Found a lump on my cat’s back leg
First, I am really sorry you are searching for information about a lump on your cat’s back leg. We know how scary, sad and strange it felt. Who knew cats could get his.
Our cat of 14+ years, Herb developed a lump on his back leg. Although I couldn’t see how large it was, I could see it protruding a bit and when I touched it, it felt like a hard lump or mass rather than a small bump or pimple. We took him to the vet and they shaved the entire area. The lump appeared to be a lot larger than it looked with the fur. Although the vet wasn’t sure it was cancer, {Ugghhhhhhh} he was leaning towards amputating the cat’s leg {DOUBLE UGHHHHHHH}. Why amputation? Because cancer in a cat’s leg typically wraps around the bone and if it is cancer, there is also a large chance that it can come back. We have used this vet for many years and we have a lot of confidence in him because he has done fantastic work in the past and he genuinely loves pets. **We didn’t amputate and 6 months later our cat is healthy and bouncing aroudn the house);
Herb has a lot of tests done and although cancer wasn’t ruled out for sure, the cat is in good health otherwise (heart, lungs,kidney, etc). Cancer can’t be ruled out until a biopsy is performed. We were given a decision to make about whether we were going to amputate his leg or not. We inquired about having a biopsy on the mass, but the vet said that it might burst. I did a lot of thinking and wanted to make sure that my decision was in the best interest of the cat and not simply because we love the cat and want to keep him around.
I found myself going back and forth on what to do. When you make a decision about another person’s health (a child or an older person through a health proxy), the decision is pretty clear – do whatever you can to help the person. When it’s a pet, you realize that doing a surgery (or in this case) amputating the leg may significantly lower the animal’s quality of life. And if it is cancer, it may come back in another place in the cat’s body.
But after a weekend of thinking, researching and praying, I came to the only conclusion – The cat loves Lee and just wants to be with Lee…..we should do whatever we can to save him. And after looking at the newly shaven cat leg for several days, I think I imagined that it was getting larger.
Lee brought Herb to the vet this morning and talked with the vet. He asked the doctor to remove the tumor and if it was possible, to save the leg. The doctor at this point said it probably wasn’t possible. But then he drained the large lump on the cat’s leg and the bump was reduced to less than half it’s size. Lee told the the doctor if he didn’t think it was possible to save the leg, then he should amputate it (even writing that sounds bad). I just wanted what was best for the cat and all day I kept hoping we made the right decision.
This afternoon, we were told that the cat is resting easy and still has his leg. Did I tell you we have an awesome vet? When I called him, he said he got all of the mass that he could visibly see. He explained to Lee that the mass may come back and that if it is cancer, it can even grow in a different place in his body. For tonight, we are grateful that are our cat in in recovery.
Update 1: The cat was running around as soon as we brought him home.
Update 2 – Four months later, the mass came back. The doctor took Herb’s leg off. Did we want to do that? At this point we did because we wanted to keep our cat. We still felt we made the right decision in taking the lump off first. We wanted to give Herb the best life. So now our cat doesn’t have a leg. The first day he hopped around. Every day after, he was scooting around – up and down the stairs, jumping, almost like he normally was with 4 legs.
Update 3 – The cancer came back throughout Herb’s body two months later. We fed him baby food with a tube and he willingly helped. Even though he ate two cans of baby food in the morning and two in the evening, he continued to lose weight from the cancer. He stayed close to us, but he stopped purring. We had to let our friend go, even though we didn’t want to. I am writing this here because looking back, I just wish I wasn’t afraid to have cut his leg off right from the beginning. Maybe he would have had more of a chance – maybe not. We would have spent several thousand thousands if we didn’t think we were doing the right thing at the time – this cat was a family member. He would speak to us and nodded his head upward at us when we came into a room and sometimes that all a person needs at the moment. RIP my sweet friend.
Good luck to you and your cat. Do whatever you feel is right because that’s the right thing for your cat.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
February 7th, 2014 at 8:31 pm
Hi. My cat has a large lump on his hind leg. Vet drained it and started him on antibiotic. That didn’t work. The lump is huge now and vet wants to do a biopsy. My cat is only 4 years old. It’s not an abscess and there is no puss inside it, rather a bloody fluid. Vet says he’s worried because the muscle in that leg is so hard. Even at rest. Having the biopsy done this Monday, but so concerned for my Porter.
I’m concerned that the only other option at this point that the vet is recommending is the biopsy.
February 26th, 2014 at 6:12 am
I noticed my cat had a lump on his leg about 1 week ago. he is an orange and white short haired tabby. Now the hair is predominantly short except on the back of his legs the hair is relatively long and fluffy. i know it sounds weird. the size of it feels like a golf ball. Its hard to tell if it hurts or not cause he’s kind of a grumpy butt anyway. He lets me pet him everywhere though and doesn’t seem to shy away when i touch it, though it scares me. I am going to bring him in to have it removed at least.. I will pay what i have to pay but i have the kind of husband that says, IF ITS TOO MUCH, THEN WE’LL HAVE TO PUT HIM DOWN.. It’ll be a cold day before that happens.. However, having said that, any thoughts on what the cost is for a vet to just look at him? also, my cat has eaten Purina Cat Chow for the last 6 years that I have had him. He was 3 when I got him, making him around 8 years old now (human years of course). Any comments, thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed. Vian, Oklahoma
February 26th, 2014 at 6:15 am
by the way………..Im not sure i can count at this time of night.
He (Garfield) is 9.. LOL will be in March i should say. LOL the lump is on his back left leg on the backside towards the outer side of it.
October 13th, 2016 at 4:45 pm
I have a 1st old male who was nurtured 5th on the ago. I just noticed 4 days ago a though vein like lump going down his left hind leg. It is raised up but isn’t movable really feels like scar tissue but is very vein like in shape at the top of it towards his bum is a knot it’s a little pink and feels tight but he’s seems to wall OK.. He also do sent want us to touch it . Any ideas
August 6th, 2017 at 9:09 pm
I am so sorry to hear about your sweet cat. I also have a cat who developed a lump in her right hind leg. Turns out it was a cancer as a result of a rabies vaccine from years ago. And like you, I had a choice to remove the leg. I decided to proceed with the surgery and it’s been about a week now. Dottie is recovering smoothly and each day getting stronger. And it’s been an amazing experience to go through this very emotional, very difficult time. I hope Dottie has a full life for her remaining years with one less foot in a body that is cancer free.