Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 12/8/2011

Question
My inside cat Suki has had a swollen tail(base of tail) and swollen face for about a month now. Also her eyes have been on and off dilated.  I took her to the vet a few wks ago and she was given an antibiotic and prednizone which she has recently tapered off.   At the time we were focusing on the base of tail more and figured she got hurt playing and that it would heal with meds and time. She did seem to get better but her tail never went down.  Yesterday I noticed her eyes were back fully dilated and her face is very swollen again along with her tail.
  My Suki is a rescued feral cat and is very difficult for the vet to handle and hard for me to handle at times.  The vet could barely check her the last time so im hoping that you might have some other answer for me. They did get blood and checked temp. All was normal. She also has been tested for feline luk. and AIDS which were neg.  I'm starting to wonder if she maybe had an insect bite on tail that has become infected and spread to her lymph nodes in neck.  Its just so confusing being both the neck and tail are swollen. Its starting to really scare me and i can tell she is in pain.  Please help. What do you think?

Answer
Without a complete examination, I cannot diagnose on the internet.  But if the prednsione helped, there may be some type of allergic reaction going on here.  There is a long acting shot called Depo Medrol that can be gioven rather than trying to stuff a prednisone tablet into a cat. Cats rarely get swelling in the face and hen they do, they may respond to an antihistamine.