Black dots all over lips and nose???

George is an orange tabby and is in excellent health. About a year ago I noticed a black dot about the size of a pencil lead or a little smaller, right in the middle of his nose. That eventually went away and I noticed another one a little off to the side of his nose. So, I held him down(he hates to be touched) and started looking and found them lining his lips, kind of to the inside. These black dots come and go, sometimes many of them, sometimes just a few. The vet said not to worry about it, and the other cats have never had them, and they lick and clean each other all the time. You cant see them until he opens his mouth, and his breath is normal. Any idea's to what these might be?

It sounds somewhat like what they call feline acne. But I'm not sure about inside the mouth. The black spots do come off if scraped lightly, they are oily feeling.

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

I have one that tends to get a bit of this around her chin and mouth. I wash her 'face' daily and if there happens to be an outbreak, I have used neosporin sparingly for the infected spots. Those black spots seem to sit on the skin and eventually cause sores if they are left.

The daily cleaning helps tremendously, but she has never had this inside the mouth.

I've never had the problem my self but other cat experts say it's caused by plastic feeding bowls.

I cant say that worked for me, I switched to stainless steel from plastic and that's when this started, but perhaps she's just not cleaning herself as thoroughly as she should.

This seems to be more like freckles but they're black. It looks like he's been chewing on a black ink pen, and it has stained his lips with black dots and some of them have run together. And it has only effected the skin on his lips and nose. I have another cat that sometimes gets what you have discribed under his chin and that flakes off and looks like flea dirt.
Georges black dots look like they are a pigment discoloration because they are smooth and exact with the skin.

Our Fluffy has black spots on her nose and lips and the vet said that they are like freckles.

That is what my vet said also...I glad to hear yours thinks the same thing. I thought he was just a bit off and probably tired of seeing me for such things as that! LOL!

I guess we both can now feel more comfortable since we've had a second opinion. Actually, the place we go, we don't always see the same vet (of course now I request certain ones that I like), but I had more than one of them comment on her cute little freckles, so I guess I never worried about it. In fact, here is a picture of her, don't know how well you will be able to see, but she has them on nose and lips. Made it big so it is a bit fuzzy, but you can see her "freckles" a little better.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...r/75b64069.jpg

Amanda I resized the pic of Fluffy for you. Maybe it's a little easier to see now.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...Untitled-1.gif

Oh that is a relief to see the exact same spots on Amanda's nose and lips as George has! I knew they were'nt anything catchy because none of the other cats have them, and they lick each other constantly! But they sure can be weird looking! Thank you so much, and as you said we both have a second opinion now;) You all are the greatest here!

My orange tabby Corkscrew also has them on his lips. I'm almost certain that Fister (Randi's orange tabby) has them as well.

Orange cats often get dark dots on their noses and lips. They may get more as they age. My vet told me they were nothing to worry about.

Thanks Michelle for fixing the picture. I am glad that everyone is aware that it is nothing to worry about! Fluffy likes her freckles and thinks she is distinguished from the others since they don't have any!!

Abner, my orange tabby has them too. My vet said they were like freckles as well but to keep an eye on them....kind of like you would with a human.....to see if they become red or have an abnormal "bump" or size to them.

Thanks catlover4ever, I will keep an eye on Georges freckles and watch for abnormal happenings!

I have an orange tabby named Tucker and I noticed the spot also and the vet said that its a pigment thing and that she has noticed it on alot of orange tabby cats she said that it isn't anything worry about but to make sure that they don't start interferring with their eye sight she said that she has notice that sometimes they start to appear on the cats eyes. You might have to see what they can do from there. Aren't Orange cats really neat.:D

You cant imagine how much better I feel each time I read it's common in orange tabbys! At first when I noticed them I was horrified they were something dreadful, but soon realized it wasnt spreading to the other cats. And I thought maybe my vet was just poo pooing me off when he said they were nothing to worry about....
So, thank you everyone for my peace of mind!

heidiv, thank you for the advice on keeping a close watch the eyes:cool:

Yup, my orange boy has them too! :)