Expert: Jessica - 11/3/2011

Question
Please please help i have just found a small lump about the size of a pea on my 17 yr old female cat, its on her under carriage, just under the front legs. I've tried moving it to see if its attached to a bone or that... it moves easily, and doesn't appear to be attached. she is a house cat and get VERY frightened going outside which will make a vet trip very traumatic for her. she seems fine otherwise, apart from being a bit more hungry and also more vocal than normal, a bit more active aswell. can you please help with this as i don't want to put her through the trauma of a vets trip unless i need to. many thanks i dont know what to do.

Answer
Hi Jacqueline,

Unfortunately, lumps are something that have the potential to be dangerous enough that it's always worth having a vet check them out. There is no way to determine whether they may be life-threatening or benign until a vet physically looks at them and palpates them, so putting her through the stress of a visit is unavoidable, I think. Some vets will do house calls, and this might be worth looking into in her case.

Some small, slow-growing lumps can be harmless. These can be deposits of fat called lipomas ("fatty tumors") or cysts filled with an oily substance called sebum. Fatty tumors are very soft. Sebaceous cysts are a bit harder but still flexible. Neither of these need any treatment. Lumps that appear very suddenly might be abscesses, which usually rupture after many days. These are infections under the skin that require drainage and antibiotics to clear up. Failure to aggressively treat these can result in a blood infection that can be deadly. The worst diagnosis is cancer. These lumps are usually faster growing and harder than cysts or lipomas. Because of the size of the lump you found, I would be concerned. Lipomas and cysts tend to stay quite small. But if the lump does turn out to be of concern, it may be early enough to fully remove it and be curative.

Best of luck!

Jessica