Swollen face/cheek?

Well, my stress levels are through the roof again. Though, after finally speaking with the people a the vets office and they not seeming worried about it I've relaxed a bit. 

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of my cats seemed to have this weird swelling on one side of his face.  At first I just thought his fur was fluffed up or something and went to smooth it down. When I touched him I realized it wasn't his fur. The side of his face was actually swollen.  As I felt around, trying to figure out what it was, it seemed more like a roundish ball at the back of his jaw.  I couldn't find anything that would account for it. No blood or injury.  Tried to look in his mouth but couldn't see anything.  I called and left a message for my vet but an hour later the swelling was almost completely gone. I assumed it was just maybe an insect bite or something and it was now going away.  I went on to bed feeling a bit better about it since Sol did not seem to be in any sort of pain or discomfort.

When I woke up the next morning though his upper right lip seemed swollen.  I can't figure out if i missed that the day before or if it was something new.  As the minutes ticked by the cheek/jaw seemed to swell up again. Another call to the vets to leave another voice mail message as I was hoping they would call me as soon as they opened.  Another hour went by and the swelling went down again.  Almost back to complete normal.  Sol doesn't appear to be bothered by the swelling at all. He is still eating. He was using the scratching post a little while ago, too. He lets me mess with his face (somewhat) to try and see if I can see anything and doesn't seem to be in any pain. 

I called the vets yet again, wanting to know if they thought I needed to bring him in or not and finally got a person instead of just the answering machine. They seemed confused by his symptoms but not alarmed. As he has an appointment Saturday to check up on his ear infection (which should, hopefully, be completely cleared up) they said just to keep an eye on him and make sure to keep that appointment.

Okay, so the vet is not worried by this. Any clues/ideas/guesses as to what this might be? They have not been outside in over a week but Sol is one of the 2 of my cats who likes to chomp down on any random object he finds lying around.  I am going to make sure they look at it on Saturday but until then I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas?  All 3 cats just got a complete physical, along with blood work and what not, on the 12th and the only thing they found was an ear infection in Sol and the beginnings of one on one of the other 2. So, what could this be?

I'm thinking he got bitten by something...could have been some type of spider or bee or anything, and perhaps it was from inside his mouth?  I know when I get a mosquito bite, I get almost a walnut size hard knot on ME, so it's possible the same type thing could happen to a cat (I suppose )

Thats what my dad thinks but I don't know. If that was all it was why did his cheek swell up again hours later? Did whatever it was sting him again?  He seems perfectly normal now. I don't really feel anything on his jaw anymore but he's been a bit quieter than usual. I don't know if thats just the heat or what.  I skipped work to keep an eye on him today but won't be able to do that 2 days in a row.   I can't wait for Saturday to get here. I'm just a worrier. Almost had a nervous breakdown when my two older ones kept licking their incisions sites open after they got fixed. Maybe I just need some anxiety medication.

I can't be 100% sure but it might be an abscessed tooth. It just popped up very quickly and it has "bee-stung" look, with his eye pushed up, is it not? If that's the case, he will have to have a tooth pulled and his other teeth cleaned, but it's usually not life threatening.

If he is eating, drinking and using his box, he should be OK til Saturday appointment. Take a deep breath and provide him with extra TLC til then.

Good-Luck on Saturday. Keep us posted.

Abscessed tooth? That sounds painful. He doesn't appear to be in any pain well. Just one more day. Mom is supposed to be checking in on him for me today. Felt bad about leaving them alone but couldn't miss another day of work. Hopefully it's nothing major. Will find out tomorrow and let you guys know.

Cats are great at hiding their pain or discomfort, often we don't know anything is wrong until we actually see a symptom, they start to act up (i.e. not use litter box, etc.) or they are so ill that they can't hide it anymore.

My cat had a dental last year and she had two bad teeth pulled. For the entire time she had this problem, she ate, drank water, groomed etc. The only clue was in her eyes-they were much brighter post dental surgery.

