet for a second opinion.  We took Cindy for a second opinion when we were trying to get a diagnosis.  I don't like having a vet say they don't know what it is without trying to find out. 
 
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librarygirl7

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She has had an xray. The vet pretty much didn't know what it was and said to go to a specialist because it is growing from her scapula and her bones and joints all look good. Her chest did seem a bit congested and she has been recovering from a cough (though the vet said her lungs sounded find).

I'm researching to see if I can find one that works with an Oncologist that won't cost an arm and a leg. Meanwhile I'm trying to research what I can regarding bone growths.
 
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librarygirl7

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Well, I made an appt. with another vet for a 2nd opinion. My friend takes her cats to this one and it has good reviews online. They don't have an Oncologist on board, but this vet would be able to do a biopsy at a resonable price if my cat needs one... Now to wait for the consultation appt. to see what he says... I'm going to be a nervous wreck for the next week.
 

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Thought I replied to this yesterday, but maybe I didn't hit send?

I was just wanting to say that maybe it's like here where your vet would refer you to the oncologist at a specialist practice.  I know what the waiting is like, that's the worst part.  If you know what it is, at least you can see what options you have.

Your kitty is very lucky to have you as her person to take such good care of her.  
 that it's nothing serious and 
for your stress level while you wait for the appointment.

Please keep us updated.
 
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librarygirl7

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Well, I had originally taken her to that vet to get 3 things checked out: The growth on her shoulder, the lump under her skin on her hind leg, and a swollen thumb on her front leg. I forgot to tell the vet about the thumb but told the assistant when she went to take her into the back and she said they would take an x-ray of that too.
Of course, they never did. The vet was sorry and didn't know either what to say about the thumb other than: keep an eye on it and bring her in if it gets big. He never offered to take another xray free of charge or anything of the sort.

Well, I still have the appt with another vet for this Thursday, however, her thumb is now super swollen and red. I'm thinking she has an abscess in there. She's also prefers to lay down a lot more than usual and will only eagerly get up to eat or use her litter. Her personality is still the same, but I can tell she's in discomfort because she walks funny.

The lump under her skin on her hind leg: It's attached to the skin underneath and the skin is starting to look a little red. I'm thinking it's also an abscess (Hoping really, since the other vet said it was probably a tumor or cyst). I don't think it has grown since last week, but my fiance thinks it grew a little.

The growth on her shoulder hasn't seemed to have grown...

I hate to have to wait to take her to the vet, but this vet is out of town and highly recommended, so I really hope she can last 2 more days with minimal discomfort so she can see him...If she has to be anesthetized to drain any abscesses, I want to wait so that she can get a biopsy if needed as well, and even her teeth cleaned. A big tune up of sorts!

When it rains, it pours....

She never goes outdoors at all, though a few days before I discovered the lump on the leg and her hurt thumb, I had briefly taken her to the backyard for no more than 10 mins. I didn't see her visibly get bitten or anything that might of surprised her, but I remember like 4 years ago, I let her go to the backyard and sure enough a few weeks later she got a huge abscess behind her leg. I have no idea if there's some ants or other insects that keep biting her out there or what since I don't see any bite marks on her...

Don't they say bad things come in 3's? I hope it gets better from here on out...
 
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librarygirl7

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I wanted to update you all on this incase anyone else is going through something similar...

My cat had surgery to remove the infected thumb, growth on her shoulder, and lump under the skin of her hind leg. All 3 were biopsied and turned out to be Cancer. Two of the growths were completely removed but one of them (the one on the shoulder) couldn't be completely removed. She had her surgery on March 5th and it's been up and down since then. She stopped eating shortly after the surgery and started to vomit like crazy and I thought that was it for her, but a shot of anti-nausea medication and an enema fixed her up.

Unfortunately, she had another infected toe that is getting worse (it's starting to smell now despite my cleaning it daily), and another tumor growing on her hing leg lymph node that is growing very rapidly. She had an ultrasound done and they found that she has about 3 inches of her intestines that are hardened, but other than that, they didn't see any main primary masses.

I'm not going to put her through any more surgeries and am just going to keep her spoiled and comfortable until we see that she's in too much pain and that medication isn't helping her anymore. Aside from her limping and not walking much, she is still her old self. Eats like a beast, uses her litter ok, cuddles with us, etc.

She's currently on Prednisone and I have reason to believe that may of made her infection on her toe act up a bit more since the vets warned us that it may bring about secondary infections. I'm taking her in tomorrow to see if we should put her on antibiotics and/or maybe pain killers.

It's really hard to know that we have to put her down soon. I keep hoping she will somehow die in her sleep, but she's a fighter and is acting strong. We don't want to put her through another surgery to remove that hind toe and that tumor because who's to say she won't get another infected toe or another growth in her body within a few weeks of the surgery.

