Skin anomaly in a 15 years old cat

Hi and thanks for your time. About 3 weeks ago I noticed that Milky, our 15 YO cat, was flinching as I was scratching his neck. I also felt some 'bumps' so I took this photo. You can see a few protruding small white masses highlighted in the photo. They seem to be painful when touched, but otherwise he doesn't mess with it. Milky is being examined annually including a full senior panel is overall healthy. He is due for his annual checkup in a couple of months, and I was wondering whether these skin anomalies require a more urgent trip to the vet or if they seem benign enough to wait for his scheduled exam. He doesn't take car trips well, and we would like to avoid unnecessary stress for him. Thanks, Amy PS: A couple of months ago I posted here about Loki, our kitten's symblepharon eye condition. We eventually decided that the risk of surgery is not worth the potential benefit, and left the eye as-is. He is the happiest little fellow and doesn't seem to be bothered by his bad eye one bit.

Hello - I am unable to see those little white marks very clearly from here, but did wonder whether you might be looking at lice (we call them 'nits' in humans), particularly looking at those in the circle on the left.  Lice appear as small, light dots, not 2mm in length and are 6-legged, wingless insects.  They are species specific i.e.  not transferred to humans but can be transferred to other cats, sometimes via objects e.g. brushes.  Other possibilities might include pustules, folliculities and other parasites such as mites or demodex.  Please do see your vet who will do tests and offer treatment as appropriate.

Thank you! Will do.