A concerned cat owner took to Reddit to find out what happened to their pet’s mouth after noticing some brown spots on his gums—then they realized what it was.
In a viral post shared in October under the username u/Last_Marionberry2042, the poster shared a picture of their orange cat’s mouth, asking “Noticed all of this in my cat’s mouth today???” The picture shows the poster holding the feline’s mouth open with their hands to get a clear shot of his gums, which, in the clip, appear covered in small brown spots, both on the upper and lower parts.
“I have two boys and my other cat’s mouth is perfectly OK. What is this??” the poster continues in the caption.
Dr. Eliza O’Callaghan at Small Door Veterinary told Newsweek that these black freckles are most likely a benign condition called lentigo, or lentigines in plural.
“Lentigo is common in cats, especially those with orange (ginger), calico, or tortoiseshell coats. The spots are caused by an increase in pigment-producing cells called melanocytes, which leads to flat, black or dark-brown spots appearing on areas like the lips, gums, nose, or eyelids,” O’Callaghan said.
She added that lentigo is entirely normal and harmless. It is similar to freckles in people and tends to become more noticeable as cats age. She added that these spots are not painful, not contagious, and do not require treatment.
“However, if the spots are raised, bleeding, ulcerated, or rapidly changing, it’s always a good idea to have your veterinarian examine them to rule out other rare but more serious conditions like oral melanoma,” O’Callaghan said.
“But in the vast majority of cases, especially when the cat is otherwise healthy and the spots are flat and evenly pigmented—lentigo is nothing to worry about.
The post quickly grabbed the attention of social-media users and has so far received over 520 upvotes and almost 100 comments on the platform.
One user, Asskickulator, commented: “My orange cat woke up one day and had them all over his nose and catlips. He’s fine. From the freckles. He still only has one brain-cell.”
Zoethor2 posted: “This is not uncommon especially in orange cats. His nose may also get these pigmented spots in time. It’s called lentigo.”
Secretsaucyy added: “If you didn’t know, if your cat has dark spots of color, the skin underneath is usually pigmented too!”
Newsweek reached out to u/Last_Marionberry2042 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.
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