ear yeast infection/urinary tract infection

[katk]

I have a 4 yr old male cat who has had 3 yeast infections in his ears and urinary tract infections
in the last 1-2 years. He was a stray who came to us at about 1 1/2 yrs old. The yeast and urinary
tract infections come simultaneously. When going to our vet we get antiobotics and ear medicine
it goes away then returns. The vet states that when testing for the UTI there is just a slight amount of blood so he feels we are catching it quickly but we can not seem to keep it from returning. We
are using a Urinary tract food. He did test positive for FIV when we got him but has no symptons.
We've tried using the ear medicine once a week after the initial time frame required and did this for
several weeks but seems like if we stop then it returns. He also doesn't cry when he has a UTI but
does visit several boxes in a short time frame which is how i usually catch that its back. Any suggestons? I don't know where the infection starts first or what else to do.

[LaCraft45]

Should I keep cleaning my cats ears even though I'm treating ears for yeast infection

[Savas]

Humidity can cause a build up of ear wax/mites that can cause irritation and lead to infection. I'm not sure what the specific test for the UTI anomaly, but I think you'd need to go to an animal hospital to have it done right. A vet is typically like the old "mom and pop" general doctor. Once you get into more complicated problems, you need a specialist. A good vet will admit this and give you a referral.

I'd start going over various household products to see if anything could be getting on it's fur (paws) and being transferred, but a specialist would probably save you a lot of possibly unneccesary work. Everything you listed is pretty standard stuff, and shouldn't cause this problem. Short of a floor wax, or carpet powder, air freshener, etc... that could be an irritant, I'd guess with an anomaly or genetic disorder...but remember, that's without my seeing the cat!

[katk]

Yes we do live in a humid area-Fla. He is not a long haired cat and not thick furred in area around
urethra. I do not know if my vet checked for any anomaly in his urinary tract-would this have been in
an exam or a specific test? Using Purina One Urinary Tract dry food (was mixing it with one part to three with  hairball preventative cat food but now just urinary tract food)  and then small amount daily of wet-Fancy Feast-chicken/beef/turkey.Litter is Arm & Hammer mostly reqular but also use the one for multicats . When i first got him I was feeding all my cats can
food w/seafood, tuna as i had never had a cat develop a urinary tract infection and did not realize
that the seafood/tuna etc was bad for them.But stopped that after first episode. No unusual treats-soft chicken flavored hairball preventative.

[Savas]

Okay...two questions...do you live in a particularly humid area, and is this cat a long haired cat? More specifically, is the area about the urethra thick furred/obstructed?

Another question; did the vet check extensively for an anomaly in the cat's urinary tract?

Oh, also, what kind of litter and food are you using? And do you give the cat any unusual treats?

One working theory is the cat is eating/licking something off it's fur that's a cleaning product or the like and then transmitting it to the urethra area, causing the start of the infection. The ear infection is probably a secondary cause from the urinary infection...but not definitely. :)

[Savas]

I'm not ignoring this but this one's a bit of a stumper. I'm going to toss it out to the "circle" later on and see what they think. Get back to you on it shortly!