The vets seem to agree with me to just keep her happy until she "let's us know", but I'm scared of not recognizing that moment and keep thinking she will be alright or will last longer, and make her suffer.

This is truly difficult and painful...
 

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Hi,

I am just now reading your post.  I am so sorry to hear about your kitty.  When I read the first post, I was going to say it sounded a lot (the lump under the skin) like my kitty Jill. That lump turned out to be a metastisis from a tumor she had on her toe of Osteosarcoma.  She is now 3 months post leg amputation and going through chemotherapy.  What type of cancer does your kitty have?
 
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librarygirl7

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Hi,

I am just now reading your post.  I am so sorry to hear about your kitty.  When I read the first post, I was going to say it sounded a lot (the lump under the skin) like my kitty Jill. That lump turned out to be a metastisis from a tumor she had on her toe of Osteosarcoma.  She is now 3 months post leg amputation and going through chemotherapy.  What type of cancer does your kitty have?
The vet doesn't really know. He did think there was a main mass somewhere and that's why the tumors were metastasizing all over her body, but the chest xray shows nothing in her lungs (just a little congestion, and he had gotten a second opinion from a radiologist because he initially thought Lung Cancer), and the ultrasound showed hardening in the intestines which he thinks may be due to a tumor and hardening of the rear leg lymph node (which has tripled in size in the past week). He said aside from going in there to explore, there's no way of knowing.

She's starting to sound a big congested and flemy, as of last night so that's why I want to see if she can get on antibiotics tomorrow.

I'm so torn between having that toe and leg tumor removed or just letting her be until it's her time... We wouldn't put her through chemo either way so if she does have Cancer someplace else (which she does because they weren't able to remove completely the growth from the shoulder), it's all bound to come back at one point or another.

How is Jill doing? Did they manage to get all the cancer out? Did they give her a time frame of how long she will live post-surgery?
 

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Jill is, amazingly doing, wonderful.  She had one chemo treatment left.  Her toe was actually amputated first (in June) and then the metastisis developed further up that same leg 6 months later which led to the leg amputation.  She truly amazes me everyday on three legs, its as if she never had three legs. (if you want to read more about her surgery/recovery, etc. she has a blog and you can go back to her earliest posts: http://jillsjourney.tripawds.com/  )

It is hard to give a prognosis for her, because osteosarcoma is very rare in cats.  They definitely got all the cancer out with the removal of her entire leg.  In dogs, the prognosis at best is 1-2 years post surgery, however, OSA metastasizes much slower in cats and amputation and chemo could actually get rid of it completely - so my fingers are crossed that we've given her that chance!

Have you consulted an oncologist?  I found that once we got to the oncologist I got my best answers.  The generalists can only take you so far with information, the oncologists really know and specialize in this type of stuff.

It's funny that you call it an "infected thumb" because that is what her initial tumor presented as.  It looked like her back toe was infected, but it turned out to be a tumor. 
 
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librarygirl7

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It's funny that you call it an "infected thumb" because that is what her initial tumor presented as.  It looked like her back toe was infected, but it turned out to be a tumor. 
Yeah, Her thumb's biopsy showed Cancer, and she has another toe that the vet thinks is most probably another tumor... that is the toe that is starting to smell.
We have not consulted an Oncologist for several reasons, mostly due to money and because prognosis seems so poorly in cats anyways according to the vet, radiologist,and the research I've done. We don't want to put her through all the pain and suffering just so that she can last a few more months/years with us. She's about 10-11 years old and has had a wonderfully spoiled life.

This is all happening at such a horrible time too...my fiance and I are supposed to marry in 3 months and we haven't planned anything due to her health problem and all the money we've spent due to it. I always imagined her growing old with us and meeting our future children that we may have and now it's never going to happen... I always thought she'd develop Diabetes or Thyroid issues since she was always obese (always 19-20 lbs).
She's lost a little weight and is down to 17 lbs now.

I've been a nervous, crying wreck for the past month, having to call out of work because I spent all night up with her, or because we have to take her to the vet. It's completely disappointing that my boss doesn't quite understand that she is like my daughter. She's been in my life for as long as I've been with my fiance, which is 8 years. He's had her longer, since she was a kitten.

I'm just so angry and confused as to what to do. My fiance told me that had it not been for me, he would of put her down a while ago, when she had really gotten sick after her surgery.
I still have hope...
 

jillsmom

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:( I'm so sorry you are going through this.  I completely understand.  When Jill was going through the initial diagnosis and we didnt know what it was I was up all night with her crying, a nervous wreck. 

We will be thinking of you - if you have any questions about the toe removal or leg amp if you decide to go through with that I'm happy to answer those for you.

Erica &  Jill
 
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