# My cat has a mysterious lump on the back of his neck and I'm worried!



## nelkel (Sep 24, 2013)

Hi Everyone,
Two days ago I noticed that Bob (1 year old) has a hard lump on the back of his neck sort of between his shoulders. I thought it might be his microchip but the vet said he doesn't think it is but that it could be a reaction to his booster inoculation he had a couple of weeks ago. Has anyone else experienced this with their cat? I'm so worried about Bob, he had a rotten start in life before he came to us and now I couldn't bear to think that he's hurting at all. He seems bright in himself and is eating/drinking/toileting and driving the other 2 cats mad as usual but that lump is hard and worrying. Any info would be much appreciated
Thank you
Me & Bob


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

A very warm welcome to the forum.

Very sorry to hear about Bob. Re your question: Try reposting in the 'Cat' section, in the 'Health' sub-section.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

I've moved this over for you and hope you can find out what the problem is.
Cats do sometimes develop a lump on the vaccination site so it may not be anything to worry about. Did your vet seem concerned?


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## louise2 (Sep 23, 2012)

as he had his booster vaccination could be that


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## louise2 (Sep 23, 2012)

it will be the vaccination sorry mine also had this and i was worried sick but it went away it is normal in some cases  but always best to get it checked over


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

nelkel said:


> Hi Everyone,
> Two days ago I noticed that Bob (1 year old) has a hard lump on the back of his neck sort of between his shoulders. I thought it might be his microchip but the vet said he doesn't think it is but that it could be a reaction to his booster inoculation he had a couple of weeks ago. Has anyone else experienced this with their cat? I'm so worried about Bob, he had a rotten start in life before he came to us and now I couldn't bear to think that he's hurting at all. He seems bright in himself and is eating/drinking/toileting and driving the other 2 cats mad as usual but that lump is hard and worrying. Any info would be much appreciated
> Thank you
> Me & Bob


If he has had a booster in the last week or two it could well be a reaction to the injection at the site. It can happen in both dogs and cats. They usually disappear on their own but just keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't get bigger seems fluid filled or becomes hotter then the surrounding area. One of the dogs had a reaction to an AB injection of all things, and it turned into an abcess that had to be drained. Likely his will just go down on its own most seem too. If he has had a recent booster and considering where it is, it sounds like the most likely culprit to be honest.


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## nelkel (Sep 24, 2013)

Many thanks. The vet didn't seem overly concerned but also wasn't too sure what it is so now I'm worried. We have to go back in 2 weeks.


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## PetloverJo (Nov 4, 2011)

One of my girls got a hard lump between her shoulder blades, after her booster, like you, I was concerned and took her to the vets. They explained that the vaccination was probably to blame. They asked me to massage the lump on a daily basis. After about a week it had disappeared.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

nelkel said:


> Many thanks. The vet didn't seem overly concerned but also wasn't too sure what it is so now I'm worried. We have to go back in 2 weeks.


Its not that uncommon, likely it will just disappear on its own most do, just keep a watch on it to make sure.


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## turnips (Sep 20, 2013)

Mine has one too, vet said to watch it and if it doesn't go away (or doesn't get smaller to an extent where it appears to be going away) within about 6-8 weeks, to bring him back to have another look. I wasn't told about massaging it though - what sort of massaging? Just rubbing it lightly, from the top or sides? Just curious.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

You should absolutely not be massaging any undiagnosed lumps on cats... Or anything for that matter! If it's cancer, then massage will work very nicely to help it spread around the body. Please don't do this!


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## turnips (Sep 20, 2013)

carly87 said:


> You should absolutely not be massaging any undiagnosed lumps on cats... Or anything for that matter! If it's cancer, then massage will work very nicely to help it spread around the body. Please don't do this!


I am not about to go spread non-existent cancer around my cat's body, I am asking about what someone else was told to do with a *vaccination * lump, so that I could ask my vet about it.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Why would you ask your vet about it if you weren't planning to do it?


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## turnips (Sep 20, 2013)

To ask if it would be something he recommended...?

As I said, I am not talking about cancer that my cat doesn't have, but about a vaccination bump that he does.

Should I also stop stroking my cat, in case he secretly had cancer that I'm spreading?

I don't really understand why you are being so aggressive.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

But Vaccination lumps sometimes do turn into a form of cancer, Vaccine-related sarcoma. 

It's unlikely to be this as it's quite rare and usually takes longer than that to show up, so I'm sure it's just the usual vaccine reaction lump which some cats get which goes down in a couple of weeks after vax. My Pixie gets them too, quite big ones!


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

I wasn't aware that I was being agressive, but I do find your writing style very confrontational and inappropriate, so perhaps some of that leaked into my reply. And stroking is not deep lump massage, as I'm guessing you're fully aware, so don't see what that has to do with spreading cancer.

As TM says, sarcomas can and do happen after vaccination, hence my above advice. Not worth the risk until it's been ruled out. But hey, your cat. Do what you like!

Over and out now.


