For about a year now, Smokey has had a bump on his head. It started out about a millimeter, but over time it felt like a very hard pea, centered between his ears on the back of his head.
Despite the vet saying it was nothing to worry about the last time we brought him in, Eric was still worried and insisted we bring him back to have it biopsied. I went in with the conviction that even if it were something terrible, I wasn't going to risk putting a fourteen-year-old cat under anesthesia, so we would not go for a surgery. I figured at least he'd get his annual check-up in, and if it could bring peace of mind, then so much the better.
This vet did a much more comprehensive examination than her former colleague and compared her observations with previous notes. These notes, I should add, included "he's a gentle, sweet, and relaxed boy with a wonderful disposition." Typical to character, once they got the thermometer out of the way Smokey thought he was at a cat spa. He purred and sighed as they listened to his heartbeat and breathing, and everyone chuckled as his started to snore on the table.
They decided to do a fine needle aspiration to determine if his bump was a fatty cyst, mass cells, something benign or something to worry about. They used surgical wash to kind of slick his hair down into a part so they wouldn't have to shave his head. Looking at Smokey as a Clark Gable kitty, I kicked myself for leaving my camera home (though I was more worried about his head).
The first aspiration was not terribly deep, and because Smokey squirmed a little, we held him more firmly for the second. As the technician inserted the needle, it evidently ruptured what was a liquid-filled vesicle of some kind and his bump almost instantly went away.We all looked at each other like "So uhh, there goes that."
The vet examined the cells and fluid from his aspiration and said they look fine, but she sent them to a lab to do a more comprehensive analysis. For the most part, though, I think Mr Pants is well and truly fine and we no longer have cause for worry about his cute little head.
We're both quite relieved.
When we came home, we found we'd accidentally locked Iggy in the bedroom the whole time we were out. Uhh, whoops. He was more than a little miffed, but wait until he goes for his annual check-up on Monday, hehehe.
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