Cat Fight :/

Question
Hello Norman,
Well I'm not sure if you'd be able to help me out so if you can't don't worry about it since you can't answer most veterinary questions. I hope I could get a little advice though? Well anyway, at home we have two cats (They will be three in may), Shania and Kiki. Now, there's an aggressive male cat that just recently started going outside. Of course, cats get frisky at this time of month. It was a couple nights ago that we let the cats out at night since they prowl around. Around midnight, my mom and I woke up to hear a cat, screaming and meowing really loudly as if it was fighting. We ran to the porch and managed to get one of our cats inside, Kiki. She was unharmed. Of course, Shania was outside and we tried calling her, afraid something would happen to her. After 5-10 minutes, we went back to bed. We didn't even fall asleep when we heard the cat screaming and it was right by my window! My mom looked outside and saw two cats fighting. They were hitting each other but it was too dark to identify one of them. The other one, we know who it is. The one that we identified, was chasing the other cat and jumping over the fence. My mom managed to break up the fight but while they were fighting, we heard the other cat cry out and we knew it was Shania because she has a very weak meow and only meows when in a dangerous situation. We went to the porch and she came over, her fur all ruffled and her eyes very wide. At first, we noticed nothing wrong and thought she just got scared. The next day, I noticed she said a cut on the corner of her right eye. Then her right cheek and right side of the face started swelling. She isn't acting like herself at all and we're getting worried. We know she fought with another cat but we are deciding whether we should wait it out or take her to the vet. Would you know what to do? Thanks!
-Monika

Answer
Monika,

What an awful experience.

Were it my cat, I would have your vet look at the side of her face to make sure there was no unseen damage.  I do not like the fact that it is swelling. There is always the chance that she got bitten and it could abscess.  More likely she caught a claw and got badly bruised, but it is not clear what the extent of the damage might be.

At best, the vet visit will be short and there will be no problem.  On the other hand, whatever problem there may be will be best looked after quickly before it might fester and get worse.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Please let me know what your vet finds.

Best regards... Norm.