Ollie's mouth bleeding. What could it be?

So, before I start let me say that unless this goes away over the weekend, Ollie will probably be going to the vet early next week to have it looked at. I am just curious in the meantime what it could be.

Basically, I noticed a few days ago that the corners of Ollie's mouth were a little pinkish. I wasn't sure however if they had always been like that and I just never noticed, and it didn't seem to be bothering him at all. So I just let it go for the moment. To clarify, the corners of his mouth had this little round area maybe slightly more than 1/2 centimeter in diamter that was the pink like the rest of his mouth.

A few days later, I noticed today that they're a little more pink, and one side has a little teeny area with a little scab and I also noticed a little bit of blood. Not a gusher by any stretch of the imagination. It was perhaps a drop at most, but it was still blood, which worries me. I imagine the other side will also look like this within the next day. I took a close look at it and tried to see if there was any pus. There doesn't seem to be. It also doesn't seem to be causing him any discomfort or pain. These areas are also a little bit puffy.

I'm just wondering what it could possibly be? Chapped? Irritated? Or something worse?

He's awfully young to have dental issues, however, my Twitch had rotten teeth when she was 7 months old (had another vet seen her, she would've had her teeth removed when she was spayed). I'm by no means saying his teeth are rotting out of his head - but it is possible, although *incredibly* uncommon, that he has the beginnings of a dental issue.

Inflammed gums are usually a sign of gingivitis. It's also possible he was chewing on something & hurt his mouth. I've had cats scratch each other's gums when playing.

Sorry, I must have described this poorly.

It's not his gums.

When his mouth is closed, if you look on the sides, where the top and bottom portions of his mouth meet ( what I think is called the corner of the mouth ) - that's where the problem is.

It's on the exterior of the mouth.

Hum... Could it be rodent ulcer?

Maybe his teeth are irritating the corners of his mouth (under or over bite?)

I'll second Nat's suggestion of having him looked at for dental issues, even as young as he is. One of the first signs we had of a gingivitis flare-up in Cotton was that the corners of his mouth would get red, then scabbed and a bit bloody. This was completely visible when his mouth was closed. Because his gums were acting up, he would drool more, and he result would be this sort of chapping at the corners of his mouth.

Another thing I've seen - have your turned on your AC lately, or turned it up significantly? Sometime the drier air caused by AC can cause a sort of chapped sore.

It sounds to me like it might be a sore from rubbing. Has he been chewing on anything? If it were (God forbid) an electrical cord he may have burns in his mouth as well as on the outside.

Sounds to me like he's a chewer and irritated it raw chewing on something, like cardboard.
He's fairly young if I recall.
My 2 youngest have occasionally gone too far in chewing on boxes and have had this happen.
I'd be looking for chewed up stuff

He's about the right age for teething, isn't he? About 6 months?

Take a look at his "fangs" and see if any of them are doubled, one big one and one little one.

Could he have had a pimple that came to a head and burst?

Answering multiple posts (not in order):

It is a little drier from the A/C than it was back in Florida.

Ollie chews on everything. Think of an object. Anything. If given the opportunity, he WILL chew on it.

Rodent ulcer I'm not sure about. How young can a cat have auto-immune issues? Is 7 months within range?

He has not chewed on any electrical cords. Every cord is in split tubing to ensure that.

As for teething, I'll try to see if he'll let me look in his mouth when he wakes up from his nap.

Lastly, the pimple theory seems somewhat unlikely since the puffiness and redness is on both sides.

From what you describe, it doesn't sound too serious. Maybe he just got a little too excited as he was chewing on something?? If it's just a little irritation, I'd wait a while for it to heal before I rush to the vet...
P.S. Jake has chewing issues too which I am trying hard to figure out how to deal with. All of my furniture has deep teeth marks. So if you ever find a solution to ollie's chewing issues please let me know!

My little guy was having an affectionate moment, so I took advantage of it to look at his teeth. The rear adult teeth look like they're coming in. His front teeth look like they're already adult teeth. Looked pretty much like the inside of Ally's mouth, so I assume it's all normal. I didn't see any doubles, but then again I probably wouldn't know which are doubles if I did.

The side of the outside of his mouth that was bleeding seems to have healed a little bit. Both sides are still puffy and pink.

I was thinking earlier, I just recently bought Ollie these hairball remedy treats since he seems to lick up both his and Ally's hair and was trying to hock something up recently that I assumed was a hairball. He really seems to like them, whereas Ally has no interest.

I just think that's interesting. He likes them and he eats them - he gets inflamation on the corners of his mouth. Ally doesn't like them and doesn't eat them - she's fine.

Probably coincidence, however, the directions are to give him 2 a day as a preventative measure. Maybe I should stop and see if that helps? He's only been taking them for about a week. Foodbourne allergy maybe? I know it sounds a little weird to only show on the outside of his mouth, no vomitting, nothing else. That's why I say it's probably a coincidence, but nevertheless, I'm thinking maybe I should stop them and see if that has anything to do with it. I hear the Petromalt ones are better anyways. The petsore was out of the Petromalt ones when I was there, that's why I got him these Pet Naturals of Vermont ones.

For hairballs, Nova recommends Laxatone. She licks it off my finger, it's kind of a gel. Nothing to chew. I hope Ollie's sores are resolved soon and aren't anything serious.

I've been using the Naturals of Vermont, because my two just don't seem to care for any of the normal hairball remedies. Both like Vermont, but somehow even one can affect Dante, my 12 pounder, more than Dharma, my 7 pounder - at least as far as somewhat looser stools. Go figure.

But, I'd probably stop too just to see if it's related. BTW, how are you feeling?

Originally Posted by darlili

I've been using the Naturals of Vermont, because my two just don't seem to care for any of the normal hairball remedies. Both like Vermont, but somehow even one can affect Dante, my 12 pounder, more than Dharma, my 7 pounder - at least as far as somewhat looser stools. Go figure.

But, I'd probably stop too just to see if it's related. BTW, how are you feeling?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I stopped it. I haven't taken Ollie in just yet. I made an appointment early on Monday for Tuesday morning, but noticed later that Ollie's mouth was looking a little bit better, so I cancelled it to watch it a little bit longer. It's easy to get in there ASAP supposedly, so I can wait a little bit I think.

The open sores cleared up, I don't see any blood any more, it's just the pink puffy areas now. I'm thinking now that many of you were right and that he's been chewing on something. I just can't figure out what. I'm thinking maybe it was one of the window blinds.

I'm also keeping an eye on his ears. I hadn't looked in there in a while and noticed when I looked in that there was still coffee ground looking stuff. I'm pretty sure it's just the debri from when he had ear mites a few months ago, but I'm watching that too. I cleaned them out a bit to see if any more pops up in an obvious fashion. He doesn't shake his head or anything like when he did have ear mites, so I'm not too worried. Just being mindful ofit.

As for my health - that's a story of its own. I wish I could say I was wonderful, but regretfully that isn't the case. I'm hanging in there though. No worries.