Are you a helicopter cat mom or dad? Are you constantly watching and searching for and checking over and fussing over your cat(s). If so—good for you!!! There are a lot of difficulties and serious problems that you can thwart by your diligent attention to your cat. It’s the same with a dog, a horse, even a gold fish, I would imagine. It’s important to keep a close eye and 
hand on the animal at all times so you’re aware when a problem occurs in time to make a difference.
You will want to know as early as possible if your cat is losing weight, gaining too much weight, constantly licking a spot on her paw or elsewhere, using the litter box more or 
less often, or if there are changes in her mood or behavior. Is she less present and social and affectionate, for example. You want to notice a lump or a growth early on. Is her fur becoming matted because she isn’t grooming herself? Is she losing patches of fur? Has she become touchy anyplace—ears, back, paws…?
Keep in mind that any change in personality or 
behavior could have a physical cause.
Just last week I noticed a strange growth or something on the bottom of Olivia’s paw. She wasn’t licking it excessively, nor was she limping or favoring that paw in anyway. I happened to notice it during a cuddle session. Even though it didn’t seem to be bothering her, I thought the discoloration was not normal, so off to the veterinarian we went.
This was not a happy day for Olivia. She does NOT like a change in her routine unless she initiates it and being put into a carrier and carted off somewhere in the car is very frightening for her. Then she was poked and probed and messed with by strangers while we watched. No, she was not happy. But she cooperated.
It was found that she had a growth on a toe pad. They 
cleaned it up and took a snippet of it for a biopsy. We brought her home with a big cast-like bandage on that paw which lasted for less than 6 minutes once we got home. But the bleeding had stopped–she seemed to have no discomfort. Vet said it was okay if she managed to work the bandage off.
Biopsy shows no cancer–just a random sore that we will watch. So far so good.
Whew!!!! Otherwise the vet gave Olivia a clean bill of health. Good weight, good condition–everything good, but I am still keeping an eye on that little blip on her toe pad because I’m a helicopter mom, just like most of you are.
