# Lump at vaccine site after 13 days



## ezsobre (Nov 21, 2010)

Hi all--I've got a three year old tabby we rescued off the street as a kitten who had her shots re-upped as well as a microchip put in 14 days ago. 

She's developed a lump at the injection area about the size of a marble (or a quarter when flattened out) that i first noticed yesterday morning. Its firm but not hard, its not attached to anything other than skin, such that you can move it around, and it doesn't hurt when squeezed. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, and she's her normal self, but after reading about sarcomas, i'm overly cautious. I understand from this board and elsewhere that this is a normal, but not frequent, response, and that it should go away eventually. (I also took her back to the vet, who indicated keeping on eye on it for a week and report back). Is that the case? Two weeks seems like to short a time for a sarcoma to develop?

Cheers


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## MEOWx4 (Apr 22, 2009)

Is it where they gave her the leukemia vaccine? This happened to Little Kitty a few years ago, I was really worried because in some cases it can be cancerous, thankfully with some time it went away. This is just another reason I no longer vaccinate my adult cats, being they are indoors they really don't need continuous vaccines for things like leukemia.

I would just keep an eye on it, most likely it is benign and will go away. If it doesn't though the vet may want to do a biopsy to make sure it is not cancerous. Good luck! I know how scary these things can be.


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## muggyscugglemeyer (Dec 1, 2010)

I had one cat develop a lump after he was vaccinated. It was just like you described -- about the size of a marble, didn't hurt (although he did get kind of irritated if I messed with it for too long). It lasted a few weeks and then went away.


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## CobieBear (Nov 27, 2010)

Now Im not sure if the same applies for cats (Im still learning about cats, which is why I joined) but with dogs sometimes that can happen if the shot isnt put deep enough. This recently happened with my dog. He got a lump on his shoulder from his shot back in early oct. Its been shrinking slowly but theres still a tiny bump left. I was just told to massage it to help it break up but that it was common and nothing to worry about...


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## ezsobre (Nov 21, 2010)

She got rabies and distemper, and was also microchipped. All in the same area (i've only found out after the fact through my own internet reading that this is a no no). She had a reaction to the shots, and vomitted quite a bit about 3 minutes after she was innoculated. The vet gave her a shot of cerenia to deal with the vomitting. 

The lump remains about the same size, same description. I have been checking it religiously, but am trying not to look at it for a few days so I can actually determine if its changed at all.


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## razzle (May 20, 2010)

About 30 years ago I brought my cat and dogs to the vet to get their shots. I did the cat first. I went out to get my dogs and when I came back the Vet (a newbie) said the cat was vomiting and gave him compazine for the vomiting. The the vet went out to talked to the experienced vet. I was holding my cat and all of a sudden he went stiff. I ran out the door where the vets were. Well he didn't make it. They asked if they could do an autopsy and I said yes. Well he had a bad reaction to the rabies vaccine and they stopped using that brand or company. You were very lucky your cat made it through it. From then on I made the vet stay for 10 minutes to make sure that didn't happen again. Ever since my cats are indoors they have only had a rabies shot but I'm not going to do that anymore because there's something you can get from the vet that due to medical problems, being only indoors, and old age they can't have vaccines anymore.

Kathy

Kathy


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## ezsobre (Nov 21, 2010)

That sounds awful Kathy.

We went back into the vet this past saturday for a followup. They took a look at the lump, poked and squeezed it a bit, and told us it was in their estimation a response to the vaccine, that it should go away in a month's time on its own, and that if that is not the case to come back for a biopsy.

They also told me to apply something called "animax," which I understand to be a "anti-inflammatory, antipruritic (anti-itch), antifungal and antibacterial" compound. They had given this to us two weeks prior, because she had been scratching the lump and there was a red cut that needed to heal. That's healed now. They suggested applying it for 7-10 more days, twice daily.

From what I've learned, it seems 2-6 weeks is about average for the lump fading away. Anyone else have different experiences?


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