Swollen upper lip

[amyg]

Hi! This is my first time here and I wanted to ask if any of you have ever heard of this problem. My 3 year old cat suddenly developed a very swollen upper lip. It sticks out compared to her bottom jaw and is swollen on both sides but more so on the left side. I can't see any injury and she's not in any obvious discomfort.
This started a couple of days ago and last night I noticed that she has a couple of raised marks on her chest on the right side. They look like raised welts - not much darker in color than her skin. Those seem to bother her a bit because she's been licking them, but she doesn't seem to mind me touching them.
I'm taking her to the vet this week, but until I can get her there I thought maybe someone might know what this is. She is eating and drinking just fine, is very energetic, and seems very content. I'm obviously more disturbed by all this than she is!!
Thank you in advance for any information you can give me!!

 

[Anne]

Hi Amy and welcome to the forums!

I guess a vet should indeed be consulted for this.

Does she go outdoors? Could it be that the swollen lip is due to some insect bite? Maybe it's not related to the marks on her chest.

Please let us know what the vet says!

 

[heather]

Any word yet AmyG? I have never heard of such a thing.

 

[amyg]

Sorry it took so long for me to answer! Very busy holiday season! I took her to the vet, and she knew what it was immediately. I don't remember the scientific name, but basically it's a problem with her immune system. Basically, her immune system overreacts instead of just reacting. It's kind of like an allergic reaction. Her immune system kicks in and instead of just doing it's job, it does it's job then has a "reaction" type response. The vet gave her a shot of steroids and some antibiotics (her mouth was infected), and she's doing fine. I had to take her back 2 weeks after going to the vet to get her rechecked, and she is fine. If she gets a scratch or something and it gets swollen and the swelling doesn't go down in a week or two, I have to take her back into the vet for another steroid shot. I'm just VERY happy it wasn't anything serious!

 

[Anne]

Thanks for the update. I'm glad it's not too serious.

Hope you stick around and keep posting (doesn't have to be cat-related, you know. The Cat Lounge is always open...)
Nice having you here!