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## turnips (Sep 20, 2013)

carly87 said:


> I wasn't aware that I was being agressive, but I do find your writing style very confrontational and inappropriate, so perhaps some of that leaked into my reply. And stroking is not deep lump massage, as I'm guessing you're fully aware, so don't see what that has to do with spreading cancer.
> 
> As TM says, sarcomas can and do happen after vaccination, hence my above advice. Not worth the risk until it's been ruled out. But hey, your cat. Do what you like!
> 
> Over and out now.


I am sorry if I came off as confrontational, I just found your replies somewhat offensive and unnecessarily aggressive, as you implied (twice) that I was about to immediately rush off to do medically dubious things to my cat, when I was gathering information to ask my vet about. When I said that I was gathering information to ask vet about, you again asked why I would even be asking about massage if I wasn't about to do it - to which I again repeated that I was asking about it, to ask my vet about it. I also ask people questions about cat breeding, even though I have absolutely no intention to breed my cat - just because I am curious. That's all. Obviously we all are on here because we care about cat health, so lets focus on that...


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

The initial post wasn't aimed at you specifically, more of a general "you", but when you took it personally, I guess I did too. The internet is a wonderful place for misunderstandings.

As we're being friendly, the reason you'd massage oedeam is to disperse it. As a physio, I do this on humans who have swollen bits. Massage pushes the liquid trapped in the tissues out, enabling it to be moved away by lymph drainage and blood supply, thus reducing swelling. So if it was an oedematus lump, then massage would indeed work.

The thing that concerned me is that other less informed readers may just see this as good advice as it was given by a vet, then rush off and start massaging lumps. Whilst 99% of people would see only good from it, if it was a vaccination sarcoma, or even any other sort of cancer, the results of such an action would be horrific putting it politely. Many people come on here to try and avoid going to the vets at all, so supposing folks would try it isn't really far fetched which is why I was so quic off the mark to say "don't!!!". I do despair of vets sometimes.


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## Xenaprincess (May 29, 2015)

Hi everyone! Just bringing back this old thread. I've read a lot of good news from this thread about the lump eventually going away. It's been almost a month post vaccination and the lump is still there..actually not sure when it developed as I just noticed it four days ago. How long did it take for the lump on your cat to subside? Thank you so much.


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## idris (Feb 19, 2015)

Xenaprincess said:


> Hi everyone! Just bringing back this old thread. I've read a lot of good news from this thread about the lump eventually going away. It's been almost a month post vaccination and the lump is still there..actually not sure when it developed as I just noticed it four days ago. How long did it take for the lump on your cat to subside? Thank you so much.


Mischief's took about two months to go.


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## doc ritchie (May 22, 2015)

my cat vinny has got a lump on his head, it started off looking like the white head off a pimple but it has grown longer and looks like a straight white mushroom stalk. it is clearly sensitive as he twitches if i tickle the nearest ear. He has had a rough time of it lately, we moved him from brighton to darlington, we have a 20 month old daughter, he went awol for a couple of days, he has started scratching and getting a bit mangy. now this. he's such a good old geezer, it's really not fair. harry, the other one, is on top form. aaaargh! petforum 'you're my only hope!'


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

You really should get a vet to look at it, if it was just a lump I would say perhaps its a cyst but not sure from what you describe. If he's scratching, does he have fleas and need a treatment? I assume he is getting on in years so its important that any changes are looked at.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

doc ritchie said:


> my cat vinny has got a lump on his head, it started off looking like the white head off a pimple but it has grown longer and looks like a straight white mushroom stalk. it is clearly sensitive as he twitches if i tickle the nearest ear. He has had a rough time of it lately, we moved him from brighton to darlington, we have a 20 month old daughter, he went awol for a couple of days, he has started scratching and getting a bit mangy. now this. he's such a good old geezer, it's really not fair. harry, the other one, is on top form. aaaargh! petforum 'you're my only hope!'


As he had a little outside adventure recently could he possibly have a tick on his head and fleas? What does the lump look like? Do you flea treat him routinely?
If not I'd recommend a good spot on such as Advantage.
Can you post a photo of the lump on his head please?


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## doc ritchie (May 22, 2015)

hi moggs and charity! yes it is apparently lice and they need to be extracted with tweezers he then needs a good splodge of anti-flea cream and he should be okay. my missus just did a rather unpleasant google for tick images (before breakfast! eek!) so it's gonna be a bit benny hill chasing after him round the house with our marogolds on!


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## doc ritchie (May 22, 2015)

right, we just tweezered out 2 large and horrible ticks. we are giving him a bit of a rest then cleaning him up with mildly salted water. hopefully he's back to normal soon. thanks all!


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Yuck yep ticks are gross! Glad he's all sorted xx


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Glad he's getting sorted. Ticks - hate 'em :Jawdrop


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## doc ritchie (May 22, 2015)

they are horrendous. poor old feller, but he's back on form hiding under the bed from my 20 month old!!! cheers all x


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