Dental Abscess?

My cat's drinking water has been cloudy for a few weeks.  This morning I was petting him and found crustiness under his chin.  It was a dried scab sort of thing.  I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and salt water.  It's a hole like a pimple.  It's a lump too.  Only blood was on the qtip, nothing yellow.  I checked his teeth, they all look ok.  I can't see under his tongue.  He's been acting normally, eating hard and soft food, going to the bathroom, etc.

[zodiacqueen]

I don't think the cloudy water is anything to worry about, as long as your changing it once a day.  The scab under the chin could be feline acne, or some irritation from fleas.  Sounds like some very minor problems.  Take him to the vet, or if your tight with your vet call him and see what he thinks of the scabs.  Maybe he can tell you what to put on his chin to get rid of it.  The peroxide, for now, is a good and safe idea to use!

If it's a flea problem, I would guess that you'd see other places on your cats body that were scabbed too.  Notice any other places?

[Mrs_Savas]

OK, it's an abcess (abscess).  Very common.

Cats get these skin abcesses -  usually you see swelling, but in this case, the swelling was probably inside the mouth.

The hole is a drainage hole for the infected material (blood, pus) that collects in a sort of pocket.  The water was cloudy most likely because there is at least one more drainage hole on the inside of your cat's mouth that the stuff has been leaking out of.  These kind of abcesses are usually started by a minor, one time injury like a puncture or scratch.  

Since you are only seeing blood when you clean it, it has already drained.  However, these abcesses can reform when the holes close over.  When that happens too soon, the fluid can build back up and a new drainage hole generally has to happen.  I've seen as many as 10 holes form for drainage for a pretty small abcess (abscess)!

If your cat is not showing any signs of discomfort and you don't continue to see cloudy water, then I'd say it's over and done with.  If you continue to see signs, like the water is cloudy again or you see swelling or more external holes, then it might be a very good idea to go to your vet for antibiotics and to see what is causing the problem (usually, like I mentioned, the damage is a one time thing, but once in a while you get an ongoing cause, like a foreign object lodged under the skin or perhaps, in this case, a broken tooth is scratching against the inside of your cats mouth).

If you like, you could look inside your cats mouth (gently and carefully!) to see if you see anything unusual.  Otherwise, just watch for swelling, cloudy drinking water and external holes.  Like I said before, if the symptoms continue, a vet visit is a good idea for antibiotics and a firm diagnosis.  Otherwise, if there are no more symptoms, then it's probably already resolved.

Good luck.

[icka72]

I brought him to the vet.  The vet said that it's probably acne.  He game me a cream and Clavamox.  i;m going to keep my eye on it.  The area isn't painful when touched anymore!

Thanks!

[zodiacqueen]

See, I knew it was nothing to worry about!  Most scabby areas on the chin are either from fleas or acne!  It should be gone in no time!  =D

If you need us again for any advice, don't hesitate to post!