help... my cat has strange things on his jaw

Hi,
I think the pictures speak for themselves, this doesn't seem normal for me in any way, any idea what this is? or how I can help my cat?

It's a bit of a problem taking him to the vet since he turns very aggressively when trying to get him in a cage etc.




Thanks!

Just a darker pigment. Our Punkin has them, too. Nothing to worry about.

My Rosie has lots of those on her mouth. Like MrBlanche has said their just pigments and their normally found on tortie's and red cats.

I call them her beauty spots!!

Are you talking about the brown freckle looking things or the round skin-clolored thing?

It's completely normal and nothing he needs to go to the vet for. They are pigment spots and are very common on orange cats. Both my orange boys have them on their lips and around their mouth. They seem to get more over the years. They are kind of like freckles that they get for the same reason human redheads get them.

ETA:
I just looked closer at the picture and I think I see a bump right where the cat's canine tooth is. Is that what you are talking about? That doesn't look right to me. I would guess that it's an infected tooth and if that;s the case it's extremely painful and can spread and get very serious. He needs to see a vet asap. Vets are used to dealing with uncooperative and even aggressive cats. If it comes down to it they can give him some acepromazine to calm him down for the exam.

^I agree with that

Any news about the kitty?

The spots are normal. It's just pigmentation. The lump looks suspicious to me. It could be a tumor or a tooth abcess. I'd have the vet take a look at it.

Originally Posted by NutroMike

The spots are normal. It's just pigmentation. The lump looks suspicious to me. It could be a tumor or a tooth abcess. I'd have the vet take a look at it.

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I disagree... The lump looks to me to be where the top teeth hits the lower gum - all my cats have that... Normal too... Can take to the vet to check it, but I already did and it was perfectly normal

Originally Posted by Carolina

I disagree... The lump looks to me to be where the top teeth hits the lower gum - all my cats have that... Normal too... Can take to the vet to check it, but I already did and it was perfectly normal

Click to expand...

Actually, i'm sure Rosie has them as well. I would double check, but have you tried opening a torties mouth?!

Carolina is right. My cats have a bump there too. For some reason I didn't notice that the cat was upside down in the pic so I thought the bump was above the upper canine. I just looked in the mouths of five of my cats and they all have bumps where the upper canine meets the lower lip. Your cat's looks a bit bigger though but it maybe the size varies in different cats.

You learn something new every day You should have seen me the first time I saw the pigment spots on an orange cat. I couldn't figure out what it was and thought that someone could have put tattoos on the poor cat. Stupid, I know, but in the area I found the cat I wouldn't have put it past some people.

I wanted to suggest, if you can't get your cat in the carrier for the vet visits it may be a good idea to work on this in order to reduce his stress for the future vet visits he may need.
What I recommend and do myself is leave a carrier sitting out, opened, where the cat can see it. If it is the type where the door is removable, I'd even remove the door at first. That way they will get used to seeing the carrier around, instead of it only coming out when you are going to the vet. My cats will go in the carrier and use it as a nest/hiding spot when I leave it out like that. If your cat won't go near it even after you've left it out for a long time, you can try putting food he really likes or treats inside the carrier so he will associate it with positive things. Once he's comfortable with having the carrier around, if you are still worried you won't be able to get him in it for vet visit, when it's time to go to the vet you can just put some food or treats inside and then once he goes inside, close the door and you're ready to go (obviously you'd have to have put the door back on ahead of time!)

Originally Posted by Carolina

I disagree... The lump looks to me to be where the top teeth hits the lower gum - all my cats have that... Normal too... Can take to the vet to check it, but I already did and it was perfectly normal

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Carolina. LOL, you sound like me. If it looks unusual, run to the vet. I got laughed at by the vet and the vet techs one time over my worry about something I thought was unusual on one of my dogs

Yeah I've found a few things I thought were strange, or bumps. Usually if I'm not sure whether something is normal or not, I check the other side. If they have identical bumps on both sides of the body it usually means it's something natural rather than a problem.
One time I asked my vet to look at a bump on my dog, and it turned out to be a nipple. Well it wasn't in line with the rest of them, so I thought it was something else! Apparently she just had one that was off-center compared to the rest.

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Yeah I've found a few things I thought were strange, or bumps. Usually if I'm not sure whether something is normal or not, I check the other side. If they have identical bumps on both sides of the body it usually means it's something natural rather than a problem.
One time I asked my vet to look at a bump on my dog, and it turned out to be a nipple.

Well it wasn't in line with the rest of them, so I thought it was something else! Apparently she just had one that was off-center compared to the rest.

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I'm sorry Nek..................but that made me giggle out loud!!!! Sounds like something i would do!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Nekochan

One time I asked my vet to look at a bump on my dog, and it turned out to be a nipple.

Well it wasn't in line with the rest of them, so I thought it was something else! Apparently she just had one that was off-center compared to the rest.

Click to expand...

Same thing happened to my grandma.. xD