Is this lump on my pet a tick?
Without visible legs, a new lump is hard to distinguish from a harmless skin tag, pimple, or benign mole. Owners often wish it were a tick because they know how to handle that, but are left anxiously guessing while waiting weeks for an available vet appointment.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Asking online communities for visual identification to rule out common issuesDid this help you?
- 2Checking the physical structure of the lump for legs to see if it is a tickDid this help you?
- 3Calling the clinic directly to bypass online booking delays and secure an earlier appointmentDid this help you?
- 4Monitoring the bump for rapid growth or a sudden increase in numbersDid this help you?
- 5Having a veterinarian examine it during the next routine visitDid this help you?
- 6Getting a vet to take a needle sample to diagnose it properlyDid this help you?
- 7taking the pet to a veterinarian to get it professionally checkedDid this help you?
- 8washing the animal's food and water bowls frequently to prevent acneDid this help you?
- 9applying a vet-prescribed antibiotic ointmentDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Does this lump look like it could be a tick?”source ↗
“Noticed something small about a month ago but he regularly gets small pimple kinda things that go away quickly. Just noticed this huge lump.”source ↗
“Vet doesn't have an appointment available to book online until Nov 10. Will call them Monday just in case they can get us in earlier.”source ↗
“found it 4-6 months ago, thought it was just to scratch healing, but it never healed. feels a bit bumpy now.”source ↗
“My cat is 5 years old and over the past few months we’ve noticed a little bump on her spine.”source ↗
“I assumed it was a skin take but it looks… odd.”source ↗
“I've had cats get these, they're sort of like moles and on my cat were benign.”source ↗
“My cat has a benign adenoma that looks similar”source ↗
“I wasn’t seeing any legs. More wishful thinking for a tick because I know how to handle that”source ↗