Mast Cell Tumors

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TammieCA

TammieCA

Member Since 2011
Hi.

I'm wondering if anyone's diabetic kitties have developed skin growths? Our Caspian has three small growths. Two near his left hip area and one on his opposite side. They are all different sizes. The biggest one is about the size of a pencil eraser.

We had one aspirated and it came back as a mast cell tumor. Yes, of course I freaked out a bit. As if the diabetes (unregulated, at that) isn't enough! Our vet suggests removal, but we aren't sure what we're going to do yet. As most of them are benign, I'm just not sure it's something I want to put Caspian through. He'll be nine year old next week, so he's still relatively young, but we are really not sure what to do regarding these skin growths. I've been keeping an eye on them and none of them have changed size or appearance. We were told about the diagnosis about six weeks ago. Our vet said it wasn't an urgent matter, but again, recommends removal.

Being that the entire procedure will cost around $1200, I'm just not sure what to do. I would rather have that money in case of a diabetic emergency. We all know how fast the money adds up if something should happen. I just want to be prepared and I never want money to get in the way of me taking care of my boy.

Yet.....I worry about these skin lesions. I really do. Deep down, I suppose I know they should be removed. But even if they came back as cancer..then what? I already know I would never put my boy through chemo. It's a tough situation.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or thoughts? Advice is most welcomed.

Thanks for reading.
 
What do they look like? Diego has flesh colored bumps in random spots on his body which I showed to our vet at his last physical and she said they were moles. I didn't even think of possible mast cell tumors...but I do know that where I live I could get that surgery a lot cheaper by shopping around. Call different clinics and see what they'd charge. But again, if they're all benign and not growing, no real point in removing them.
 
I have had several of my cats, both diabetic and non diabetic with mast-cell tumors. I had them surgically removed. I scheduled removal in conjunction with a dental to avoid a separate anesthesia.
 
Hi Tammie,

Saoirse developed a couple of skin tags and, as Larry advocates above, I asked for them to be removed when Saoirse went in for a dental last year. The results came back that they were benign growths. I was very relieved. She has another one now which our vet says is the same as the ones that were removed. I keep an eye on it for any changes.

Caspian is an extraordinarily handsome puss. :cat:


Mogs
.
 
Goof has a couple of them, one on his chin and one between his ear and eye. They're light pink in color and perfectly round. Doc says they're nothing to worry about, so right now we're just watching them for changes.
 
Mast cell tumors can be locally invasive, so when my civvie Tux has had them (3 so far), I've had them removed. One was on a lower eyelid and getting larger, so didn't want to wait on it in order to preserve as much of the eyelid as possible. Another was near the base of the tail and the 3rd was just inside an ear. She seems prone to them, so part of cuddling is to do a skin check.

Here's some info from the Merck Veterinary Manual Online.
 
Does it look like this? This is Patches that was subsequently removed.
IMG_0300 (1).jpg
 
TammieCA said:
Hi.

I'm wondering if anyone's diabetic kitties have developed skin growths? Our Caspian has three small growths. Two near his left hip area and one on his opposite side. They are all different sizes. The biggest one is about the size of a pencil eraser.

We had one aspirated and it came back as a mast cell tumor. Yes, of course I freaked out a bit. As if the diabetes (unregulated, at that) isn't enough! Our vet suggests removal, but we aren't sure what we're going to do yet. As most of them are benign, I'm just not sure it's something I want to put Caspian through. He'll be nine year old next week, so he's still relatively young, but we are really not sure what to do regarding these skin growths. I've been keeping an eye on them and none of them have changed size or appearance. We were told about the diagnosis about six weeks ago. Our vet said it wasn't an urgent matter, but again, recommends removal.

Being that the entire procedure will cost around $1200, I'm just not sure what to do. I would rather have that money in case of a diabetic emergency. We all know how fast the money adds up if something should happen. I just want to be prepared and I never want money to get in the way of me taking care of my boy.

Yet.....I worry about these skin lesions. I really do. Deep down, I suppose I know they should be removed. But even if they came back as cancer..then what? I already know I would never put my boy through chemo. It's a tough situation.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or thoughts? Advice is most welcomed.

Thanks for reading.
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My non diabetic cat has lump under skin and fur on her head.not sure what kind this is.it stopped growing thank goodness.
 
My Tasha has developed a couple of growths. They're flesh-colored and stick up. They have an oily, kind of milky-colored discharge. She doesn't seem at all bothered by them. When she was in for a dental a week or so ago, the vet checked and said they were benign sebaceous adenomas . They advised we not remove them if they aren't causing Tasha distress (one's on her back, a few inches from where we'd inject in the scruff, another nearer the tail on the left side). Part of the reason not to remove was risk of infection and slow healing in diabetics. So we left them in place.
 
Mogmom and Goofus said:
CatGirl, Is the lump soft or hard? Does it move around a little when manipulated? Is it round or oddly shaped?
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The lump is round and squishy feeling and will move around like with the skin on top of her head.im always calling her a knot head cause of the lump lol
 
That's definitely not what Tasha has - hers look more like pimples. Other than that, I can't help you. Sorry!
 
Hi all-

Thanks so much for your replies and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to log back in. I'm going to attach a photo of the largest one that he has just to give you an idea of what it looks like. As mentioned before, he has three. I've been checking for any new growths (so far, none...thank God) and keeping an eye on the existing ones. No changes and he doesn't react at all when I touch them so I assume they aren't painful. He totally leaves them alone.

It's stressful because I do worry that they could be cancerous....but money is definitely an issue and I really don't want to put him through it. Sigh. So, at this point, we continue to monitor until we decide if we want to move forward with removal. He'll be going back to the vet for a re-check in the not-so-distant future so I'm sure we'll talk more about it then. Thanks again.
 

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TammieCA said:
Hi all-

Thanks so much for your replies and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to log back in. I'm going to attach a photo of the largest one that he has just to give you an idea of what it looks like. As mentioned before, he has three. I've been checking for any new growths (so far, none...thank God) and keeping an eye on the existing ones. No changes and he doesn't react at all when I touch them so I assume they aren't painful. He totally leaves them alone.

It's stressful because I do worry that they could be cancerous....but money is definitely an issue and I really don't want to put him through it. Sigh. So, at this point, we continue to monitor until we decide if we want to move forward with removal. He'll be going back to the vet for a re-check in the not-so-distant future so I'm sure we'll talk more about it then. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
They look like a human skin tag in a way.sable's is like dime sized but under her fur and under her skin.
 
Ok, from THAT photo, it does look like what Tasha has. The "skin tag" description Cat girl used is appropriate - I said it looked kind of like a pimple. In Tasha's case, being related to sebaceus glands, it secretes oily gunk. She has two and I was told not to worry. But I definitely had that confirmed by the doc when she was in for dental.
 
Speckles had a couple mast cell tumors for years. They would secrete oily stuff, as Stacia said. The fine needle aspirate showed the biggest one was benign. I think about half of vets say to remove and half just advocate watching them. If there's some other procedure your kitty needs anyway (like dental), then I would agree with the others that you may as well get them removed at that time. Sometimes they just come back, but you can keep an eye on it.
 
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