Swollen lmyph node maybe???

[MamaCosma]

Hello!

New sphynx momma here! Just got my boy 3 days ago, and I am a worrier, so naturally I am freaking out a little bit.

He is 14 weeks old, has a vet appointment booked for his last set of vaccines in a couple weeks, but I have just noticed this (new?) bit of loose skin on one side of his chest? I don't recall seeing it earlier and don't see it on my older photos (although not all photos are great). It's only on one side which is what has me concerned. He doesn't seem bothered by it or is acting any different.

Upon further inspection I found two lumps, one on either side almost under his armpits, they are movable, don't seem to bother him when I feel them, different sizes - one the size of a pea, the other maybe a small grape. A bit of googling suggests maybe lymph nodes?? Has anyone else experienced this? What can cause this? I gave him a can of wet food this morning that didn't seem to agree with him as he had diarrhea afterwards. Would something like that cause this? I plan on calling the vet in the morning but I am freaking out a little bit at the moment I have only had him a short time but I absolutely adore him.

Please excuse the terrible photos, they don't show the lumps but they do show the saggy skin on one side. That's the size with the larger lump

 

[nudebea]

Hi and welcome , your boy is gorgeous and they do seem to grab your heart, and hold on tight , very quickly! Its natural as a new "mom" that you will be super observant and worry a little bur try not to stress too mucH. From what you are describing they lumps" do sound like lymph nodes which are part of the immune response . My boy Wilson had swollen nodes in his neck not long after we first welcomed him home and we had our vet check him out, fortunately all was ok but its usually a good idea to get your vets opinion xxx

 

[MamaCosma]

Hi and welcome , your boy is gorgeous and they do seem to grab your heart, and hold on tight , very quickly! Its natural as a new "mom" that you will be super observant and worry a little bur try not to stress too mucH. From what you are describing they lumps" do sound like lymph nodes which are part of the immune response . My boy Wilson had swollen nodes in his neck not long after we first welcomed him home and we had our vet check him out, fortunately all was ok but its usually a good idea to get your vets opinion xxx

Thank you so much for your reply! My boy is acting totally normal, and honestly is more perky and curious today than he has been since I got him. Unfortunately my clinic can't get me in as soon as I'd like - the area I live in is really short of vets and supporting staff so they are a bit overwhelmed - can I ask what you ended up doing with yours? Did the vet prescribe something for him or did it end up going away on his own?

 

[Sheldon13]

Aww.

It looks like totally normal skin to me. Nice and saggy LOL.


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[Sheldon13]

For the lumps, you might hold some warm compresses against them and see if you can get them to come to a head. If not, Vet is definitely your best bet just in case.


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[MamaCosma]

A little update on my boy!

One of the lumps got bigger so I called the vet again and got them to move my appointment up. Took him in this morning, and the vet believes they are in fact swollen lymph nodes. She did a fine needle aspirate and I am just waiting to hear back about the in house cytology they are doing.

On another note while he was there she said he had a low grade heart murmur? So of course that's scary. The breeder didn't seem too concerned, both she and the vet said that kittens can grow out of it. The breeder also mentioned that the vet they had taken him to the day before I picked him up (so last Thursday) did not detect one and said it could be caused by stress as he didn't have all of his siblings with him this time and it's a whole new environment. Anyone else have experience with heart murmurs in their sphynx kittens?

 

[Yoda mom]

@KitKatKitty , great job mum getting your baby in to the vet. all paws crossed for the cytology report.
my boy had a stress ghost murmur at vet when he was young. he is 9 yrs old now and doing good. on rechecks none detected. glad you updated your breeder too.

there is info on threads about HCM scanning as he matures. are his parents HCM screened?
hugs n positive vibe head smooches. keep us updated, all paws are family. did I miss your adorable babies name?

did vet mention if the swollen lymph nodes could be a reaction to any vaccines he got before you got him a few days ago?

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Hoping the lymph node issue is simply any infection. Often their immune system can be a bit compromised due to stress, and change in environment can cause swelling due to allergens etc. please keep us updated.

 

[nudebea]

Hi again, in reply to your question about my boy Wilsons raised lymph nodes when he was a kitten, no the vet did have a look but didn't suggest any active treatment, just observation , and fortunately they did resolve. Regarding the heart murmur, our girl Kiwi also had a murmer , picked up during her routine check as a kitten but again, fortunately she has not gone on to develop any problems (apart from being incredibly greedy!) and she is now 8 yrs old. We do have regular checks at the vet, routine health checks yearly .Again try not to worry too much , sounds like you are doing great and have also had some great advice from members, its always a good idea to get your vets opinion x

 

[MamaCosma]

@Yoda mom thanks for sharing your experience! That makes me feel a bit better! My baby's name is Cosmo! I love him to pieces ❤ the breeder says that both parents were screened for HCM and both were negative. The vaccines my guy got were a couple weeks before I picked him up - the vet check the day before was just a physical exam, so I don't think it's that unfortunately

Just another little update, but the cytology they did showed a lot of white blood cells which is to be expected in lymph fluid, but she also said that there were some abnormal cells as well that varied in size so I opted to have that sent away for further testing and won't have that report back until sometime next week. Internally freaking out a bit but he is happy as can be, playing lots and being the cute little stinker that he is, unbeknownst to how stressed I am.

 

[Yoda mom]

@KitKatKitty , awh you are the bestest mum following thru with the tests. all paws crossed for good news updates. great that he is happy and playing lots and being his cute little self . love his Cosmo name... avatar pic precious..

deep breath, I know the stress of waiting for a week for flwup reports... more than once I have had further testing sent out to specialists and to come back clear with good news. hoping for the same. hugs n head smooches.

look forward to pics and tales of baby Cosmo.

 

[nudebea]

Hang on in there and enjoy playing with your little bundle of fun. Try not to dwell on "what ifs" and hopefully next week will bring a sigh of relief x

 

[MamaCosma]

Thanks everyone! I'm really hoping come next week I'll be laughing about how much the little bugger worried me