PLEASE HELP: my cat has a swollen lower lip with a grouping of whiteheads almost like acne?

[hrholl]

My cat, Bug, has had a swollen lower lip the past couple days but I noticed today it is more swollen than it’s been. It looks like acne because there are whiteheads coming from it. besides being swollen, it’s not otherwise red. He is behaving normally, eating and drinking. I’ve been swiping Duoxo wipes on his lip a couple times a day.
I’ve attached a couple photos of Bug.

 

[treeclimber]

That looks like it could be an eosinophilic granuloma. Some cats are prone to getting them in the nose/mouth area. They are usually harmless as long as they aren’t interfering with eating or breathing, and often go away on their own in a month or two. Sometimes they are treated with steroids.

If a cat gets them repeatedly, it may be worth looking into whether there’s an allergy triggering them.

That said, while it’s in an extremely common location for an eosinophilic granuloma, I’ve never seen one with little whiteheads on it.

There are also other possible explanations like an insect sting or an infection, so please see your vet to find out for sure what it is.

 

[silent meowlook]

Not an emergency. Remove all plastic bowls and any plastic toys. Schedule an appointment with the vet. Leave it alone for now.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It does look like it could be eosinophilic granuloma or an indolent ulcer (sometimes referred to as rodent ulcer, although it has nothing to do with rodents). It seems to be brought on by the bacteria that commonly builds up in, as noted above, plastic bowls and dishes; but can be caused by any other exposure to bacteria and or even an allergy to food or a non-food/environmental source.

Chances are your vet will want to take a look at it, but you could send the pics to them and see what they say. Here is a link to an article about it, which contains more information than you likely need to know, but it never hurts to learn about new things that can impact cats.
Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex in Cats | PetMD

 

[cowkittymom]

My cat Phoebe had something very similar last year (photo attached). It started out looking like a standard pimple & there was no change in her behavior (no pawing at it or change in eating). After a week, it started looking worse, like a very bad infected pimple- dark red & crusty. I had the vet take a look at it since it looked so awful. She said it was just a really bad pimple and not an indolent ulcer. It took her quite awhile to extract it (she said it had two cores!). Phoebe took Clavamox for a week and that was it. Vet said it was likely just a one-off incident due to a bit of food. I already only use ceramic and metal dishes for Phoebe, as she had previously had the black dot-type of acne from plastic. She's 8.5 years old and this is the first time it's happened.