My cat has concerning symptoms. Is it cancer or another disease?

There can be many causes of sores in cats, including bacterial infection, ringworm, mites, fleas, allergies, and, yes, cancer is also a possibility. I would recommend that Carmen be examined by a veterinarian. After a thorough physical exam, your vet may recommend diagnostics like skin cytology to look at cells under a microscope, skin scrapes to look for mites, fungal cultures to identify ringworm, or biopsies to look for cancer.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While it is hard to tell just in these pictures, I think cancer is less likely and something more benign like allergies and dermatitis is more likely. Ultimately, this requires further investigation to know for sure. This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Those look like pretty inflamed lesions. There are a few things that come to mind. Cats can get an autoimmune condition called eosinophilic granuloma that requires steroids for treatment and maybe antibiotics to control secondary infections. Check the house and make sure there's no possibility should could have touched something very hot or gotten into anything that could cause a chemical burn. Lastly, fleas and ringworm can be brought in on your shoes/clothing although this would be an abnormal presentation. Rarely, pets can get skin cancer that looks similar to this. I recommend to have Shadow checked out by her veterinarian since this is a mystery and she has two lesions. It's better to be safe. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I have to admit that from the pics I cannot really understand if there is only one lesion or more bumps/lumps there. Generally speaking, this presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria or fungal). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics or antifungal meds (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Skin scrapes and small biopsies (if not already taken) can help to diagnose underlying cause of it. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking/scratching. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

It sounds like Fatsy may be overgrooming due to stress and causing hair loss and sores. He also could have an allergy causing the symptoms you are describing. This does not sound like cancer. Usually with cancer the tumor is under the skin, feels like a hard irregular mass and is often attached to the underlying tissue. The medication should reduce the skin itch and inflammation and help the raw area heal. Make sure there are no fleas, and using a Feliway diffuser sometime help cats relax, reduces stress and the overgrooming. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Fatsy.

The different options in Alice's case are a superficial moist (bacterial) dermatitis, feline acne or a fungal/viral infection with or without secondary bacterial inflammation. A check up and some skin testing would confirm one of these clinical suspicion. Appropriate treatment may require antibiotics. This disease may be infective for you (in case of fungal infection) or the other cat (all but feline acne).

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There is no way to know this just based on a picture. If there is a mass effect there may be cancer. However, even without a mass effect this can be cancer. The only way to know for sure is by having Molly evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment. They would be able to get a closer look and decide what seems to be more likely to be going on. At the same time, they can perform a biopsy to determine what kind of disease she has. Therapy can be recommended afterwards. Best of luck!