Lump on face.....?? Ideas??? Help?

[Mocha's Mommy]

I noticed my 15 year old Persian's eye was looking more closed than the other eye this morning. She has a very furry face so it's hard to tell just looking at her what the problem could be. So I felt the left side of her face and compared it to the right side of her face...and it's definitely swollen to the point where it's making her eye close a little. When I press on it and it feels hard. She's not in any pain from it when I press on the area (she just sits there and purrs) but I do notice she'll scratch underneath the swollen area from time to time.

Of course, today is a holiday and I won't be able to get her into the vet until tomorrow morning. What are your thoughts on this? My fear is it's a malignant tumor because it's painless and appeared rapidly. But maybe it's a mouth infection? I'm scared to go to the vet tomorrow as I'm afraid to hear it's a tumor and they'll have to put her down.

She's still eating like a little piggy and drinks lots of water. She doesn't appear to be any different in her actions and energy...she's her usual cute little self.

Also, my girl is in chronic renal failure and has been since she was diagnosed in December 2001. She's tiny but she's always been a little girl. She received subq fluids every other day. Just to give you some history on her.

Please help!! THank you.

[Mocha's Mommy]

Edit: I made a typo: Mocha RECEIVES sub q fluids every other day...not received. She gets 50ccs of lactated ringers every other day. Sorry for the typo.

[Traci]

There's no way for us to even venture a guess...you must see your vet and have him examine her fully, including a full oral exam. Upon exam and he can't find anything significant, I would strongly suggest opting for a quick x-ray in the event it could be a growth....you might also opt for bloodwork to monitor her kidney function if you haven't had a followup in the last 6 months.

Don't jump to conclusions, even if it is a growth, and depending on location and nature of it (type), there are many options available to either remove or treat it. If it is neoplasia, you may be faced with consulting with a feline oncologist. Again, no sense in fretting until you've had her examined.

For now, keep the area clean, and maybe apply cool compresses a couple times a day to help reduce any swelling or discharge.

[davet]

i'll be daring and make a guess, for which i am usually wrong but i suspect a bad tooth....again that is a guess and only a guess and i will accept the fact to be proven wrong.....

[Mocha's Mommy]

Dave,

I hope you are right......I'd rather it be a bad tooth than a tumor. I have an appointment this morning at 10am so I'll let you know.

Heather

[Cleo]

Keeping all paws crossed that all went well with Mocha today at the vet!! Please post and let us know when you get the chance.

Cleo

[Mocha's Mommy]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your posts. The vet felt that Mocha either had an allergic reaction to something or she was bitten by something in the house (like a spider or other insect) She gave her a steriod shot (that only lasts 24 hours) and a strong antibiotic. I've already seen a reduction in the lump on her face. She didn't have a fever though, which was interesting, but the vet felt that it definitely was NOT a tumor.

This is the first time this vet has seen Mocha. She's being treated by another vet elsewhere for her renal failure. But the old vet wasn't open today to see Mocha so I brought her to this new vet. This new vet asked if my old vet had ever suggested checking Mocha's blood pressure and I said no. I never knew cats in renal failure could get hypertension from the renal failure. Sure enough, Mocha's blood pressure was over 300. So she started on Norvasc (sp?) immediately and we'll be following that closely. I've decided to move Mocha over to this new vet....for many reasons...and I'm very pleased about this. So I guess things happen for a reason....

Thank you again for your help and support!

[davet]

great , glad my guess was wrong.....

[Cleo]

Ohhhh Mocha's allergic/bite reaction reminds me of the time I had a slight cut on my lip then proceeded to eat shrimp with cocktail sauce that had horseradish in it....two seconds later I had half a bottom lip the size of a golf ball!

Soooo glad she'll be okay and good luck with the new vet!
Cleo