Felicity had a dark mass on the top of her head. It was about the size of a pea. It was dark colored and thinly skinned. The problem with having a mass here is a few things;
1. there is not a lot of subcutaneous fat between the skin and the skull bone.
2. It can be difficult to remove a large mass here as there is not much extra skin to close after the mass is excised.
3. The top of the head has lots of important structures that we don’t want to mess with, or get in the way of being able to function normally, Think about ears, eyes, mouth, all the important functions of the face.

If the mass gets too big it might rupture and it is almost impossible to bandage a cat here. Also, the longer a mass is allowed to grow, the bigger it gets, the harder (and more expensive) it is to remove. If it ruptures it may never heal or close because it is abnormal tissue.

Lastly, until a mass is removed and submitted for histopathology we don’t really ever know what it is. Biopsy, often done through complete excision is the best way to solve the mystery of what it is and be able to address it correctly.

Cost for surgery is as follows;
iv fluids, iv catheter, iv fluid pump, surgical instrument pack, and anesthesia $250
mass removal simple $150
injectable antibiotic $54

Felicity did great. her surgery was what I would call a routine small skin mass removal. Her family declined biopsy.

Her story is posted with the families permission.

I would lastly like to add that this mass was removed before it became a problem. We should always strive to practice medicine in this fashion.