You are lucky to have noticed it while he is still acting normal, whatever it is. The doctor will be able to find out tomorrow. It's  just one more day.

What you can do now is to write down everything that concerns you to bring with you to the vet's and tape it to his carrier (so you won't forget) because we are often so frazzled once we get there, we can't remember everything we wanted to ask.

While you are there, check his record to see if he is still current on his shots (specially rabies). Also, have him scanned to see if his microchip is in working order. (If he is not microchipped, you might want to do that.)

I also pick some calming music the night before to play in the car for me. If I'm calm, she would be more likely to be calmer.

UPDATE: Visited the Vet today.

We had our vet visit today. At first the vet seemed to think maybe it was just a swollen lymph node but then decided the lump was above them.  She seemed to have decided it was maybe an insect bite though she did mention maybe it could be an abscess. They gave him an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic.  I'll be medicating him for the next 2 days.  He still had a bit of yeast in his ears so I have to continue with the ear cleanings . I hate having to clean his ears because he hates its so much and fights me every step of the way.

He has a follow up appointment in 2 weeks to see if the lump has vanished. If not, she suggested we may have to take some cells and have them tested. I am gonna hope for the best and see what happens.

Our cat Gracie had a hard lump on her cheek, which was diagnosed as an abcess at first. After two weeks of antibiotics, it was still there. It had burst open and was leaking, so we took her back. They then tested it and it turned out to be Basel cell carcinoma. Now apparently, that type of cancer is bad for humans but not so bad for cats. The vet removed the tumor and Gracie is back to normal.

Having the tests done will set you mind at ease. Good luck.

Hello, Ondine. Could you please elaborate a little bit on your cat's swelling? Did it happen slowly or did it increase fast? I have a 5 year old siamese. He has always been very healthy, apart from throwing up when he is left alone with a lot of food, which I find completely understandable. Three days ago I noticed some swelling in his cheek. I haven't lived here long enough to know an awesome cat vet, so I figured if the swelling didn't go down, I'd take him to my vet 5 hours from here, whom I know is THE BEST with cats. However, the next day his cheek had swollen up way worse than the day before and I got scared, so I took him to the vet clinic here, which we have only used for vaccinations so far (my cat absolutely hates travel of any kind, the longer, the more he hates it and shows terrible discomfort every time we go somewhere, so I tried to spare him that additional discomfort). He seemed alright, his apetite and mood were fine, but the swelling scared me. The vet checked his teeth and some seemed to be rotting and on rotting gums, so we scheduled a teeth removal, being told that the swelling was probably an abscess caused by the teeth condition. Next day he had 5 teeth removed and was sent home with antibiotics for a week, and anti-inflammatory/pain medication for 2 days. I expected the swelling to go down immediately, but that was 2 days ago and the swelling is still increasing. It is now pushing his eye closed. I feel a bit uncomfortable with the vets in the clinic because they said I should take him back if he didn't get better within two days, which is forever for me since the swelling is increasing so fast. By now, he seems relatively fine, although his apetite is not the same, and he does seem sad, and it breaks my heart. Now, in addition, due to the anesthesia and tubing he had for the teeth extraction, he has this weird cough that I can see hurts him badly. I am looking for some reference online, but most say this kind of swelling is slow and due to damaged teeth, but no information on rapid swelling. To the touch, it feels hard. This morning I found the area with some blood, but I also found the plastic container where I keep the strays' food open, which I know means he made effort involving his face and paws, though I'm not sure he'd hurt himself that way. 

Gracie's was a hard, round ball under her skin. It broke through the skin and wept a bit but otherwise grows slowly. Her face did not swell.

It sounds more like he has an infection. I would get him back to the vet ASAP.

Hope it is something stronger antibiotics will help.

