The cat has bumps on its stomach: Causes, prognosis, treatment

A cat has a lump on its stomach: Causes

The appearance of lumps (nodules, lumps) on the abdomen can be due to many reasons:

• Tumors of the mammary glands . The most common problem in middle-aged and older cats.
• Neoplasms of a different nature . These can be lipomas, fibromas, mastocytomas, etc.
• Nipple hyperplasia . More common among sphinxes.
• Mastitis . The problem mainly affects lactating cats or older, unneutered animals.
• Abscess . It can occur in both males and females. It is especially common in free-ranging animals.
• Allergic reaction . Contact allergies, insect bites, and snake bites may be accompanied by the appearance of bumps on the body, including in the abdominal area.
• Consolidation in the suture area after surgery . Occurs due to a reaction to the suture material or inflammation.

Let's talk about this topic in more detail. Right in this article, a professional veterinarian will advise you for free (read what he says about worms in cats). The material offers medications that can be purchased at any pharmacy for animals.

Find out all the details of treating your pet for cones below.

Causes

This phenomenon, which often frightens inexperienced cat owners, is called a trichobezoar in veterinary medicine. The term literally means "stomach stone made of wool." All cats develop a dense hairball. The mechanism of its appearance is as follows.

A cat's tongue can be called a kind of grater, since on its surface there are many papillae that resemble hard “hooks” that comb the fur when washing.

During the licking process, individual hairs remain on the tongue, which the pet spits out, but a small amount of hair is still swallowed and enters the esophagus.

After some time, most of the swallowed hairs will pass through the gastrointestinal tract along with the feces. The remaining hairs will gradually accumulate in the stomach and form trichobezoars, which are subsequently belched by the cat.

This is a normal physiological process. A health hazard occurs only when the lump becomes too large and cannot come out naturally. This leads to obstruction in the small intestine, and then surgical intervention becomes the only way to help the animal.

The risk of trichobezoar formation from increased hair loss increases in the following cases:

• intense shedding;
• impaired metabolism;
• hormonal diseases;
• improper unbalanced diet;
• stress;
• vitamin deficiency;
• decreased gastrointestinal motility;
• frequent licking due to parasite infestation.

Street cats or pets that are allowed out for a walk solve this not very pleasant problem in a natural way.

Stomach cleansing grass, mainly wheatgrass, helps them regurgitate accumulated fur. Domestic cats often lack access to medicinal herbs.

Bleeding lump on a cat's stomach: Treatment

In the case of an abscess that has opened, the owner may notice blood and pus on the fur in the animal’s habitat. The condition may also be accompanied by fever, lethargy, and loss of appetite.

In this situation, the veterinarian will perform surgical treatment of the wound under general anesthesia. A drainage tube may be placed to flush out the abscess cavity. Before giving anesthesia, it will be recommended to conduct blood tests and a screening ultrasound examination of the heart.

It will be recommended to wash the wound, most often with saline solution, Chlorhexidine or Betadine . It may be necessary to add Levomekol . And of course, it is necessary to prescribe a systemic antibiotic in the form of tablets or injections. The prognosis, if you go to the clinic in a timely manner, is favorable.

If the cause is a tumor that has opened, then the prognosis varies from cautious to unfavorable. A bleeding tumor is a bad sign, indirectly indicating the duration of the process and the possible malignant nature of the tumor.

Necessary medications

To decide what treatment is required, surgery or chemotherapy, diagnostics are required:

1. Donating blood for clinical and biochemical analysis . In addition to the neoplasm, there may be concomitant pathologies, for example, liver and kidney diseases. Based on the results, the doctor will decide whether such a patient can be given anesthesia, and if so, what kind.
2. Screening ultrasound of the heart . Necessary for the same reasons as blood.
3. Cytological examination of the neoplasm . To clarify the nature of the process. The method does not give a 100% result, but it is necessary to make the right decision.
4. Survey x-ray of the chest cavity in four projections . To exclude metastasis of a mammary gland tumor to the lungs. This organ is the first target of metastases.
5. Ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity . Used to assess the structural condition of internal organs and detect/exclude other neoplasms.
6. CT scan . A more effective, but expensive way to exclude metastases in the body.

After all the research has been carried out, the cat owner, together with the doctor, decides on treatment. What are the options? Often the owner is interested in whether it is possible not to conduct research, but to immediately undergo surgery to remove the tumor.

It is possible, but without diagnosis no one can talk about the prognosis, relapse, or whether the animal will undergo surgery. The owner must make the decision independently.

However, if you decide to conduct research, then possible treatment options are presented below:

• If metastases are detected or there are contraindications for anesthesia, then neither surgery nor chemotherapy is performed. In this case, local treatment of the opened neoplasm is used to avoid sepsis or a decision is made on humane euthanasia.
• Based on the results of the studies, they decide whether to do a total mastectomy - the complete removal of a ridge of mammary glands, or to perform a resection of only one package.
• Chemotherapy treatment, if the type of tumor allows it.

After removal of the tumor, it is recommended to send it for histological examination. This is necessary for a more accurate determination of the type of tumor and for further prognosis with the likelihood of relapse.

In the case of tumors not associated with the mammary glands, the procedure is the same.

Watch the video: Bumps in cats - Advice from a veterinarian

What to do at home

If you notice that the cat is trying to induce vomiting and at the same time other alarming signs are observed, you should give the pet a special paste for removing hair. They are sold in veterinary pharmacies and promote the effective and painless removal of trichobezoars naturally.

