Help – Advice - please – my cat has a very swollen top lip:

A few days ago I noticed the left side of William’s upper lip was swollen and looked 'scraped' (not bloody or red more like a scrape but white) He had chewed on a cooked (lamb chop) bone so I thought perhaps he had scraped his lip….. however a few days later the right side of his top lip became even more swollen and quite hard while the left side seemed to go down slightly but remained looking scraped and ulcerated. I googled ‘cat with swollen lip’ and I think he has a Rodent Ulcer (aka eosinophilic ulcer). I have a vet appointment in the morning and I want to go in fully informed and I do not want him to be treated with any type of steroid if it is a rodent ulcer as they can be the result of an immune system problem and steroids tend to lower the immune system even more.

I would like to know if anyone has experienced anything like this with their cat (swollen lips) if so what the treatment was. William is an indoor only cat but does go out on the roof. William seems OK and is eating - but perhaps a tiny bit subdued.

I would really appreciate any thoughts/help. Many thanks. The one thing that is guaranteed to make me completely anxious and unsettled is a health problem with my cat.......

Monty had one on his bottom lip, he was prescribed Prednisilone (spelling?) which is of course a steroid and it cleared it up, I was happy for him to have the steroids because I wanted it cleared up rather than being left as the can burst and or get infected, so I felt better to treat it before it got worse. Good luck at the Vets tomorrow.

Did the vet say what caused Monty's lip problem?
William's doesn't look like a blister more ulcerated. I won't necessarily refuse a steroid if that's all that will work....just wanted to know if there are other treatments out there. Of course I am assuming he has this virus. Thank you for sharing your experience - I appreciate it.

Monty had a biospy because he has ulcerative gingivitus and his lip came up again but it was teeth/gums that were bad not the rodent ulcer returning, so when he had his dental op they biopsied his lip which came back as consistent with an eosinophillic chellitus ie indolent ulcer/rodent ulcer, they believe it is an non specific allergy to the anything but the vet said either pollen or possibly perfume/air fresheners/fabric softner but it would be really difficult to narrow it down, although I don't use air fresheners and use fairy laundry products, we came to the conclusion of 'hmm not sure then' but fingers crossed it hasn't returned yet *touches wood*

Monty's lip looked like this


When I was prescribed the Steroids I had to cut the dose down because I was told it was important to wean him off them rather than just stop, I think he had 5 days at full dose 3 days at 1/2 dose and 2 days at 1/4 dose but it was a while ago so it may have been a longer dose.

EG's are immune mediated response linked to allergens, with the mouth one of the likely culprits is food but my immediate thoughts would be mosquito, wasp or other stinging insect, especially as it is sudden and there is hard swelling involved.

Did he steal that bone Cooked bones can splinter and cause serious damage, hope you grabbed it off him! Raw bones on the other hand are excellent for dental health.

Hope it clears up, steroids should only be needed if its really persistant, getting to the root cause of EGC's and limiting exposure where possible was what I did with my cat, hers was food related.

Monty is such a handsome boy! I love orange cats! I was once told William has immune mediated gingivitus Recently he had to have a small tooth out as he had a Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion so has just had his teeth cleaned and I have been brushing them over the past 4 months so all this seems to be related. I'm going to find out what I can about somehow building his immune system - if this is possible. I know allergens are hard to pin down. I pray it isn't food related as I just spent nearly 100.00 pounds buying German brands of cat food from Germany although he has been eating the food for months now

GreyHare, thank you for taking the time to reply and for attaching a photo of Monty - it does look very similar to what William has.

I did wonder if he had been stung by something but is seems more and more that he has a rodent ulcer. William has had immune mediated issues in the past (immune mediated gingivitis and most recently a Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion whereby he had to have a small tooth removed). I have been brushing his teeth since and his gums look better now...so not sure what has made this flare up.

I hate to admit it but I actually gave him the lamb chop bone - he doesn't like raw bones - I'm vegetarian but sometimes my partner has a chop and gives him the bone to chew on. You are right, it could splinter so will not do it again. Now feel like a bad mother.

I hope and pray it is not food related as I just spend nearly 100.00 pounds buying german brands of cat food from Germany although he has been eating the food for months now with no new recent meat sources introduced......

One thing he does do a LOT of is rubbing his mouth (the front of his mouth) on things like the brick wall of the house (when he sits on the window sill)......

Thank you for taking the time to reply and thank you for reminding me about the lamb bone.

It was suggested that I put Monty on a special diet and they recommended Hills z/d I tried Monty on it and it was horrible, it has the consistency and smell of plasticine and he was on it for less than a week and became withdrawn and lost his appetite which he has never ever refused food before, so I put him back on his normal food as I just couldn't stand to see him like that, I do wonder if Montys' may be related to the fact that he eats spiders and flies, because I thought at first it may have been a spider bite as he had been toying with a huge boris a day or two before it came up, but I don't think I will ever know what brought or could bring his up as he is just one of those cats that has to rub everything with his chin or bite it to see if it's food

Sorry wasn't clear, insect bites can cause the EG / rodent ulcer, the eosinophils (white blood cells) rush to the site of the bite and either sort out the saliva and other nasties left by the biter or they don't and just keep coming in and then you get 'allergic' type response (often with swelling) and skin changes ie the ulceration, fleas can also be a real culprit with this, if the cat is sensitive a single bite could trigger.

The rubbing face on wall thing is interesting, bricks are pretty rough, bit like taking your face continuously over a piece of sandpaper! Might be that the top layer of skin is already sensitised specially if he's rubbing on the mortar which is lime based and very drying to the skin or if the bricks are painted there could be something in the paint, so there might be a degree of WBC activity already there and if a bite occurs then voila an EG flare up. Face rubbing can also indicate a tooth problem, sure the vet will check that.

A lamb chop bone is pretty big so likely would be a very small chance of him being able to splinter it, not than I am encouraging you to continue to give them to him!

You could maybe consider a few raw chunks of meat to help with his mouth, and if he is liking the gnawing of bone then possibly something bone-in, maybe chicken neck would be so so beneficial for oral hygiene. Many people have reported considerable improvement in dental health feeding part or all raw diet, must be whole pieces of meat though to gain the mechanical benefits of teeth cleaning and gum massage. Fabulous sticky thread on raw feeding at the top of the message board.

Just returned from the vet - William does have a rodent ulcer - at least that's what the vet thinks. I have a 6 day supply of Prednesone then back to vet to see if it has cleared up. I don't like steroids but was told cats tolerate steroids better than dogs and humans.
Vet also wants me to give William a flea treatment - which I will - even though he is an indoor cat.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I can relax a bit more now. Not sure who gets more stressed going to the vet - William or me. Me I think