Dear Kirsten, my cats and I all hope and pray that this lump is benign and will come off with no problems.

By all means, get this looked at right away by a vet who's in regular practice; perhaps a specialist, or get recommendations from friends. See what the vet has to say, but I should think that if the lump is at all questionable, the best thing to do is get it out. If it's benign, no loss (except for the cost of the surgery, of course), but if it is malignant, the sooner it's out the better to limit potential spread, and the sooner it's diagnosed the sooner you will know what the overall picture is and what if any further treatment might need to be considered.

My boy Sydney has a fibrosarcoma. About a month ago I felt a lump under his right armpit. I took him to the vet right away, and she removed it surgically 3 days later. Pathology came back saying fibrosarcoma, probably vaccine-related. The vet took very wide margins with her surgery, but it turned out she didn't get it all.

Last week we looked into radiation but decided that is not an option. A surgical specialist thinks he may be able to get the rest of it, so Sydney is scheduled for surgery with him on August 22, the first opening he had.

If that is not successful, we won't do any other drastic treatment. He's fine for now, but it will very likely recur down the road and perhaps metastasize. All radiation and/or chemotherapy might do is extend the time before recurrence or mets, not prevent it.

I'm giving Sydney lots of love and some homeopathic-type immune-boosting medications which may possibly help. We'll do whatever seems best to do as we go along.

Much love and prayers and good wishes and purrs are coming to Luna, and to Lily and you too.

Pat, Sydney, Peony, Priscilla, and Poppy