Black spots around eyes, nose; on gums and lips

[starr]

Have any of you heard of this..seen it, have any advice? We have an 8 year old orange tabby male. Last summer I noticed that he had developed a tiny black spot on his nose that wasn't dirt. A few months later I happened to notice that he had some of those around his eyes..on the skin right at the rim of his eye socket, but they were very faint. A friend of mine said it might be exposure to sun because orange tabbies are fair skinned like red-heads. She has over 12 cats so I figured she'd have some knowledge.

Then today, he was lying on his side sleeping and I noticed a big black spot on his lower lip. I looked in his mouth and saw 2 or three of them on his lips and more on his gums. They look flat, not painful or anything. He eats fine, etc. but apparently these things are getting bigger and more in number.

I called our veterinarian and the lady at the desk said it sounded very strange and in all her years working for the vet, she'd never heard of anything like that. He has an appointment scheduled but in the meantime we are very worried.

Any opinions?

Starr

[Inverness]

I just corrected a mistake I had made in another post about the name of this condition. It's called lentigo and is a benine condition in red cats. Nothing to worry about.

[starr]

I am wondering if this condition is different in cats than in people. I looked it up and it said while it is most usually benign it can turn malignant and is called lentigo maligna.

May I ask what your expertise is in this area? You have given us a huge measure of relief but I want to make sure we're not getting our hopes up. No offense intended.

Thank you very much for your reply. We desperately hope you are correct in what you say.
Starr

[starr]

I just found Orange Cat Lentigo on the net. Whew! I am EVERY relieved! My 5 year old little girl is going to be sooo happy. Sage is "her" Kitty (we have 5 cats) and she'd be devastated without him.

Thanks for answering! I was online all DAY trying to find the answer and I got it here first. This forum rocks! ((((-:

Starr

[Prin]

Yey Inverness! I'm glad the kitty is ok.

[chico2]

Thank's Inverness I am going to check it out too,since Vinnie gets these spots on his nose off and on.
Vet said it's normal for a white cat,but never gave it a name..

[Inverness]

Well I would not DREAM of telling you I am sure your cat has lentigo, please don't put too much pressure on me, I'm getting palpitations now...

But my own orange tabby female has had lentigo for at least 6 years now and she is the healthiest cat around... My vet had told me, back then, that it is purely esthetic. It also comes and goes. Sometimes she has more, some others she is almost spot-free !

Our rescued senior red tabby male also has that. Here's a pic so you know what I am talking about. It's not very clear, but look at his eyelids and lips. If your cat has those same spots, it probably is lentigo...

[chico2]

My Vinnie only has two little spots on his nose and they come and go,I tried washing them away,thinking they were dirt.
He was just at the vet to have his teeth cleaned ,that's when she said they are harmless,like human liverspots.
Maybe I have a picture of him...it's hard to see,but he has two little blakish spots on his nose

[chico2]

Here you can see them on his other side,a bit better..