Ragdoll Cat - Black Spots on Nose and Gums - Need Advice...

Good afternoon,

I have a 5 year old pure bred flame point Ragdoll cat. He has never had any health problems and is an indoor only cat. Well a few years ago he got a black spot on his pink nose. It looks like dirt but won't come off - almost like it is a mole. He has since gotten more of them around the edges of his nose. Again, it looks like dirt, but I can't scratch it off. Today I noticed he had these spots on his gums too. I've never really looked closely at his gums so I don't know if this is new or not. Just started worrying me today - what if this was an indicator of a health issue?!

Anyway, just curious if any other Ragdoll owners have experienced this with their cats. I guess it may be time to take him to the vet to get him checked out although I would prefer to not have to take him in. I am hoping someone here on the message board is going to tell me that it is nothing to worry about...

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Jeremy

Try posting this in breeders corner.
Maybe there is a Ragdoll breeder there that can help.

I just found something on another cat site regarding a harmless condition that orange/red cats get - my cat Toby is a flame tip so he has alot of orange/red in his fur. Anyway, it is called lentigo simplex. Sounds like that is exactly what it is, but would love for someone to confirm. Lentigo simplex is similar to us humans with red hair having freckles!

I have a 2 year old male flame point Ragdoll with what appears to be a piece of dirt on his nose also. I tried to rub it off before and wrote it off as a freckle. The freckle has been there for about a year. I had him to the vet last summer for something else and the vet was not concerned at all with it. I have not checked his gums tho......

All of my red tabbies have spots like you describe. I hadn't heard the name lentigo simplex before so found a sight that describes it:

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/dise...catlentigo.htm

As it states in the article, you can't assume that it is this condition. Only a vet can confirm that for sure. I've had my cats examined and the vet tells me in my case it is normal.

To me, it's like finding a mole or something on myself - 99% of the time it's harmless, but that 1% is why it's good to visit a health care professional. For example, cats, like humans, develop skin cancers....treatable if caught early. Likely....probably not....but no one here is a vet and no one can diagnose over the internet. Good luck - hope it's nothing at all.