That is the treatment of choice for tumors in cats. Once again, the sooner we deal with things, the better. For many reasons, the sooner we deal with them, the less chance they have to spread, the smaller they are, so the smaller amount of tissue has to be removed, and the better chance we have of getting it all. So again, that's why I was mentioning that with cats, the sooner we deal with these things, the better off we are.

Some of the breeds, like a Siamese, are more prone. Breeds like the sphynx cat that doesn't have hair, obviously, are more prone. But any cat is predisposed to this, and we don't see it as much in those breeds, but we don't see those breeds as much either. We usually see the regular old domestic with long, short, medium hair.

As we just mentioned, you're normally going to see a lump or a bump. Sometimes they can get oozy and inflamed, scalier, crusty, or loose hair. Just a change in your cat's normal texture of their skin is a sign.

Skin cancer is fairly unusual, but any lump or bump in your cat needs to be checked. Cats and dogs both get different types of skin cancers, but cat skin cancer is substantially more aggressive than dogs. So any lump or bump in a cat I want to take a look at. We're going to aspirate it, try to get some cells from it, try to determine what it may be, and if it concerns us, because with skin cancer, the sooner we deal with it, the better.

With some of these, honestly, very little, but sun exposure in cats and people can lead to types of skin cancer. So keep your cat out of the sun as best you can. During the hours of 10 to four, keep them out of a window where the sun's beating in. For outdoor kitties, there's not a whole lot you can do. Just make sure they have some shade to be able to hide in if they like and protect the coats. Believe it or not, they make cat sunscreens. They are non-zinc oxide sunscreens. You have to be careful with what you put on a cat because they're going to groom it off anyway. And the zinc side can cause problems if they lick it down over any period of time. So if you want to use sunscreen on your cat, maybe on the ears where the hair is thin on the nose, you can do that.