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What's this soft gray lump on my cat's leg? When to see a vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 9 years and 1 month old | 5 lbs

Hi Doctor, My cat Lily has a gray soft pouch on her lower right leg. She is vacinated. she is 8. Been home all her life and she is spayed. No pain no weight loss no symptems of any knid. Had it for a few months. Smaller than a dime. Any ideas? Greg Fye

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on February 17th, 2018

Hi Greg! Thank you for providing a picture of Lily's lump on her leg. From the picture, it could be a cyst, a benign tumor, or a malignant tumor. Any suspicious lumps should be examined by the vet. The vet can perform a test called a fine needle aspirate on it. To do this, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of it's cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform. I would take her into the vet in the next couple of days to have the lump examined and diagnosed so it can be treated as needed. Good luck, I hope this helps!

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