? Swollen Bottom Lip?

Ozzy has had a swollen bottom lip for 3 days now. This happened to him before a long time ago and it went away. I can't recall what made it go away- I think we thought it was a flea allergy and gave him flea meds at the time.

Recently my hubby thought it would be easier to use paper bowls for our 6-8 xs per day feedings of 2 cats because to be honest it was just a little difficult with the dish load with that many feedings per day. Sometimes Hubby would just put down a second feeding in the same bowl used earlier without washing it because he was in a hurry and didn't want to deal with it. He says they are just cats and are spolied rotten and don't need a new bowl for every single feeding. This is what promped the switch to paper bowls.

Ozzy and Figgie are also indoors only cats and get flea treatments often but it has been a few months since we have given them a treatment.

So I am not sure if Ozzy is having an allergy to fleas, or eating off paper and plastic, or sometimes dirty bowls...or maybe all 3. This condition started out with a big pimple in the center of his chin about a week ago to a swollen and red bottom lip. Pic attached.

I went down to the vets and picked up an oral flea med called comfortis. The vet tech said we have aggressive fleas this summer in So. California and some of the topical treatments are not working as well so recommended this one. I let her know about Ozzy's lip and said we will switch the bowls back to porcelain and glass, clean one for all 6 meals per day, and give him the oral flea meds and see how things go.

How long do you think we should wait and see before taking him to vet? Obviously if it gets worse I will take him in. For cats having an allergic reaction to plastic or fleas, how long after the allergen is removed should it take for the swelling to subside? Will the swelling subside on its own, or is medication needed?

I read about eosinophilic granuloma complex online and suppose Ozzy could be having this type of allergic reaction- also maybe caused by flea allergies. Only a biopsy can tell for certain. What I am concerned about is if I take him to the vet, they will either do nothing and charge me, or want to use some type of steriod. I know steriod use is a cause for concern in kitties with FD. I have a box of unmixed clavamox in the fridge too from last Nov but would not give him antibiotics without a vet's order and not sure antibiotics will help with an allergy.
Any advice? Should we take a wait and see approach for another day or two? He got the flea treatment about 24 hrs ago.

Anyone had this issue with their kitty? If so, what was the cause and what did you do to treat it?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

Kind of hard to tell from the picture. Any chance it's chin acne? It can be caused by bacteria on plastic bowls. Can you clean the sore with a warm wet compress?

 

The term eosiniphil sounds familiar and I remembered Ozzy's labs. His numbers were elevated for these labs. His last blood work is from end of Jan which was about 2 months after his DKA episode and FD diagnosis. Not sure if that could cause the elevated lab number or not.

BTW..anyone know of some glass or porcelain dishes that will fit in the pet safe5 that don't cost a small fortune?

Thanks!

 

Thanks for responding @Wendy&Neko. He does have some small black heads in the area and this started out with what looked like an actual zit (vs blackhead) on center of chin a few days ago.

I haven't tried a warm compress- it's right on his lip really so not sure if he would let me do it. I can try. Attaching another pic from yesterday. It looks more swollen there but if he pulls his lip in a little it will look less swollen. like in the first pic I posted. I can't tell if its gotten better since yesterday. Maybe. I don't think it has gotten worse though.

 

here is the same pic as above in full image so you can see a little better.

 

This thread might give you some ideas.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/glass-bowls-for-petsafe-5-auto-feeder.160267/

 

Yes! Thanks!!

 

If its acne... my vet (actually multiple vets) have told me Stridex is okay to use on the cats chin. Gordy didn't really like it. LOL.

When he gets his bouts, i try and ride it out. If it goes longer than a week (or its affecting his eating/drinking), I call into the vet for some ABs. Gordy's is an allergy and stress thing, so I don't really like doing ABs for it, but it does help kill the remaining "pimples", which are just infected hairs.

Did his pimple burst? Gordy's would always blow when no one is around and would leave a disgusting scab (i call it a blood scab, since its just dried blood). I discovered that 8/10 times, the infected hair was STILL in him, being held by that damn scab. Grosssssss. So I'd gently remove and clean the area (he fights me on that of course, I'm sure its not comfortable) and follow up with a little bit of neosporin to help keep it from getting worse. So just something to watch for if it gets worse.

To what caused it? Who knows... could be plastic? Could be not cleaning bowls? Did you change food flavors recently? It took a long process of elimination to discover Gordy's was an allergy to something OUTSIDE (butthole rubs his chin on everything).

The warm compress could help if he lets you.

Poor Ozzy boy. Never fun.

 

Thanks for feedback @CassAndGordy. He does have some small blackheads under his chin and this did start out as an actual pimple in the middle of his chin but now his whole bottom lip is swollen. The swelling goes into the inside of his lip too so not sure if I should put warm compress or stridex in his mouth. Def like the idea of the stridex for the under chin blackheads. Thanks!


I'm definately thinking this is more allergy related with the swelling. Anyone have any feedback on my other questions above..

 

It may be worth just a call into the Vet tomorrow. I've never experienced as much swelling as Ozzy seems to be having. Then again, I err on the side of caution.

 

These are what I got.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZDN161/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also use a small cocktail napkin to line the individual sections of the tray. I was worried about the small opening but it hasn't been an issue.

 

Hope his lip is better.