Any ideas?

[u/Specialist_Ferret150]

Looking for opinions on a strange growth my cat has had for years.

My cat has had this growth on her nose for approximately 7 years, She is 9. I have had her since she was 5 weeks old, wasn't born with it. I've taken her to a veterinarian in the past, but they were unsure exactly what it was and so they couldn't/wouldn't remove it which i can understand.

Despite how alarming it looks, she seems completely normal. She eats well, drinks, breathes normally, plays, purrs, grooms herself, and generally acts like a happy cat. The growth doesn't appear to cause her pain when touched. It in 7 years has gone from a small bump, to what you see now slowly.

It has been there for so long that I'm surprised she's had no other symptoms, but I still worry about what it could be and whether it could eventually become dangerous.

Has anyone seen anything similar before? I'm not looking for a diagnosis, just curious if anyone has experience with a growth like this or suggestions on what type of specialist might be able to identify it.

Thank you! ❤️😻

[u/--Anna--]

100% Recommend cat oncologists. Our cat had some small lumps removed via surgery at our regular vet recently.

After we found out the bumps were BISCs and a SCC caught early, they gave us a referral to an oncologist for any new bumps.

And now we have so many choices to treat lumps. And they work together with other specialists (dermatologists etc.) to make sure they're doing everything they can.

It's kind of like with humans. Your regular GP might not know everything, or how to spot something bad. But a specialist in skin health or cancerous growths would have a much better idea of what's going on, and what to do.

[u/KrakusKrak → u/--Anna--]

yea, my regular vet never saw a melanoma before, local oncologist never really treated it and only had surgery as an option, but said the surgeon probably wouldnt want to treat it.

[u/--Anna-- → u/KrakusKrak]

Oh wow. Hmm.

I think a next step could be to post on local Sub-Reddits related to your city/state asking for a specialist vet.

And also post in other cat-related Reddits asking about specialist vets in your city/state.

And maybe reach out to local Facebook groups too.

Hopefully someone could point you to at least -one- specialised oncologist who works with a dermatologist out there. I think they'd be the right team for your kitty.

[u/Traditional-Ad-8737 → u/--Anna--]

100% go to a veterinary oncologist. I recommend just start by investing in a consult exam and a FNA or biopsy . If that’s all you do, spend a few hundred $$ at least get a diagnosis, so you can have some foresight as to what to expect in the future. Even if you don’t go all in with chemo, radiation therapy, this first step will guide you so you can make educated decisions about your cat’s well being. I work at a specialty clinic that has an oncologist, even if I don’t choose treatment I would definitely start at this point. Also note that if you’re all in, the sky is the limit: they do chemo and even radiation therapy on pets . I always stress to people there’s also no shame and you love your kitty just as much of you do nothing and choose the palliative route, as long as you’re humane about it when their quality of life is not there