I'd have him checked asap. I'm not a vet but that looks like more than a swollen lip. It also looks painful.
If you wait longer and it get worse, then treatment may cost even more.

Explain your financial situation when you call for an appt. and ask if they will set up a payment schedule.

I'm wondering if this isn't a reaction to a venomous sting, or a bite. That happened to one of my cats, who got curious about the wrong thing. Poor kitty.

It could be a bite or sting, but I would get it checked immediately. It could be some type of oral cancer and waiting would make it less treatable if it is cancer.

I looked at the pictures again and another possibility is an abcess around a tooth. Infections in the mouth can cause heart disease, too, so you don't want to ignore it.

Oy! I'll make an appointment with with the vet. I really hope it isn't something serious! Fingers crossed.

Let us know what the vet has to say. I hope it's nothing serious.

I'm guessing it was a bee sting. If you don't have unlimited funds to visit the vet, I'd say to just wait a few days.

My cat had a similiar swollen lip about a month ago. When I posted on a forum asking what it could be, someone suggested that it looked exactly like what their cat had, which I'll quote their reply:

"The scientific name for it is: Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex, but you might have heard of a rodent ulcer?"

In which case, your cat will need antibiotics to cure. My cat ended up not having that, it turned out that his was a wound from my very aggressive female cat.

So if you do not have any other cats in the house, then it could very well be the above.

Good luck, let us know what it was!

Here's a pic of what my cats lip looked like:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

One of my co-workers' cat had a similar swelling. She used plastic bowls, but once she switched to stainless the lip went to normal. I didn't use any medications, just get rid of the plastic.

Plastic is worse as a water bowl because plastic harbors the bacteria that causes the allergic response you're seeing, and water is a great place to grow bacteria. If that is the problem. I'm a touchy-feely type vet and can't tell too much from pictures, but I'd change the bowl to stainless and see what happens.

The rescue organization I adopted my cat from told me that he probably had a rodent ulcer and they prescribed him an injection of steroids and recommended I change his food. They came over and gave him the injection, and I switched him from Natural Balance to Wellness. He does seem to be less itchy - definitely less grooming / biting, but his lip is still sorta swollen. It's a little less swollen, but still a little larger than normal. It's been 2 days though - so I'll wait a few more days to see what happens. I may try changing his water bowl though. Maybe it is the plastic from that. Who knows!

Both of our cats have had swollen lips in the past two years. One of our cats is a bit OCD and orally fixated; overgrooms herself, kneads and sucks/drools on one of her cat beds and on DH's shirt (while he's wearing it!). A couple of years ago she developed a swollen lower lip. The dermatology vet she was seeing at the time (for the overgrooming) said it could just have been a "slurpy" lip from all the drooling and oral behavior. She gave us Dexamethasone; 1/2 tablet for 3 days. Cleared it up quickly. FYI, my cats love the chicken flavor Pill Pockets, so it was easy to administer the meds.

Just a few weeks ago, our other cat developed a swollen lower lip for the first time. She has Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex, and has experienced recurring dermatologic symptoms (skin lumps, bumps) throughout her life (she'll be 7 next month). Since she had just seen our regular vet about a week or so prior to the lip swelling, I spoke with him on the phone, and asked if we could/should treat her with the Dexamethasone we had (we'd bring her in if he felt we should, or if the swelling didn't clear up of course). He felt that was appropriate, but said it would prob take more than 3 days to clear it up, so should continue giving it until it did. I think it took 4-5 days and I gave it to her for an extra day or two to be sure it was completely gone.

My cat's lower lip was swollen and also looked like pimples on the chin. After a few vet visits, some antibiotics, and a lot of waiting, I finally came to the conclusion that it was from the plastic feeding bowl she was eating out of. Either the bottom of the bowl was irritating her chin when she ate, or she was allergic to the plastic. A ceramic bowl has fixed the problem for many years and still no problems.

Maybe an abscessed tooth.