Bere,

Sol's swelling came and went all within an hour. The first time I noticed it I had been at work all day so can't say how long it took to swell the first time. But after that he would be fine one second, I'd look at him a few minutes later and his face would be swollen, a few minutes after that all the swelling would be gone. At no point did he bleed or stop eating. I would suggest you take your baby to the vet again just for your own peace of mind. Its possible he hurt himself getting into the food bowl but then again maybe not.  If they give you grief for not waiting 2 days then that would probably be the last time I went there. Good luck with your furrbaby. Please let us know what happens.

Thank you for your fast responses. I was terrified and about to make the 5 hr trip to my vet. We did have to to take him to another vet. The small wound he got spread to a huge one that completely distorted his face and almost shut his eye completely within a couple hours, and I noticed it was getting harder for him to breathe. Fortunately, we found a clinic that was open on Sunday, and the vet who saw him knew immediately that it was an abscess and had to be drained. In less that 15 minutes they drained it and gave him back to us. The swelling completely gone, and his cheek very hurt, but it was already like that. The vet said the antibiotics he had been sent with were not enough to penetrate through the abscess, and that when his teeth were pulled out, the vets should have left that one incision open to let the abscess drain; instead they sewed it up and the infection took over faster as his defenses went down due to the surgery. They sent him home with stronger antibiotics. His mood went immediately back to normal (he had been sad all day) and his breathing became regular again. He still has some cough and seems to have a bit of a stuffed nose at times, but he is behaving fine and doesn't seem to be in much pain, thank God. To help ease the coughing and stuffing, I have been using a humidifier close to him, to break down if there's any mucus blocking his breathing. Now we're just waiting for the wound to heal, hopefully with no further problems. I'm just happy he's been able to finally rest, and so have we.

Glad you were able to get him tended to. Abscesses are so painful.

Vibes he heals well and that's the end of it.

my cat has the exact same thing! will let me pat her on cheek..still eating, no sign of any different behavior.

My cat has teary eye and a lump under his eye on cheek area. The vet seems to think it's an abcess. When you open his mouth on that side he freaks 

he is on Antibiotics now and i am just hoping the lump goes away on it's own

nancyco said:

 
My cat has teary eye and a lump under his eye on cheek area. The vet seems to think it's an abcess. When you open his mouth on that side he freaks 

he is on Antibiotics now and i am just hoping the lump goes away on it's own

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hi and welcome to TCS!

i'm so sorry your boy is having this medical issue. you're doing the best thing by working with your vet to treat this. does your vet want you to bring your boy back for a re-check after he's finished the course of antibiotics?

I am taking care of a pregnant stray cat. He was very skinny when i first found her.She has been pregnant for a little over 1 month and is showing the signs of pregnancy, like eating a lot, nipples getting bigger, and a baby bump. She does live outside becuase she doesnt get along with my other 2 cats who are strictly indoors. This morning I saw that the right side of her cheek was very swollen. It has been about 12 hours since but her cheek is still swollen. There is no signs of injury on her except for the swelling. I am very concerned because if it is rotting teeth or a tumor, I cant remove it because I don't wan her to go under anesthesia and harm or kill her kittens. Please help.

narbaset said:

 
I am taking care of a pregnant stray cat. He was very skinny when i first found her.She has been pregnant for a little over 1 month and is showing the signs of pregnancy, like eating a lot, nipples getting bigger, and a baby bump. She does live outside becuase she doesnt get along with my other 2 cats who are strictly indoors. This morning I saw that the right side of her cheek was very swollen. It has been about 12 hours since but her cheek is still swollen. There is no signs of injury on her except for the swelling. I am very concerned because if it is rotting teeth or a tumor, I cant remove it because I don't wan her to go under anesthesia and harm or kill her kittens. Please help.

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The first thing you need to do is find out WHAT it is...then determine how to help her.  There is no need speculating until you know what you are dealing with.  It could be rotting teeth, or it could be abscess, or it could be a tumor, or it could be a bug bite.  It could be one of many things.  But if she is not up to parr, she may not be able to care of her kittens anyway, so best to find out now what the issue is and discuss with the Vet the best way to handle it