Malt pastes contain coarse fiber, which, passing through the intestines and not being digested, takes with it everything “extra”. In addition, the composition contains oils and other useful elements. To increase efficiency, veterinarians also advise adding vegetable oil to them.

Such preparations have a pleasant taste, so giving them to your cat will not be difficult. If the fluffy refuses, you can mix the paste into the food and smear it on the paws and face.

An alternative to pastes are special tablets, oil pads and treats. If these remedies do not help, you need to contact a veterinary clinic.

Some owners use Vaseline oil to relieve constipation in cats. This cannot be done without a doctor’s prescription and the necessary examination! Firstly, it contributes to intestinal dysfunction, causing hypovitaminosis A, E, K and atony. Secondly, there are a lot of contraindications for which Vaseline oil cannot be used: pregnancy, inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity, intestinal obstruction.

The cat has bumps on its stomach: Other nuances

Let's talk in more detail about treatment when a lump on a cat's stomach is associated with other reasons.

When an allergic reaction occurs, as a rule, lumps are also present on other parts of the body and are accompanied by itching. To determine the cause and prescribe treatment, you must contact a veterinary dermatologist.

Nipple hyperplasia either resolves on its own or undergoes cosmetic surgery. To exclude a malignant process, histological examination of the removed tissue is recommended.

Mastitis usually requires systemic anti-inflammatory and antibiotic therapy. If there is no need for lactation, but there is milk, cabergoline ( Galastop , Laktostop ) is prescribed.

If after abdominal surgery you notice a lump in the suture area, it is better to consult your doctor. Usually this is simply the body's reaction to the suture material. But it’s still worth playing it safe and excluding thread rejection and the inflammatory process.

To enlarge the picture, click on it

Possible complications

Trichobezoars do not pose a health risk to cats. However, if they enter the intestines, the situation requires immediate resolution. The wool plug tightly clogs the intestines, making defecation difficult and causing intestinal obstruction.

In addition, hairballs injure the mucous membranes (even to the point of necrosis), poison the body with decay products, cause destructive changes in the intestinal walls and atony (depression of intestinal motility).

Note: cat hair can not only form trichobezoars in the stomach and intestines, but also accumulate behind the fangs. The cat will not be able to pull them out of these hard-to-reach places on his own, so the furry cat’s mouth should be inspected and cleaned regularly. If this procedure is neglected, an inflammatory process may develop in the oral cavity.

Recommended clinics

If you find lumps on your cat’s belly, you should contact a clinic that immediately has a surgeon, oncologist and dermatologist to quickly determine the cause and further treatment.

Moscow

• Veterinary clinic White Fang. There is a branch in Kaliningrad. They work around the clock. There is an MRI machine. There is an oncology department.
• Network of veterinary clinics Medvet. Vilkovysky I.F. – chief physician, head of the surgical department, leading surgeon. Candidate of Veterinary Sciences.
• Veterinary center Komondor. Wide range of veterinary services. There is an animal rehabilitation unit. The clinic’s doctors are active participants in veterinary conferences and symposiums.

Saint Petersburg

• Vetus veterinary clinic network. Oncologist Tamoshkin D.A. – chief physician, lecturer at St. Petersburg veterinary surgical conferences.
• Pride Cancer Center. MRI available. Chief physician Bryushkovsky K.Yu. He is a candidate of veterinary sciences and teaches at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Veterinary Medicine.

Murmansk

• Animal care. The clinic has been operating since 2006. Chief physician Ivaneeva O.E. – a general specialist.
• Clinic Ivetas. The first clinic in Murmansk with equipment for endoscopic operations and other types of research.
• Veterinary clinic Favorit. Conducts a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Cooperation has been developed with the Clinic of Neurology and Intensive Care of Dr. V.V. Sotnikov, St. Petersburg, and the White Fang Clinic, Moscow.

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Quantity

Lipoma

A lump on a cat's stomach may be a common lipoma (subcutaneous fat). This is also a tumor, only benign. She is not life-threatening. Features of lipoma bumps :

• round form;
• quite large sizes;
• soft consistency;
• does not grow rapidly;
• mobile (moves under the skin when pressed, glides easily).

A tumor on the abdomen can cause discomfort to the cat: it itches or interferes with movement. Especially if it is large. In such cases, the lipoma is removed surgically. If the lump is relatively small and does not bother the cat, they try not to touch it.

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However, before you calm down, you should make sure that it is a lipoma. It is imperative to show the animal to a veterinarian and undergo an examination to rule out more serious diseases.

Clinical picture

Ileus in cats rarely manifests itself with significant symptoms (especially at an early stage). The owner should be wary if the pet refuses food, vomits, has a bloated stomach, and does not have stool for more than 2 days.

Symptoms of intestinal obstruction in cats have been shown to depend on the location of the blockage. When the small intestine is blocked by feces or foreign bodies, they are as follows:

• nausea;
• small discharge of liquid or formed feces (often with blood);
• uncontrollable vomiting.

If the disorder is caused by intussusception, then vomiting occurs simultaneously with diarrhea. The volume of feces is minimal; its consistency resembles redcurrant jelly.

The neoplasms initially partially block the intestines before closing their lumen. This leads to ulceration of its walls, so the stool contains blood (altered or fresh).

In all cases, cats exhibit the following signs of intestinal obstruction:

• deterioration of health;
• increased thirst;
• dyspnea;
• sunken eyes;
• decreased frequency of urination;
• decreased body temperature;
• abdominal pain.

When palpating the abdomen, hard formations can be detected.