Acute swelling on one side of face - watch? ER?

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hellolucy

hellolucy

Member Since 2017
We noticed yesterday early afternoon that Lucy's face seemed swollen on one side and she's just acting a bit off. The area is towards the back of her mouth/head and can be easily felt. We took a look in her mouth but didn't see anything. She is still eating but about half as much as she normally does. We gave her Claritin last night which we keep on hand when her food allergies cause itching in case it was a reaction. It is still swollen and the area can still be felt as of this morning. It hasn't gotten bigger but not smaller either.

Lucy has not been feeling well for about 3 weeks now and we have been to the vet many times in that period. It seems one day she is feeling better, and the next, something else happens. To be honest, I am a bit burnt out mentally and financially, and am worried I am not making correct decisions because of it. I am very worried about bringing in her in to the ER (or maybe it's more of an urgent care situation) and stressing her out even more/making her feel worse than she already has. She has an appointment at the vet again on Wednesday, I made it for this right before they closed yesterday (of course, for a long weekend here with Christmas).

Has anyone experienced sudden acute swelling like this?
Would you watch and wait since she is eating, or this more like an ER (or urgent case instead?) situation?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Do you have a picture you can show us?
Click to expand...

Here is a picture from yesterday. She had just woken up from a nap when I took this so looks a bit wonky. It is the left side in the picture. I just added us to the urgent care wait list.

Edit: the image didn't seem to insert, here is the link: https://imgur.com/a/yahmnvs

VF8Y2Xe
 
I'm glad you are on the urgent care list. That looks like it needs attention. And I wouldn't want to wait until after Christmas in case it gets worse before then.
 
hellolucy said:
Here is a picture from yesterday. She had just woken up from a nap when I took this so looks a bit wonky. It is the left side in the picture. I just added us to the urgent care wait list.

Edit: the image didn't seem to insert, here is the link: https://imgur.com/a/yahmnvs

VF8Y2Xe
Click to expand...

We just got back. Turned out to be an abcess which is a completely new thing for Lucy. They drained and sent us home with a cone, antibiotics, and pain meds, all of which she has to use for a week. She is an indoor cat and has very few teeth left so not really sure how this happened.
 
I'm so glad you got this taken care of!! Chances are she scratched her face with a claw. Given a cat's toes are in kitty litter, that may have been the culprit.

You may want to pick up some probiotics in case the antibiotic causes a GI upset. It doesn't always happen but I'm thinking ahead since tomorrow is a holiday.
 
An abscess tooth often smells really bad, it's a good tip for anyone to look and smell. In the upper jaw the infection can be bad enough to reach the eyes and even the brain if left untreated. I know this isn't what you need at Christmas but I've had cats with abscess teeth that were pulled at my regular vet with no overnight stays. That might save you a bundle of money. Just glad you caught it in time, she'll be herself again in no time.
 
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