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If it is just a fatty cyst, it wouldn't even need to come off unless you ~had~ to put her under anesthesia for some other procedure, like a tooth cleaning. They don't hurt anything, as a rule, unless they grow too big for their blood supply, in which case they die and become infected. But that is later on, not an imminant risk.

I took some off Zulu and Logan in their middle age simply for vanity if they were in a spot, like their necks, where they were pet often and I could feel it.

Logan had probably 10 marble-sized lumps by the time he died. Most of his didn't grow beyond the size of a large marble. Zulu had fewer, but bigger ones. She had one on her belly that I wanted to remove because it grew to the size of a racquetball - No kidding. But it was not a malignancy, so in her declining condition, the anesthesia was more of a risk. Some critters just are prone to getting lumps in their old age and you could spend all your time removing them if cost were no barrier and the critter handles anesthesia well.

I guess it is good to have this first one checked out, especially if you have some other business she needs, like shots. They will do a needle-aspiration into the lump and look at a slide of what's in there. If it is just a fatty lump, at least you will know more if/when she gets the next one. But I know money is also a big issue, so if you want to wait and see, it would be my bet there would be no harm done.

I guess it is good to have this first one checked out, especially if you have some other business she needs, like shots.

Yeah, I think the same. I don't know exactly what shots she is out of date on, so I should do those, too. Dad lent me a little money, and since this is one of the things that is really preying on my mind, I wanted to at least have the checkup.

But what you've said has made me feel much better. I'm glad I posted, though I wasn't sure if I should. Lumps on cats are not exactly something most people wanna think about, let alone discuss. ;-)

It's almost the size of a golf ball, though...or at least a big marble. Still feels loose under the skin, though, so cyst sounds right. And she certainly seems in fine health otherwise...happy and alert and eating fine.