Thanks to all who offered assistance to the problem my kitty had with
his swollen gum, and chin. It seems to have resolved itself and looks
fine now. I just came to the house where my cat, and this morning he
comes into my room, opens his mouth to meow, and nothing comes out the
clicking or chattering noise that a cat makes, but he does it only
once and then closes his mouth. He can only get a hoarse meow out if
anything, but mostly nothing. I thought at first he was trying to
throw up a hair ball, but there's no retching movements. It almost
sounds a bit like the noise when he crunches his dry food. He seems
fine otherwise, and I wonder if he just has a little resperatory
infection that also caused the lip swelling. We all have a cold in the
house here, so why not my cat ;-). Do you think it might be that. He's
his old spunky self and is eating well.

Also, I went to check his back upper gums and they are blackish. He's
an American Shorthair with a deep brownish grey coat with darker spots
and a white chest, paws and belly. The back part of his lip that forms
the "hinge" between his upper and lower jaw is also black at the
margin (about 1 1/2" in from the where it joins the top lip, so I
think it's maybe his normal coloration. The front and middle gums are
nice and pink. He does have a bit of brown tartar, but he is about 8
years of more.

Any idea why he can't meow? Thanks!