Thanks for your replies, first of all can I make something perfectly clear (Helz) I am not in the habit of performing surgery on any of my animals of whom all are perfectly well looked after and please do not tell me about the law either, your reply was not really helpful and was rather extreme. I am not drawing any benefits and therefore organisations do not want to know (its the all or nothing UK!)and I have to pay full price and that is it.

Thank you Erbslin for your information which is helpful. I will continue to monitor the lump and have no intention of touching it. My thread was put out just in case there was anything that could be done or discovered about it. I will probably take him to the vet shortly if the lump does not erupt on its own over the next few days.