# My cats lip is swollen - any ideas? (photos)



## Ansy

Newbie here......glad to find this place....My precious goddess of a cat is having lip malfunctions at the moment. I still tell her she is beautiful........but honestly, she isn't...lol This has happened 3 or 4 times in the past. The left side of her top lip will swell out just a bit. When looking at her from the underside of her throat, you can see the lip swollen out. I looks like the pink lart of her lip is several times thicker than it should be. In the past it wasn't huge or anything and doesn't seem to inhibit her in any way - even from eating. She's still the same old cat. It usually lasts a few days to a week and goes away. It would come back about every 3 or 4 months. (The first time we just thought she had got in a cat fight or something).

Now, it is larger than in the past and has been here for nearly 3 weeks. I just haven't taken her to the vet with all thats going on (we had a death in our family Friday) and she doesn't appear sick or anything. I honestly hate to pay $200 to a vet for something that just goes away anyway. BUT, I'm gonna have to take her this time I guess, because it's not going away. Anyone else ever hear of this happening like this and it keep coming back?



















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## DesnBaby

Take her to the vet, please!!


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## Heather102180

Oh yikes! That could be painful! I'd take her to the vet as soon as possible.


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## coaster

you might check out this thread and see if it's the same thing or not: http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=13028


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## Ansy

I am taking her tomorrow. I don't see the need for an emergency vet visit....she is acting completely normal and doesn't seem in any pain. As I said, this has come and gone before......but this time it has just stayed longer.


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## Heather102180

Let us know how it turns out. (She's cutie by the way!!)


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## tanyuh

Chances are it's an abscess. It's probably drained on it's own before and that's why it has gone away. But this time maybe it isn't draining. If that's the case, it will just involve a lance to have it drained. My cat had one under her chin. Do your cat's ears feel warm? If it's infected, she could have a fever. Good luck tomorrow.


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## AddFran

I don't think that's an absess. I did a lot of research on this type of thing when Addison had a bouts of swollen lip (hers was the lower lip though). This looks like a rodent ulcer. 

If it is a rodent ulcer and it's been lingering for a few weeks with out resolving on it's own you may have to get a steroid injection, but I'd inquire about alternatives if there are any. 

Check out this website:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... ourceID=42


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## tanyuh

What happened with Addison?


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## AddFran

It WAS (is?) eosinophilic granuloma. It seems to be common with adolescent kittens and she just so happened to get this fat lip thing during her first heat. Then I started to notice that each time she went into heat (which was literally like 2-3 weeks apart) it would come back. We had postponed one of her spay appointments because she also developed an area on her back thigh that had this raised area on it and it started losing fur, actually THAT's what surfaced first. We thought she had gotten in fight with Franny, got bit and that it got infected, but it turns out that it was all related. Anyway, after the 3rd bout with the lip swelling she got spayed and it's been over a month and it's all gone away. I suspected it was hormone related and it seems to have turned out to be exactly that. 

There are a few different forms of eosinophilic granuloma though and this cat looks like it had a rodent ulcer. More of an allergic type response, could be an auto-immune disorder or some sort that causes it.


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## AddFran

This is what Addy's lip looked like:










Oh and it didn't seem to bother her at all either. I could touch it and she still ate like it wasn't bothering her at all. It's very strange!


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## Ansy

She does have a few places near her tail that looks like some hair was pulled out. It's not bald....just missing some hair. We thought the dog done it.


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## MurphysMommy

Yep, eosinophilic granuloma complex. My cat's got it. In the mouth, it's AKA rodent ulcer. The first time she had it, she had a swollen lip (like your cat) and really bad breath because it had gotten infected. One shot of steroids and antibiotics cleared it right up. 

The vet said it will come back periodically because it is an autoimmune disease.


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## seashell

*Swollen lip*

Jimmy had the same thing back in the summer. The vet just called it an 'allergic reaction', but I guess it was the rodent ulcer thing. It cleared up after one steriod injection. Vet did say it might come back, and once it did look like it was coming up again - but then it went down on its own accord.
It didn't bother him at all - just spoiled his good looks! Partner used to call him 'Lip-up Catty' :lol: (Which is only funny if you are old enough to remember the Bad Manners single 'Lip-up Fatty')

seashell


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## AddFran

Ansy said:


> She does have a few places near her tail that looks like some hair was pulled out. It's not bald....just missing some hair. We thought the dog done it.


It's probably all related. I've read a lot on this and that seems to happen quite often around the tail, on the back of the legs and a few other places.


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