Cystitis/UTI and mysterious swelling help

[badname]

Hello All, I have two problems with my cat that I need consultation on,
My male ginger cat of 4 years has been having problems throughout his life. We noticed randomly throughout the year (2x annually), one of his paws would swell up 2x the size, with no sign of injury or bite. It would switch between paws and sometimes would swell under his tongue. It went away naturally a couple of times, other times we brought him to the vet and they gave prednisolone. None of the vets (over 6+) have ever seen it before and had any idea what it could be.
The second problem is, he recently (3months ago) had a UTI. He was hospitalized for 5 days and they had him on a catheter. Since then he made a full recovery and was put on urinary vet food, both dry and wet. However, this past month we noticed similar symptoms of him acting strange with his litter box and a couple of times climbing in the sink. Again, we brought him to the vet and they did full bloodwork, urine analysis, and x-ray. This time there was nothing on any of the tests. They gave stress medication which he is now on for life? and introduced a new wet food for urinary stress condition. There have been no changes at home at all. We notice still he can be straining in the sink 1-2x this week. We don't have a lot of money due to covid so wondering if anyone has any ideas before we do the whole nine yards again. (In the meantime I will be calling the vet)

Let me know if you have any ideas for either problem.
Thanks,
Thomas

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! The only thing that comes to mind with the paw swelling would be some sort of seasonal/environmental allergen. Check for when the swelling happened and what was going on at the time - weather changes, carpet cleaning in your home, fertilizers/sprays being used outside, etc. - anything that doesn't happen on a routine basis. The tongue swelling, if it happened only once, might not have even been related (bee sting/bug bite/etc.) Or, if it has happened multiple times coincident with the paw, it could be from him ingesting/licking whatever was on his paw that he is allergic to. Just something to consider - especially if you can find a pattern to when these things have happened.

As far as the urinary issues, did the vet tell you that the urinalysis identified sediment/crystals in his urine? Even if not a lot, this 'debris' in his bladder and urethra can cause inflammation which often leads to a UTI. I know you said they didn't see anything on the x-ray, but did they say they saw any signs of inflammation? Did they take x-rays of his entire urinary tract? If there is any inflammation at all, it might help for him to be put on an anti-inflammatory with a follow up check afterward.

Many times when a vet cannot find a cause behind inappropriate peeing, they deem it as idiopathic cystitis and generally think stress is behind it. But, when dealing with male cats who have straining issues, it is always best to err on the side of caution in case it is related to the urethra which can become blocked and be considered life-threatening.

Let us know what he vet says about how to proceed given his peeing issues have continued.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My first thought about the random swelling was also an allergy/contact dermatitis. That is well worth exploring.

As for the peeing, yes, to all of FeebysOwner 's comments, and to her advice.