Red and swollen nose w hole

Hi everyone...I have a question for my friend about her cat. We're not sure what is going on with her nose but if anyone here has an idea of what this could be caused from any opinions would be great. These are before and after photos of when her cats nose started looking like this. The before photos show between her nose and mouth to be red and swollen. The after photo shows between her nose and mouth like a hole. Any ideas? Thank you.

Hello!   I am a little unclear how long the cat has had an abnormality to the nasal planum.  I wonder, for example, whether it could be connected to a cleft palette, which is often a developmental abnormality seen in early kittenhood, or whether it occurred later, where-upon I might be concerned about tumours or cancers, such as a nasal carcinoma.  Other possibilities may include autoimmune disease or infection, or even fungal disease or palatine fracture, although I have never personally seen one looking like this.  I think that your vet may want to take a closer look and might even need to carry out a few further tests, depending on what they see in there.  Preventing spread, infection or aspiration (food contents passing from the mouth to the nose, affecting the breathing) may prove very important, so it's well worth investigating as soon as you can.