Swollen upper cat lip

Question
My cat is about 6 months old, he is and indoor cat and is the only pet we own. About two days ago we discovered that his upper lip was swollen. Not swollen big enough to cause problems eating or licking. It is red and a little hard. He does not seem to mind, but it smells so I am a little worried it could be an infection. We feed him cat chow, when he recently started eating less we switched to iams adult cat food. He has not been vaccinated, and he seems as energetic as ever. Is there anything I can do to speed the healing?
Thanks!  

Answer
Well he has an abscess growing on his lip most likely from a cat bite. This is going to be a nasty infection and he will need to see a vet to get it cleaned out and then put on antibiotics.

Cat bites are also one of the major causes of a cat getting leukemia, FIV (feline AIDS), FIP and rabies.

You should have the vet test him for Leukemia. The test will test for 4 viruses.
If he has it, it will certainly slow down his healing time, and it is ultimately fatal.

Hopefully he is already neutered, if not, have the vet do it at the same time when he gets his abscess cleaned up and you will save money on the anesthetic. If his tests are negative, make sure he gets vaccinated after his wounds heal.

Iams cat food is one step up from cat chow but he might have stopped eating because it hurts his lip to do so.

He shouldn't have to spend the night at the vets. I hope he heals quickly and that his tests are negative.