Small swelling under chin, painful now

I noticed a month ago, my 5 yr old cat had a dark spot on the underside of her jaw that was dark, maybe half an inch long and thin.  I thought maybe she had been scratched or bitten by our other cat, or perhaps had rubbed it raw marking things.  She did not mind having it touched.

Today, my husband was petting her and rubbed her chin and she meowed.

The spot now has just a tiny black speck in the middle and looks a little swollen and pink in that area, but definitely seems a bit painful.

She has also had bad breath recently.

She is otherwise her normal self, racing around the house, has her usual voracious appetite, grooms, naps, etc.  

I have an appt for her annual checkup on Thursday, but am considering trying to get her in tomorrow.

Anyone have any ideas on what this could be?

It looks very much like Susan's cat Sophie in the picture in this thread:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/226166/vet-visit-for-sophie

I would definitely get your kitty to the vet to make sure it's nothing serious.  If you use plastic food bowls and water bowls, switch to metal, glass, or ceramic just to keep feline acne at bay.

11:15 appt tomorrow. I only use ceramic due to reading about kitty acne with plastic.

I do store some Wellness and Hali mixed dry in plastic?

Yes, storing the food in plastic can do the same thing as feeding them from plastic dishes.  If you want to store foods in plastic bins, make sure it is in its own CLOSED bag and that the bag doesn't let air in (some do, some don't, depends on the packaging used by the brand.)

Is there a specific type/# of plastic that is bad or is it all plastic, including plastic baggies?

Trying to figure out how to store approx 8-12 oz to hand out as treats? Must be sealed. Glass jars would allow air if jar not full.

It could be just from that. My cat had would still get a little even long after switching to ceramic bowls. He had a plastic place mat, so someone told me to remove that as well, & that did the trick! Crazy how something even that far away from them on the floor, not touching them still caused it.

He hasn't had it senses.    I wouldn't think food stored in baggies would cause any harm, sense they are not in contact w/ it. 

That's a really good question.  You might try googling plastic, types of plastic, etc.  I know that the hard clear plastic they use in some water bottles now lacks the bad chemicals, whatever they are.  There's knowldge out there somewhere.  Find it and come back and share it with the rest of us! 

Vet believes feline acne and has prescribed benzoyl peroxide wipes 2x daily.

Does not believe feline acne can be caused by storing food in plastic, rather from direct skin contact with plastic.

Vet can believe whatever he wants.  One person here already posted that her cat didn't get better until she removed the plastic mat under the cat's ceramic dish.   I think it depends on the KIND of plastic used, you can't group all plastic into one category.  BTW, Vetalog works well on feline acne after you clean it with the peroxide, but getting rid of all the plastic usually does the trick.  Here is just ONE interesting article abut the toxins in different plastics.  There are many more articles to be found.  It's safest just to stay away from plastic.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516181337.htm

The cat would have been touching the plastic mat with his paws as well.   Will work on eliminating plastic.  

Scares me to look in my own fridge and see yogurt, milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc in plastic.  Not to mention bottled water.

Another great site for discovering toxins in our own household products is http://www.ewg.org/skindeep.  

Slowly removing the products of my own that contain toxins, trying to get EWS 0 rated products, or at least below 3.  Shampoo, conditioner, makeup, etc.  Ironic that as I cut toxins out of my own daily life, my cat is now affected by them.

Edited to add this is the type of plastic that I use to store my cats kibble treats in #2 HDPE.

2 High density polyethylene (HDPE)
Milk, water, and juice bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners, and grocery, trash, and retail bags.
GOOD: Not known to leach any chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer or disrupting hormones.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/which-plastics-are-safe.html#ixzz2tcWkmtwU

FYI - The only benzoyl peroxide cleansing pad I could find was OXY.  Strident has discontinued their Power Pads, and no offer only Salicylic Acid as do all other brands at my local pharmacy and online at drugstore.