How Melanoma Affects Cats
📝 Summary
Feline melanoma can be benign or malignant. It is often confused with lentigo simplex, but they differ. Benign has little effect but needs removal to prevent worsening; malignant has a larger impact, possibly causing local necrosis. Here are the details.
1 How Melanoma Affects Cats
1. What is feline melanoma?
Melanoma is a malignantly changed pigmented nevus. It is linked to lentigo simplex because both show black spots, but melanoma is far more serious—growing fast, appearing suddenly or enlarging quickly, with color deepening over time.
Location:
It mainly appears on the forelimbs, head, neck, and trunk. Signs include local pain, itching, ulcers, abnormal bleeding, slow wound healing, and sometimes swollen lymph nodes.
Also, the melanoma color is uneven—mixed, not solid—with blurred edges.
These differ from lentigo simplex, whose spots are usually on the face, hard for the cat to notice, and harmless—no pain or itch, just affecting looks.
If you notice these signs, take the cat to the vet promptly. Benign has little effect, but once it turns malignant it is bad—so take it seriously; home care cannot cure it because both types need surgery. If fully removed, the harm is essentially gone.
Note: feline melanoma is hard to catch early because fur hides the skin; check the cat’s skin and coat often, grooming while inspecting.
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