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I was harassing Bubba with a belly rub this evening and found a lump under his first nipple on the left side. The nipple is swollen and the lump is under the skin right around the nipple...could it be mammary cancer? Bubba just turned 6 in April and was neutered when he was 4 months old. He's pretty darn healthy but is a little skinny (he usually fluctuates with the seasons, and it is his skinny time). He is eating and using the litterbox normally. Should I worry? Financially it'll be a few weeks before I can get him to the vet so some advice here would be very helpful.

-Martha and Bubba
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-Martha
Kuma
Bubba, formerly known as "Ducky"
and
Macaroni
And Now
Kola, the new fizzy kitten that has a tendency to go flat!

Hi Martha,

You should be concerned anytime you find a lump on a cat. Is there a chance that you can take your baby in sooner and arrange a payment plan?

Male cats are less likely to get mammary cancer than females but it can and does happen. If a male cat has been on Ovaban, or any other female hormone, cancer would be more likely.

Your vet will most likely want to do a needle biopsy of this lump. Hopefully, it is something minor, but it's important to find out for sure.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
PHKitkat

He was never on any type of hormones, only antibiotics a few times and eye ointments (which he's allergic to). I'm keeping a running note about it and I'm going to check it every day. It's now smaller than a pea by a little bit and if it starts getting bigger we will rush in. The problem with going to the vet is I've stopped giving all of my cats shots...including rabies. I feel there is no need for it since they're all indoors and I don't want to risk VAS, plus they have ONLY gotten sick when we went to the vet and never just being at home! If/when we go, I have to be sure I have enough to cover everything they will "need" to do as well as a needle aspiration of the "mass". Right now I'm just praying for cyst and thankful it's small.

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-Martha
Kuma
Bubba, formerly known as "Ducky"
and
Macaroni
And Now
Kola, the new fizzy kitten that has a tendency to go flat!