cats lip

Question

swollen lip   Hi there. I dont know if this is your category or if it even falls into this category. Its about my cat whos bottom lip is swollen. He had it before and we think it was a plastic/rubber type bowl he was eating from and he was fine. But this time its lasted almost a week. Do you know what it could be? I will try and supply picture.
Thanks in advance.

Answer
Most likely, this is called a "rodent ulcer" which has nothing to do with rodents. It is part of the eosinophilic granuloma complex that is associated with how cats show allergies. In this photo, it looks very early, which is the best time to treat it.  Usually we give a shot of a long acting steroid called Depo Medrol and that can get rid of it for several weeks.  If it is a continuing allergy, these shots can be repeated periodically according to how your vet wants to do these.  There are other medications, like Atopica for Cats (cyclosporine), but you have to give it orally every day, which most cats don't like.