Conference misery::feline_v1

    We got very worried when we found a lump on our first cat at around the
    same age. The vet checked it and said it was something to do with her
    muscle growing (I think) and that it was nothing to worry about. She
    did enter it into Kayleigh's record to be monitored and it just seemed
    to go away after a while.
    It sounds like a good idea for the vet to check your cat over, though.

    Only your vet will know for sure,,...  we had a kitty who had a
    lump on the back side of her neck...near the shoulder.  The vet
    did remove it and did a biopsy to determine if it was cancerous.
    
    We lucked out...it was just a fatty tumor and not cancerous.  And
    Mitsy is now 13 years old and is a real healthy kitty.
    
    Good luck...and I'm glad your bringing her to the vets.  Please
    keep us posted.
    
    Sandy

	We had a cat with several lumps under the skin.  The vet suggested
	that the lumps were from a B-B gun but I can't remember a time
	that the cat was cut (I may have been in college at the time though).

	Anyhow, the lumps were never removed since the vet felt that
	they were nothing dangerous and he lived till age 14.

	Karen

    Any chance that your cat has been recently vaccinated?  Sometimes
    vaccines can cause lumps under the skin, but they go away by
    themselves.
    
    Jo

    
    	Re: #4
    
    	Yes she did have a shot when she was in being spayed just about
    	a month ago.  If I'm not mistaken she was given a shot in about
    	that area.  I sure that is what it is.  She's such a love and
    	what a talker.  She has got to be the smartest cat I have ever
    	owned, I swear she know everything I say to her and has an
    	answer for everything.
    
    	She was suppose to be a blue-point Siamese, but she is totally
    	white on her body with a chocolate face and ears and a light
    	grayish/brown tail with stripes.  Sound like any cat you've
    	ever seen?  
    
    	Thanks for all replies and I'll let you know what the Vet says
    	tomorrow.
    
    	-Dee
    

    
    	Not to panic you but we're going through something similar
    	with Brandi right now.  It appeared Saturday night and I
    	dropped her off at the vet this morning.  Turns out she
    	had an ear hematoma (cyst-like).  Had to be anesthetised
    	and operated on.....sigh.  She doesn't get sick/injured that
    	often but when she does she goes for the gusto..
    	I don't know if this is it or not.  It sounds like there could
    	be many possibilities.  Hopefully yours will turn out better
    	than mine
    
    	JJ (who is glad now that she and Cary didn't buy the entertainment
    		center the other night cuz now we gotta pay the vet!)

	Stripey tail?  Sounds like a lynx-point, possibly chocolate,
	right, Judy? :^}

	Sandy, with Smudge, Tas, Jenn, C.C. and Beau (choc.lynx)

    
    
    	Yup!  Our seal (or choc.) lynx point is light beige (almost white) 
    	with tabby markings on the forehead and face, dark paws, ears and
    	dark striped tail.

    YUP!  We went spare when we found our (recently vacinated) cats ALL had
    lumps on their necks.  Panic call to the vet.  No problem, he said,
    it's normal.  
    
    If you had not noticed it before, it's probably not cancer--even the
    fast growing kind takes time.
    

    
    My lynx point has a lump on her side also..its muscles..it happend when 
    she was young..my vet told me to have her fixed,,,due to the lump may
    casue trouble if/when she gave birth..so we did...to my sorrow..she is
    so beautiful I want  more just like her.
    
    Good luck w/ yours
    
    Louisa, Chammie, Carmle, Nephra

    Re: .10
    
    That lump on the side/trouble giving birth sounds more like a hernia.
    
    I wish vets would warn people about vaccination lumps.  How many
    notes have been posted in here by people scared out of their wits
    about these....
    
    A hematoma (sp?) is just a big blood clot, if I recollect correctly.
    
