Hi! My name is Josh, I'm 28 and live in northern California. I LOVE ANIMALS!
About 10 months ago I came across this beautiful kitten, she has blue eyes, colors and marking similar to a Siamese, with the coat of a himalayan. I named her shorty on account that her tail is very short. About 2 inches. She is a great cat. Loves to play, greats me every time I come home.

Basically my question is this. A couple of days ago I noticed the corners of her mouth have become swolen and red. Like she keeps scratching at it. Today is worse than yesterday. She is clean, strictly indoors, no fleas that I can find. I'm sure there is atleast one on her somewhere, but she is definately not infested. Her mood and actions have not changed a bit. As a matter of fact she is chasing a cap to a bottle of water around now. Hmm, could it be something she is playing with that I dont know about?? Should I have any major concern about this? can I put neosporin on it? What should I do?

Hi, Josh,

The most common reason for redness and swelling around a cat's mouth is a condition commonly referred to as "rodent ulcers". It has nothing to do with rodents. It is often due to allergies, most often allergy to fleas. Some cats also have an allergic reaction to plastic food or water bowls.

Even if your kitty has only one flea, if she is allergic to fleas, that one can make her very itchy or cause hair loss and scabs or just present as swollen lips.

My recommendations are to change food and water bowls if they are plastic and also to apply FrontlinePlus for cats once monthly. Also, monitor this condition closely and if it doesn't go away within a few days or gets worse or your kitty stops eating and acting normally, take her to the vet.

Neosporin will not help. It doesn't sound like an infection and Neosporin would just be licked off anyway. Also, any type of skin condition in cats need to be treated from the inside out. If this doesn't go away soon, the vet will probably give you medication to give by mouth.

Good Luck and Welcome to the Forum!



Dr. Neely

thank you for your response. Just 10 minutes ago I took a closer look at the underside of her neck, and she does have a bit more fleas than I thought. Fleas have been a constant battle with her. I live in an apartment, and she is not allowed out at all. I got this stuff htat is like frontline from target, and its conciderably cheaper than frontline. I guess that goes to show you get what you pay for.. I was doing research on Rodent Ulcer or Indolent Ulcer, and well, my question is this. Can a cat become allergic over time, or is some born with it and some not? She shows no signs of being sick or not feeling well. She eats, licks, bites, runs, and talks just like normal. I'm going to get a flea collar tommarrow.

no, no, no....no flea collar. They don't work and they can be toxic to your cat. Yes, Frontline is much better than anything you purchase that's not Frontline even though it's more expensive. Use Frontline when it's been at least 3 weeks after the last application of the stuff from Target. Vacuum a lot and throw out the vacuum cleaner bag immediately. Buy a flea comb and use it daily to find the fleas and kill them as you find them. And if necessary, see the vet for a safe anti-itch medication to use until all the fleas are gone.

Thanks for writing back.

Dr. Neely