Cat scratching her cheek bare

Hi, A few weeks ago in the middle of the afternoon we noticed that our 2 year old cat had a swollen cheek. We thought she might have been stung by a bee or bitten by a spider. We called the vet who said could also possibly be an absess. We made an appointment for the end of the week to see the vet in the case the swellling remained. A few days later we came home from work and saw that the swelling was completely gone - but our cat had gouged a huge cut in the side of her cheek that was deep and bleeding. I cleaned it up and it started to heal. She was happy, purring, playful, eating well, no bad breath and the scar was healing nicely. 2 weeks later we came home to see her face bleeding again. She cut herself again very deep in the same place. We cleaned it up and it started to heal again over the next few days. Tonite we came home and she did it again. Her cheek has a large cut across it and it is bleeding. The swelling never came back and the cut continues to heal - but why would she open her cheek up again ??

As a kitten she was a very nervous cat. She used to chew her fur off her belly until it was raw. We changed her food to a no-grain 3 ingredient specialty food for alergies, put her on Atopia for about 6 months. She has been fine for over a year.

I know she should go to the vet, but every time we go they want to do alergy tests, stress tests etc and provide only possible diagnosis, so I figured I could try to reach out and diagnose this and try to treat it myself.

So allergy ? stress?any help would be much appreciated.

Jackiel

So you never went to the Vet when you made that first appointment.  I'm wondering if it's possible she's got something going on INSIDE her mouth that keeps festering up and even though you're tending it from the outside, it's not getting healed from the inside ?  Do you ever witness her scratching at that specific place on her cheek?  If not, then i would definately take her to have her mouth checked.  If so, then it very well might be a food allergy, even though she's already on a 3 ingredient food.  Maybe she's developed an allergy to one of those ingredients.  Sadly, it happens.  Luckily, there are more than one hypoallergenic foods out there.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I would think that it might be from the inside if the swelling re-occurred. But the swelling never appeared again after the initial time.

Also I can rub my thumb around the gum line of her moouth and press firmly without her squirming. So I dont think it is her teeth.

I never witness her scratching this area. But she really cuts herself deeply ! Not just down to the bare skin but claws out hole or line across her check when she does. This always happens when we are away in the daytime and come home to her like that.

One thing we did realize tho last nite, although we have her on a 3 ingredient specialty food for allergies, the cutting of her cheek happened the day after she ate some chicken table scraps, and the time before seemed to be around the time she had some pork table scraps.....

So no more table treats for her as much as she cries for them !

We will keep her on the Atopica for a little while and stick to only the dry food and see if the scratching starts up again.

I would support the allergy testing. Or try switching her food? My vet recommended Venison only because she thought my cat could have an allergy to seafood. His stomach issue have cleared up since we switched to no seafood though. My sister's cat has IBS and they think allergies too, and she'll lick all the hair off of her stomach. Maybe your cat is having hives in the area she scratches or something. Allergies are all least worth looking into.

What IS the food she is on?  Do they not make it in canned food as well?  Have you tried that with her?  If she likes the canned food, then maybe you could give her that, Canned food is more satisfying for cats, or so I'm told, and gets them their much needed moisture as well.  If nothing else, you could give it to her when she begs for YOUR food