Noticed this on my cat's lip today. Should I be concerned?

Amiralo

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He's eating, sleeping, playing, pooping, and peeing and like usual. I did cut his food down by 25% in an attempt to get him to lose weight (He's 15 lb and I'm trying to get him to 14lb). Should I observe for now, or should I schedule a vet visit right away?
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FeebysOwner

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Hi. Those could be the beginning of rodent ulcers - usually brought on by plastic dishware, or not cleaning his dishes thoroughly or often enough. But they are oddly placed, in that I mean they are so evenly on each side of his mouth/upper lip. Any teeth issues? Change in food due to the diet you've place him on? I would send a pic to the vet and ask their opinion.

Nothing likely to do with his mouth, but a 25% reduction in his food intake is a bit drastic. Usually, you don't decrease a cat's food intake by any more than 5-10% at a time.
Rodent Ulcers in Cats: Causes, Treatments, Prevention and Tips (catdandruffclinic.com)
 

neely

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Welcome to TCS! :wave3: I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice you have an affected area on your hand, below your finger, which could possibly be some type of fungal infection passed from your cat to you or visa versa. I would suggest contacting your vet and/or sending them this pic. Please keep us updated.
 
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Amiralo

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Welcome to TCS! :wave3: I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice you have an affected area on your hand, below your finger, which could possibly be some type of fungal infection passed from your cat to you or visa versa. I would suggest contacting your vet and/or sending them this pic. Please keep us updated.
Oooh that's an old burn mark from years ago haha.Definitely not a fungal infection. Will definitely keep you guys updated
 
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Amiralo

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Hi. Those could be the beginning of rodent ulcers - usually brought on by plastic dishware, or not cleaning his dishes thoroughly or often enough. But they are oddly placed, in that I mean they are so evenly on each side of his mouth/upper lip. Any teeth issues? Change in food due to the diet you've place him on? I would send a pic to the vet and ask their opinion.

Nothing likely to do with his mouth, but a 25% reduction in his food intake is a bit drastic. Usually, you don't decrease a cat's food intake by any more than 5-10% at a time.
Rodent Ulcers in Cats: Causes, Treatments, Prevention and Tips (catdandruffclinic.com)
No teeth issues or changes in diet within 2 months (besides the food reduction). I use a porcelain food bowl that I probably could clean a little better-I'll wait a couple of days to see if things improve. Also thanks for the heads up about the food reduction, I'll ease up on the dieting.
 

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Clean the water dishes too! Keep an eye out on those spots, if it is rodent ulcers and the food/water dish cleaning doesn't do the trick, they will grow larger/spread. Keep us posted please!
 

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Hi
If you're feeding dry food, transition your cat to wet and help your cat to get more exercise. A cat should lose weight very slowly, that's the only safe way for a cat to lose weight.

Please check your cats body condition against this chart, he might not need to lose weight;

Body Condition Scores | VCA Animal Hospital
 
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Amiralo

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Hi
If you're feeding dry food, transition your cat to wet and help your cat to get more exercise. A cat should lose weight very slowly, that's the only safe way for a cat to lose weight.

Please check your cats body condition against this chart, he might not need to lose weight;

Body Condition Scores | VCA Animal Hospital
The vet was the one who told me he needed to lose a few pounds. He's on a combination wet/dry diet.
 

Furballsmom

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In your opinion, how does his body condition match up with one of the guides on the chart?

Vets can sometimes be a bit overly concerned and a little reactive about cat obesity. With that in mind, if you compare your cat to the chart and determine that he's ok, then do what you believe is best.
 

FeebysOwner

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The above link to the body condition chart is pretty much like all the others in that it fails to take into consideration the primordial pouch that most adult cats have. It is a fatty layer of tissue immediately in front of the hind legs and is not an indicator of being overweight. Why these charts never address this is a total mystery to me.
Primordial Pouch (Cat Belly Flap) in Cats - Cat-World
 

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Hi A Amiralo !

For your own benefit, antibiotics will have absolutely no effect on Rodent Ulcers......because the cause is not bacterial.

The 'secret sauce' of adequate treatment will be inside what you called "other medicine" (depending on what's in there).

[Rodent Ulcers are one type of skin condition that falls under an umbrella of three, and has the tongue twisting name of "eosinophilic granuloma".]

Fortunately, there are reliable plain-reading explanations, like this: Eosinophilic Granuloma in Cats - VCA

So, the real curative agent in "other medicine", the most important ingredient, will have to be some form of temporary immune suppressant.
.
 
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