Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect and absorption of buprenorphine after buccal administration in cats with oral disease. Methods Six adult client-owned cats with chronic gingivostomatitis (weighing 5.1 ± 1.1 kg) were recruited for a randomised, prospective, blinded, saline-controlled, crossover study. Pain scores, dental examination, stomatitis score and buccal pH measurement were conducted on day 1 under sedation in all cats. On day 2, animals were randomised into two groups and administered one of the two treatments buccally (group A received buprenorphine 0.02 mg/kg and group B received 0.9% saline) and vice versa on day 3. Pain scores and food consumption were measured at 30, 90 and 360 mins after the administration of buprenorphine. Blood samples were taken at the same time and plasma buprenorphine concentration was measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Data were statistically analysed as non-parametric and the level of significance was set as P <0.05. Results There were no major side effects after buprenorphine administration. Buccal pH values ranged between 8.5 and 9.1 and the stomatitis disease activity index between 10 and 22 (17.8 ± 4.5), with the scale ranging from 0-30. The maximum buprenorphine plasma concentration (14.8 ng/ml) was observed 30 mins after administration and there was low inter-individual variability. There was a significant difference between baseline pain scores compared with pain scores after buprenorphine ( P <0.05), and between the saline and buprenorphine group at 30 mins ( P = 0.04) and 90 mins ( P = 0.04). There was also a significant effect of the stomatitis index on the pain score. Regarding the pharmacokinetic parameters, cats with stomatitis showed lower bioavailability and shorter absorption half-life after buccal administration of buprenorphine compared with normal cats in previous studies. Conclusions and relevance Buccal administration of buprenorphine in cats with gingivostomatitis produces an analgesic effect and low inter-individual variability in plasma concentration, and it can be incorporated in their multimodal analgesia plan.