    

    Bob had a lump too - but on the back of his rear leg.  I never thought
    about a vaccination because I'd never heard of a vet giving a 
    vaccination in that area.  Bob is an x-feral and we had dropped him
    off for "the works" at Boston cat hospital so I wasn't there when they
    vaccinated him to see where it was done.  Sure got me worried.
    
    Nancy DC

    
    
    	re: Karen...
    
    	If I understood the vet asst. correctly yesterday, she had a cyst
    	or something on/in her ear.  With it being uncomfortable she shook
    	her head alot and this is what caused the hematoma.  I just wish
    	we had noticed it earlier but she's such a loner that she wasn't
    	'around' us much.  The poor thing was sooo groggy last night
    	when I brought her home.  She has what they call a pancake bandage
    	on her ear.  It's like two pieces of special cardboard, one on
    	each side of her ear and they're sewn on!!  She's so miserable.
    
    	JJ
    

    
    
    	Well we had out visit to the Vet this morning and he feels like a
    	few of you said - that it is most likely a vaccination lump.  If I
    	remember correctly she had a little blood on her white fur in that
    	area (shoulder).  She definitely hated being there, but she did
    	behave like a lady!
    
    	I still a question about her color -
    
    	Her Mom was a Sealpoint Siamese and I think they said her Dad was
    	a Lynx?  She is almost white (very, very like beige) on all her
    	body, but her ears, legs and tail are kinda chocolate, like a 
    	Sealpoint, except her tail is stripped.  Her face is almost a
    	circle of brown with a very dark nose.  Her mask does not extend
    	as far to her cheeks as my other Sealpoint cat.  Does she sound
    	like any specific type cat to you?  I'm just curious - of course
    	we think she's beautiful
    
    	Again - thank you all for your wise and comforting words - You're
    	a heck of a group!!!
    
    	-Dee,  Ashley & May Ling 

    Dee - if Dad was a lynx, then she is too.  Tabby markings are dominant
    to solid points.  The rings on her tail are a give away.  Also,
    look for the M on the forehead, and either ticking or stripes to
    come to her legs later on (she is young, right?).
    
    Nancy DC - rabies is an intramuscular shot that is given in the
    back leg.  Depending on the vet, it can be given in the outer thigh
    or from the back of the leg.  If Bob got a rabies shot, he may have
    gotten one of these lumps.  Rabies is usually the culprit in these
    lumps since other vaccines are given sub-q and usually dissipate
    quickly under the skin.
    
    Jo

    Okay, let me modify that last statement about rabies.  Until recently
    it was an intramuscular shot.  Recently, several vaccines companies
    have come out with sub-q rabies shots.  Ask your vet which type
    he uses.  Mine is still using the IM form.
    
    Jo

    My vet is also using IM for rabies.  Biff gets huge bumps from shots,
    and since he's skin and bones, they stick out when he walks.  Sure had
    me worried!  It's a good thing they go away; he'd look like a pin
    cushion otherwise!!
    
    Mary
    

re: rabies shots

We've heard tell that subcutaneous rabies vaccinations have been shown to 
be not very effective.  If your cat has been vaccinated this way, I would 
suggest that it be re-vaccinated intra-muscularly.  (We put this in our
kitten contract). 

Ray

    re: .16, .18   Thanks Jo.  I recently took two of the kittens in
    for rabies and the shots were given sub-q.  I'll have to ask the
    vet about the effectiveness of these shots.   Any one else have
    any info on this?
    

    The one time that I had a serious problem with a lump was when one
    of my cats was vaccinated with a sub-q rabies.  That was a show
    cat, and the lump was there for the whole season.  I ended up pulling
    the cat, since every judge made a big show of checking out the lump,
    and it made me uncomfortable.
    
    Jo

    re: 19
    
    yes, quite a while back, I thought that the sub-q vaccines had
    been recalled for being ineffective.  Cats that had been 
    vaccinated sub-q, were called back by their vets to repeat
    the vaccine I-M.  Haven't heard whether or not the sub-q
    version had improved or not.
    
    E.T.