Is it safe to treat my cat's cyst with Turmeric?

Hello, I have a 16 year old cat. He has developed a small cyst on his paw, about the size of a pea. It is growing, although slowly. It doesn’t bother him at all, but I know the more it grows - it will eventually bother him.

I am unable to take him in to be seen by a vet, because of his age/weight. He also gets extremely stressed out, has panic attacks, and needs to be sedated. He hasn’t been seen in years for this very reason, and I fear at this point in his life a potential heart attack is not worth risking. I have shown a photo of the cyst to the vet, and he said as I expected that nothing could be done unless he’s seen in his office. Also, there are no vets in my area (or areas surrounded me) that will do a home visit. Aside from all of that, I simply cannot put him through a surgical procedure at his age.

So, I am searching for a safe home remedy to try. I’ve read about a lot of them, and it’s left me very confused. I’ve read about Turmeric and its use for pet cysts. Is this safe? Should I make a paste and apply it to the cyst, or sprinkle powder on his food? Are there side effects? Once the cyst shrinks, is there a possibility of infection? I’m willing to give anything a try, but I want to be 100% sure it will help, and no chance at all it will worsen his condition.

Thank you for any advice, it’s much appreciated!

I'd continue to ask around, any veterinary schools nearby that might make a home visit? From what I've read it doesn't seem like tumeric would hurt, but it probably wouldn't help either - they are still studying it, trials are underway.

What stresses him out about vet visits? Is it the cat carrier? The car ride? Maybe you can work on getting him to see the carrier as okay, then take him on short car rides to let him know it's not scary ...

But as it's an external tumor, on his paw, surgery might be needed, but they might be able to do local anesthesia - you really would need to see a vet.

Yes, check into vet schools - even if they are a bit of a distance, there may be senior students who live closer to you.

If he is overweight, I suggest reading the labels on your cat food, especially the dry. They usually show how much a cat should get per day for his/her ideal weight.

Yes, a vet visit is in order. I can sympathize w/you b/c my RB Puddy stressed at the vet's, to the point where my vet didn't want her to spend the night at his clinic if at all possible b/c she'd carry on to the point where he was afraid she'd die. Sometimes, though, it was a necessity and she came through it ok. As others have suggested, perhaps your cat could be briefly sedated, rather than anesthetized, and your vet could quickly treat the cyst.

That being said, my RB Charmin (a dog) would develop cysts on her paws quite often. My late vet had me soak her paw in hot water and Epsom salts. It caused the cyst to open and drain. Then I'd clean it and wrap it so that she couldn't get at it. I don't know how well your cat would respond to holding her paw in hot water (not scalding, please) but maybe you could give that a whirl.

Let us know how you make out. Good luck. :) Oh, and btw, welcome to Pet Talk.

I just tried the turmeric for my cat's cyst that he has had for years. Last year it was the size of a pea and the vet drained it when cleaning his teeth. It came back the size of a pea and last week was the size of a grape. I saw several boards about turmeric so we tried that first. I would sprinkle it in his dish (just a dash) and mix it with the food. He wasn't as crazy about the tast but I did it for all the food dishes (we have 3 cats) yesterday the cyst was competely gone. We are so happy to have saved a visit to the vet. I have read to give them it a couple times a week after disappearing so I will do that.