Cat with weird lump, help please

[mother o' chicks72]

My sweet kitty who is a little over a year old has a strange lump thing on the underside of his chin.
info about lump
-it is not causing him pain so far but I am still concerned
-it used to be squishy and seemed puss filled but since then the pussiness disappeared and it is now a hard roughly disk shaped lump
-it is not attached to the bone, just under the skin
-it is about the size of a penny
We are not currently in a situation where we can afford vet bills so I would like to know what it is and if it is potentially threatening to his health. Thanks!
this is the kitty

 

[dainerra]

there is really no way to know without having a biopsy done.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Sounds like an abcess. It was fairly common for cats to come into the practice where I worked with them in that very same spot. Usually the vets would open it and put in a drain tube. If the abcess goes too long without treatment I know the infection can spread, but I'm not too sure of any home remedies. Hopefully another BYCer comes along who can help!

 

[PitterPaws]

Is he an indoor/outdoor cat? If so, he could have been in a fight with another cat or wild animal, so it would have been infected.
I think it would be best to find a way to get him to the vet for a visit, could be an easy low cost fix if taken care of early.
Sorry I couldn't be more help, it is very hard to say what it could be.
Maybe someone else can say what it is.

Oh by the way Very Cute Cat

 

[LotsaChicken]

Definetly sounds like an absess to me too. It's not uncommon for them to have them in the chin, or jaw. Alot of times small pieces of bone, from something they've ate, with pierce their gums. Eventually it works it way through and absesses form. It wouldn't harden over time if not lanced, or drained with a syringe in some cases.

 

[AinaWGSD]

How long has it been there? Is hi an indoor only kitty or does he go out? Are there any other pets in the home? Unfortunately, no one here is going to be able to tell you what it is without actually seeing it. But with a little more information maybe we can narrow down what it is. As for whether or not it is threatening to his health, there's no way of knowing without knowing what it is. Fortunately, on a young cat with a mass that is just in the skin chances are pretty good that it isn't anything life threatening.

Do you have a pair of electric clippers or beard trimmer? If he will allow it, it may help you to better figure out what it is if you can clip the hair back. Regardless of whether you can clip the hair or not, applying a warm wet washcloth to his chin may also help you figure out what it is. An abscess is one possibility, particularly if he goes outside or if there are other cats in the house. If there was pus and now there is not, the hard disk shaped lump you are feeling may just be a scab. Another possibility given his age is feline acne. Look closely at his chin and along the edges of his lower lip, if he has feline acne you can see small dark spots where the blackheads are. Most of the time it's not too bad, but sometimes they can actually get pustules (I remember one time a coworker was doing a hot compress on a cat with feline acne and when she took the washcloth off and pushed gently on one of the pustules it actually shot across the room!

) and it can be pretty severe. If it is acne, then hot compresses twice a day and cleaning the area thoroughly with a mild pet shampoo once or twice a day should really help.

 

[ChickiKat]

sounds like an abcess to me as well....

 

[mother o' chicks72]

he is an indoor/outdoor cat. it is not a scab, it is under the skin. If it's an abscess is there anything we can do about it for very low cost? does anyone in oregon(preferably portland) know of a low cost vet?

 

[cafarmgirl]

It could well be an old abcess. If it is not red, painful, and hot to the touch it's probably old and has dried up some. The body tends to wall off these things and the lump could stay there for a very long time. If there's still any fluid or active infection in there then it would help to be able to get it open and cleaned out. We have barn cats and I've flushed plenty of abcesses and wounds in my day but they were fresh and already open. We follow up with a round of antibiotic's. I would not attempt to open an old, closed wound. Especially if there was no sign of active infection.

Conservative treatment for now? If your cat is acting normal, eating/drinking normally and the area does not seem to be bothering him then it's probably fine to keep an eye on it for now and take him in if you notice changes in his condition/behavior or if it seems to get worse.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

Quote:
ok thanks! My other cat had an abscess that exploded so we cleaned it out and it disappeared and now he's fine but his never got hard like this. since it's not hurting him I'll leave it be for the time, hopefully if it does start effecting him we'll be in a better place financially.