# Red, Swollen Lip



## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

My poor Declan has a swollen spot on his lip! Backstory: Shortly after we adopted him last September, I noticed he had a divet on his bottom lip on the right side, right underneath where his incisor comes down. The tooth fit into the little divet perfectly. It did not seem irritated at all. Some kitty loving friends of mine told me not to worry about it, some cats just have that. Then the little divet extended down through his lip like a tunnel and there was a tiny exit hole at the bottom. Same friends told me not to worry, as long as it wasn't infected. Every few days, I would gently squeeze/pull a little plug of fuzz out of the hole where it would collect, but it never looked infected. Fast forward to about 2 months ago, and the hole healed! Hooray! No more stuff would get stuck in it. I still check it out every week but it's looked great.

That is, until this morning. As soon as I saw him this morning, I noticed his lip looked red. Looked closer and I could see the area around where the hole had been is swollen. My husband said he noticed it a little bit last night. It seemed to get worse as the day wore on and my husband confirmed that it looks worse tonight than it did last night.

The spot is quite swollen and red. Redder than the photos show. It also sticks out more than it looks in the pictures. The divet that the tooth fit into is at the center of the swollen area and the exit hole is underneath it, with some dried orange-brown stuff on it 













It's hard to say whether or not it hurts because he tolerated me poking it but yowled unhappily, which he does even when it doesn't hurt and I poke at it. 

So what is this? Is it an abscess? Do we need to take him to the vet or will it clear up on its own? Can it wait until Monday if he needs to see the vet? And while we're at it, what are the freckles on his nose? He did not used to have them.

Thank you


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## Cat Lover Lennie (Jan 7, 2013)

My little one that just turned a year old last week has had "rodent lip" or "rodent ulcer" twice so far. Never heard of it...neither had I! The first time I took him to the vet, he gave him a steroid shot. The thing lasted about 2 weeks and went away. The 2nd time he had it the vet and I decided to just watch it since it didn't seem to be bothering him all that much.....bothered me, but not him! Without treatment it lasted about 2 weeks also!
I would STRONGLY advise you to quit messing with it because, if anything will get it infected, that will. He may need an antibiotic because it sounds like he had a fistula last time (the hole). Unless he starts acting sick (not eating, drinking or acting normal), I think it can wait until Monday....but I would have it checked out. I love how much you love your kitty...but leave his lip alone until he sees the vet. You could do more harm than good. Good luck. Would love to hear what the vet says


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## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

Hi Lennie! Thanks for the advice. I haven't been messing with it. I've only actually touched it once to see if it seemed painful to him, other than that I've just been pulling his lip down so I can see if it's getting worse. If you're referring to when I would pull gunk out of it, the most recent time was a couple of months ago before it looked like it was healing. If I left it alone and didn't empty it a couple times a week, it would get really full of stuff and turn red. Like I said, haven't done that in a couple of months.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Definitely have a vet look at it on Monday, it does look like an abscess, likely full of pus. The vet will likely proscribe antibiotics to kill off any infection. As for the freckles, they are often found on cream or orange tabbies, it's just pigmentation.


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## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

Poor Deck Man! He was snuggling next to me and I looked over to see him licking his lips a lot, the swollen part was leaking out the bottom hole  There was a great big gob of bloody pus on his lip so I gently wiped it away with sterile gauze. It's much less swollen looking now since a lot of the pus came out. Hopefully it will keep draining and start to heal and this isn't a sign that it's getting worse!


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## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

The abscess thing drained more overnight and this morning most of the swelling down. It's looking even better tonight, yay!


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## pkbshrew (Feb 13, 2013)

Hurrah!


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## Cat Lover Lennie (Jan 7, 2013)

Yeah! Definitely an abscess and great that it is draining on its own! Means the vet probably won't have to mess with it much....but he probably needs antibiotics to really heal it up. Might need some ointment or soaks too. Good luck. Thinking of you!:heart


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