Found a lump on the chest

[lanerich]

I was holding my big orange male (neutered) last night and realized he has a lump in the center of his chest. It feels fairly soft to the touch but it's definitely protruding. A little bit bigger than a quarter in diameter. He will be 7 in April. I called the vet this morning and they gave me the next available appt, on Feb 22nd. Does this seem like something that should be treated more urgently or is waiting over a month fine? He doesn't seem to be any pain, no change in behavior as far as I can tell. No other health issues. He weighs about 13lbs and is not overweight. Thanks!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I would continue to feel the lump and see if you can tell if it is growing any, or if it starts to bother him. Record changes, and keep your vet posted if you see any. It could be so many things that it is hard to tell but monitoring it for now would seem to be the best route to go. Ask your vet if they have a list that you could be put on for cancellations between now and his scheduled appt.

 

[lanerich]

Thanks so much!

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go

 

[lanerich]

We visited the vet today and they believe it’s just a fatty tumor but they still recommend to remove it. He needs a teeth cleaning anyway so we will combine the two next month.

Does anyone have experience with tumor removal on the chest? It’s about the size of a grape. The next available appointment is 2 days before we are due to go out of town for the weekend. I’m wondering if he’s going to have to wear a cone or take meds afterwards and for how long, and if this is something our pet sitter could manage. Thanks

 

[NekoM]

The names misleading, it’s really just a small lump of fat. It’s not attached with any blood supply. I’ve seen one removed on a person. They make an incision, the lump pops up through the incision and it’s surgically scooped off and stitched up in about 5 minutes, it can sometimes be squeezed out which apparently is really disgusting and smelly. It’s simple, and they may be able to do it awake. He’ll probably need a cone - but go on Amazon because there’s some very comfortable cool looking ones that work as an alternative. Here’s one of mine when he had to wear one, it stopped him getting at the area and he slept really well on it.

 

[DreamerRose]

That's cool, NekoM , Glad to know about these. The last time Lily had one, it was so heavy she had to walk backwards, dragging it.

 

[lanerich]

I have an update on the orange cat! He had his lump removed 3 weeks ago. The scar went all the way down his chest, much larger than I was anticipating. He was on some strong pain meds for 2 weeks and there were no signs of infection at his recheck. It's pretty much all healed up at this point, the lab showed everything was removed and non-cancerous and the vet said the surgery should completely resolve the issue.

 

[Furballsmom]

Wow! Thanks so much for the update