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Hello Community. I have a wonderful 7-YO spayed female snowshoe named Poppy. Poppy has been the picture of perfect health since I first got her with her litter mates. at 7-8 weeks. She is an indoor/outdoor cat who leads an active social life, and has always had a healthy appetite powering her Alpha status in the household of 5 cats. She and her housemates only get the best food possible and carbs were cut out completely about 1.5 years ago. She currently eats Dr Elsey’s wet food (Turkey or Duck/Turkey), Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw morsels, along with some lightly roasted chicken meat with a multi-organ/glandular freeze dried blend for added nutrition.
Last week I noticed Poppy had a hard lump on her left hind leg on the outside of the upper thigh about 1 inches below the hip joint and just outside the leg’s leading edge. It is a hard mass about a dime in size, raised and moves with your finger just a little bit. It is under the hide and above the muscle and feels attached to the muscle or sinew tissues. I took her to her vet last week and they attempted to aspirate but got no fluids, and so have recommended surgery to remove the cyst and biopsy the tissue. While I await their cost estimate I got a second quote from a local board-certified surgeon and that came back at $2500-3000 not including any imaging, biopsies or panels.
I am asking if anyone knows what a likely market price is for such a surgery or has recommendations on alternative treatments? Poppy is behaving normally and has had no change in diet or activity, and does not react at all to touching the cyst. The cyst was first noticed about 10 days ago, and I am constantly handling this cat so it has developed very rapidly. I had first thought it must be from a playful bite from one of her wrestling matches with my 2-YO male, but there are not external signs of any such play. Any insight is appreciated. Especially a means to get this cyst removed and biopsied at a price much more reasonable than that already quoted.
Hi everyone, great website. My 10 year old sweet darling cat, has a cyst next to her eye, I was told by the vet it’s a cyst and to keep an ‘eye’ on it to see if it got bigger. Which it has.. they are saying to have it removed.. I was wondering if there’s anything I can do at home to help the cyst or does she have to have an operation? Many thanks, help really appreciated.
Hello,
In my long tenure as a vet I have found that the best way to eradicate a cyst is to surgically remove it. No matter what you try they always return if you don’t fill excise them. Depending on where they are some can wait a little while, but, if it is near the eye it’s probably better to remove it sooner while it is small, versus waiting for it to get bigger. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Thank you Krista I will take her back to the vet then as it has grown.
Hello. Yes. It looks like a cyst. And it is in a tough spot. I would remove it ASAP. There isn’t much room to work with as it is never mind if it gets larger. Please send a post op photo and please add the surgery and invoice to our storyline section. That way others can benefit from your experience.
My 6 year old shar pei/golden retriever mix has a mysterious bump on her lower leg. It appeared out of nowhere on Jan 1. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, it just looks like a pink bump really. I took her to the vet who took one look (barely a look at all because it had all of the fur covering it) and said it was either a cyst that maybe was a little infected or a pappilloma. She said to put neosporin and aloe vera on and cover with a sock daily. I have done that for more then a week and the bump looks the same (I trimmed the hair to get a better look). Do you think I should be concerned or push for a further look or is something like this just that easy to diagnose as she seemed to think?
Hi Amy, If you are concerned then go back to your Vet…or see another one if you were not happy with the initial examination. I enlarged the photo and there seems to be a mark in the middle of the lump. I wonder if it could be a bite of some kind? If so she would probably need antibiotics. If she were my dog I would definately take her back to the Vet for a more in depth examination.
I agree. I would call my vet and explain that there has been no improvement and you are concerned. Have them take a closer look.
Hello,
I agree with Julie and Sarah. If you are worried about it and it isn’t resolving express your concerns to your vet. It does look like a mass, per se, it looks more like an injury, but I would have expected it to be better by now if it was. It is so hard to diagnose via a photo. You are better off with your vet looking at it in person. Please let us know what happens.
Finally after I stopped put on the neosporin and the aloe vera and just let it alone for a few days it seemed to start getting smaller and smaller. Now it is just a tiny scab! Thanks everyone for your advice.
My dog tested Elisa test positive for Giardia with no cysts seen. She has no symptoms. Does she need to be treated and can she give it to us? Thanks.
I researched some and I do not believe that humans can catch from dogs… at least I haven’t found anywhere saying that it is possible. I would make sure to wash my hands thoroughly and you could always call your vets’ office to double check and make sure.
Hello,
Typically I only treat if this is causing diarrhea, or was found in an immunocompromised individual. I have never seen it be passed to humans from pets. Ask your vet to provide you better guidance for your pets test results. That is what they are there for.
Hello- I posted a few pics of my German shepherd, Butch last week because he had some sort of injury to his eye. It got much smaller, and we thought it was gone, but it appears to have tripled in size since Thursday. Yes… 2 days. He always rubs his face on the sofa and on Thursday it wasn’t nearly this big, but I thought yesterday when I got home from work that he just irritated it by rubbing on the sofa. Now I’m kicking myself for not just bringing him to the vet in the first place. I’ll call Monday for an appointment hopefully Tuesday. I know JVC has walk in hours on Sunday, but I always feel like those are for emergencies and I don’t want to take up someone else’s’s emergency spot. Here it is today. Any thoughts on whether or not it warrants an “emergency” visit. It has a scab on it now, because I’ve been diligent about not letting him rub along the sofa a rip it off. It feels like a nodual or some sort of hard cyst, and is a little larger than my pinky nail at this time.
Hello,
I dont think it is an emergency. I also think that the rubbing is probably due to an itch and is likely the cause of the significant swelling and size increase. Based on breed and location I would suspect an allergy or infection. Please see your vet and ask about a topical ophthalmic and an ecollar. Also ask about using diphenhydramine if it recurs. It might save you a vet visit the next time.
Good luck,
Let me know what the vet says,
I don’t know how to enlarge the pictures to take a closer look. Can anyone help me with this? I tap on the picture which brings up the original post in a separate window but I can’t access the pictures to make them bigger.
I have a dog she has a little lump on her back I noticed I was wondering if it is a cyst or something else
I would get to the vet ASAP. It may just be a benign cyst or an allergic reaction or something else very simple. On the other hand, some lumps can be cancerous and the QUICKER that you have a vet check it out, the quicker you can get treatment for your pet.
Hello!
Unfortunately lumps and bumps are a case by case scenario… some may not be worrisome while others seem to change drastically.
Cost all depends on everything being done and the severity of the case.
I am glad your kitty is doing everything normal and overall a healthy fur baby.
Removing lumps can give us answers and hopefully lead us to ways that can help treat.
Hope this helps some,
let us know.