should i be worried??

Kinsey just yawned and I noticed a small black bump on her gums below her bottom teeth. I tried to search for this but only found one similar where Hissy said that two black bumps on each side is normal, but is this the same thing do you think? If so, what is it? I've never noticed it before and I'm kinda worried.


Also, she is still shedding like crazy. To the point where I can feel and see the difference. She's acting normal but the shedding is just so bad.

(fyi: 2-3 year old short hair calico female, had her for 7 months, eats Natural Balance plus a little canned food every other day, live in Michigan, no huge changes in routine... )

Do I need to take her to the vet for these problems? If the shedding is a sign of illness, what could it be? Also, what can they do to help it? And what about her mouth?

Someone please help, I don't know if she needs the vet or not so I really need some info or advice
Thank you!! Lauren

Are they bump bumps or are they just spots. Neo and moe both have black spots inside there mouths, the vet said they were just beauty marks. If they are hard and raised I would be on the safe side and take the kitty to the vet, at least for peace of mind. I never noticed them on moe and neo and they seems to appear out of no where. I guess they were always there and I just never noticed them.

not the best pics, but I really didn't want to get bit

Neo's spots

moemoe's spot

half of trin's lip is black, I think it is because she is a tortie tabby kitty. She also has black patches on her paw pads and when she was spayed her little shaved tummy had black spots.

Jules and Tillie, both orange, have black spots on their lips too. Tillie looks like she is wearing black lipstick! Jules just has the spots like Neo and MoeMoe.

Rosie also has a couple of these brown patches on her bottom lip, she's had them from being a kitten.

When i took her for her boosters last summer, i mentioned them to the vet who inspected them, and he said they were just 'Blemishes', just like we would get!.

Rosie's also a Tortie!.

Susan

it's like a tiny bump, on her gum though,not her lips. The rest of her gums are pink except this spot. anyone seen anything like this before?

thank you for the pictures, that couldn't have been too easy!!

if it is just a spot I won't worry about it, but I would ask about it at her next vet visit. I will look around and see if I can find anything.

You might try switching her dry food to something else to see if her cat food is making her shed. Some say that premium cat foods make pets shed less, but it might be something in that food that she's sensitive to? It might be worth a try...

the shedding actually started after I tried switching them to Innova. I switched back (they don't seem to be sensitive to switching foods though I did it gradually both times) cause I thought that might be why she's shedding so we're on the same page there! Being back on Natural Balance doesn't seem to be helping though. Thanks for the advice!

oops didn't mean to post that yet...

it's actually a tiny bump, not just a spot, on her gums.

I would just have her checked out - better to err on the side of safety.

Thanks

Helen

If it were a bump on her lip, I'd guess right away that it might be eosinophilic granuloma complex. EGC can actually befall any organ, so theoretically also the gums, though normally the bump isn't black. The hair loss would also be symptomatic. You can find information here, but be forewarned, the photos are of extreme cases and thus pretty unsettling:

http://www.fabcats.org/is45.html

I would highly recommend that you take your cat to be checked out by a vet, for her sake and for your peace of mind.

update:

I took Kinsey to the vet and it turned out to be a blackhead, just like people get. It was just next to where the hair on her jaw stops and her gums start. Huge relief!!!!!

She also said that the dryer a cat's skin is, the more she'll shed and that if she is shedding all over and not just in one place than it's usually normal. So any tips on moisturizing her skin better? I guess fish oil would help, right?

Try Vitamin E oil good humans and kitties. I used Vegetable Oil on Loki one - boy did he hate me. Can't blame him though he did smell like a salad for a couple of hours.


Of course I am so glad it turned out to something so minor - what a relef!!!!

I mix in a few teaspoons of Linatone into my cats wet and dry food. You can get it at petsmart, or just about any other petstore, and it runs around 7-8 dollars. it is basically a faty acid complex that has vitamin e and different fish oils. I like it because it is formulated for cats...not something I would take.

I have noticed a huge difference in my cats fur...they had some dandruff and it was gone in 3 days!

It also seems to attract my cats to their food I guess because it smell like fishies.

Good luck!