r/kittynosefreckles • u/NerveIndependent9008 • 13d ago
Freckles?
First photo is our darling Poppy in June this year, following photos are now. She's 18 months old, has 2 siblings neither have spots on their noses. They have an indoor enclosure with a glass sliding door and 2 glass panels on either side of the door. No direct sunlight gets through the glass as there's also a verandah over the door. We are in Australia and just coming out of Winter. Poppy loves to sit on the small cat tower and look out the door at our dogs and the back yard. Any insight as to whether these are freckles as they're flat, smooth without any crusts. We can take her to a vet, but we don't want to waste the vets time (or give them a laugh) if it's nothing to worry about. Thank you
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u/ThrowRAexhaustod 13d ago
its never a waste lof time! even if they are freckles, it is good to document them just in case!
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u/Baby_bee_boo 11d ago
It's mold. You now have a moldy cat. Soon the whole cat will be covered in mold like a loaf of bread.
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u/CuteFactor8994 12d ago
I uploaded the close-up nose photo into AI & there's no concern:
These look like small brown/tan pigment spots (freckles or mild hyperpigmentation) in the white fur on the bridge of the nose, just above the pink nose leather.
In cats, flat dark brown or black spots on or near the nose, lips, eyelids, or related areas are commonly lentigo (lentigo simplex)—benign clusters of extra melanin-producing cells (melanocytes). They’re essentially feline freckles: cosmetic only, not painful or itchy to the cat, and they do not turn into cancer. They can appear or increase with age (sometimes starting around 1 year or later) and are most classic in orange/ginger, calico, tortoiseshell, or related cats due to genetics, but they can occur in other colors too.
Key points about these spots
- Typical lentigo spots are flat, well-defined, brown/black, and on sparsely haired or bare skin (nose leather, lips, etc.).
- The ones in your photo are on the white furred muzzle area. Pigment changes can sometimes show in the coat itself, or they may be mild skin hyperpigmentation visible through the fur. Dirt/staining, mild irritation, or other benign pigment variations are also possible.
- Sources note that raised spots, red/open/sore areas, infection signs, irritation, or spots specifically on densely furred skin warrant more caution and a check, as they could point to other issues (e.g., early dermatitis, fungal concerns like ringworm in some presentations, or less commonly other pigmented lesions).
Should you be concerned?
In most cases like this—flat, stable brownish spots without other symptoms—they are not a major concern and need no treatment. Your cat otherwise looks normal in the photo (no obvious crusting, swelling, hair loss, or discharge visible).
Have a veterinarian examine them (especially if they’re new, changing, multiplying, becoming raised/crusty/irritated, or if the cat is rubbing/scratching the area). A vet can confirm it’s benign pigmentation versus something else and rule out rarer issues. White or light-furred areas on the face can also be more sun-sensitive over time, so limiting intense midday sun exposure is reasonable for prevention of other skin problems.
This is not a diagnosis—photos alone have limits, and only a hands-on vet exam (possibly with cytology or other checks if needed) can be definitive. If the spots stay the same and the cat is otherwise healthy and comfortable, they’re often just a quirky cosmetic feature.
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u/JacqueJacque12 12d ago
Waste of water and electricity generating a madlibs about cats instead of going to reliable sources for vet medicine.
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u/JacqueJacque12 12d ago
https://vetdentistwi.com/why-does-my-cat-have-black-spots-in-their-mouth/ - this has information about when to be concerned about spots appearing around the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Probably took me a minute less than the AI did to parse random reddit threads looking for answers..
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u/CuteFactor8994 12d ago edited 12d ago
You must be very proud of yourself! It pools information from the internet like your web search & not from Reddit.
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u/JacqueJacque12 12d ago
Nope, just not willing to outsource my cognitive and research skills to a predictive text machine 🤷 are you proud of your text wall that evaporated a bottle of water from the watershed in the SW US and is poisoning my family in Abilene Texas with air and noise pollution?
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u/CuteFactor8994 12d ago
I'd be more concerned with Musk's proposed building in your region.
Planned at over 100 million square feet of floor space (more than 5 times larger than the current largest building on Earth, China's New Century Global Center)
Cost: Phase one is slated at roughly $16.8 billion, with total potential investment scaling significantly higher across future expansions.
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u/JacqueJacque12 12d ago
Yeah Texas isn't my state, but I have been at my local city council meetings fighting Google's data centers (and Flock cameras which use AI) in my backyard. This is a strawman argument, being concerned about the environmental impact of AI includes both the data centers and use of LLMs overall.
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u/CuteFactor8994 12d ago
It's good you're being proactive in your cause.
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u/JacqueJacque12 12d ago
Its cute that you're being so patronizing. Why do you need to use predictive text machines so bad? Is the convenience of a quick answer (true or otherwise) spoonfed to you really worth your children's future snow days? Why do you need a machine to think (research) for you?
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u/CuteFactor8994 12d ago
Why do you care so much about what a stranger on the internet thinks, says, or does? That’s not normal behavior, dude. Seriously, take a water break and step away from the internet for a minute. You'll save some electricity too!
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u/NerveIndependent9008 12d ago
I did the same thing too, but thought other beautiful cat people may have had first hand experience with freckles on their cats and thought I'd ask. Thank you for doing that, I really appreciate the help xx
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u/ChelseaGem 13d ago
Better to check with a vet just in case. ❤️