Conference misery::feline_v1

 Hi,

 One of our cats had the same problem back in early September.   We still have
  no idea how it happened.  I went through the entire house and couldn't find
  anything he could have gotten into (he's an indoor only kitty).

 We took him to the vet and they flushed out his eye and gave us Atropine
 Sulfate to administer once a day for the first few days.  We also had
 to give him antibiotic ointment three times a day for several weeks.

 At one point they had to anesthesize him to get a close look at it, since
 it was covered by the third eyelid.

 It took about two weeks before there was any significant improvement.
 The vet said if it had persisted any longer, she would have referred us
 to a feline opthamologist.

 So, after about four weeks he was back to normal, and it doesn't look
 like there was any permanent damage.

 I'd suggest discussing with your vet the possibility of referring your kitty
 to a good eye specialist.


  Good luck!

  Joe M.

    I can't find your original note, if there was one,
    about Stanley's eye.  Is Stanley an indoor cat, so whatever he got into
    was in the apartment?  If it was the exterminator, I would file
    criminal charges of animal abuse.  Please let us know how things are
    going.  p.s.  it is hard to read your notes with those zs.
    

    
    joe...
    
    it seems that my vet is following basically the same course of action.
    if not improvement is forthcoming in a couple of weeks, i will make
    your suggestion to him/her.
    
    karen...
    
    stanley is an indoor cat. my vets have a difference of opinion--one
    thinks it is a scratch from stella, the other thinks it is chemical.
    i still haven't been able to find out anything re: exterminator yet.
    
    thanx for the responses.
    
    diane, stella & stanley
    
    p.s.  excuse the "z" fetish. it is my preferred way to form plurals.
    (i have long been a "z" advocate. i mean, it may get a high-letter
    score in scrabble, but is hardly ever called on wheel of fortune...) i
    will try to curb my natural tendenciez...oopz...
    

    My Siamese, Gino, was very sensitive to Lysol spray - his eyes would
    get very, very red and weap like conjunctivitis.  He's seems to
    have outgrown it but I'm still careful to put him in another part
    of the apt. if I need to use a spray and close the door behind me.
    
    I do have a ? though re. cataracts?  Can cataracts be removed
    surgically in cats as in humans?                                  
    
    
    Hope your baby is better - let us know how he's doing.
    
    
    Giudi in SF (Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)

    If I recollect correctly, Lysol is a big no-no around cats.  Some
    (I think) have been poisoned (I don't know if fatally) from litter
    boxes cleaned with Lysol.
    

    =.5
    
    Dr. Scott told me that it could be toxic - he had come out to the
    house to check on Pippin for something and there was Gino with these
    red eyes.  I had sprayed in the bedroom while I was changing the
    bedding and of course Gino thought it was the usual make the bed
    play time and came in right after I sprayed and got an immediate
    reaction.  Poor little guy, he was about 3-4 months old with very
    light china blue eyes and there they were all red and running. 
     
    I've never heard of any deaths though.
    
    
    Giudi in SF (Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)

    Mips and Belle have abrasions on one cornea apiece, caused 
    by a virus shortly after they were eight weeks old.  Belle
    has partial sight and has a blind spot on her eye, Mips is
    blind in one eye, however, at her last vet visit, the vet
    said that her cornea is still intact and he may be able to
    restore some sight through surgery!!!
    
    Could your kitty perhaps have contracted a virus?
    
    
    Mary-Michael
   

    
    re: -.1
    
    mary...i didn't think of virus, since the vet(s) had not mentioned
    infection.  for some reason, i would think that would look different
    than a scratch, but i am certainly not an expert. i will ask vet on our
    re-visit on friday...
    
    giudi...my vet told me that yes, CATaracts can be surgically removed
    from a cat's eye. i hope it doesn't come to that, but it is such a bad,
    deep abrasion.
    
    all...i had to do it.  stanley is now wearing the dreaded elizabethan
    collar.  the male vet, who is quite a cut-up, said that stan now has
    "funnel vision".  it *does* look like he is looking at me from the
    bottom of a funnel!  of course, the first thing he did was his
    "bumpy-tail impression"--i.e., he backed, backed, backed up all around
    the apt. trying to get out of the thing.  then he resorted to scraping
    the front of the collar against the baseboard.  neither collar nor
    baseboard would budge.  i went through the apt. looking for anything he
    might try to hook the collar on.  that worries me the most.  i am going
    home at lunch every day now to check on him and give him his meds.  i
    don't want to leave him unattended for 12 hours straight (i am working
    the 4 x 10 these days...)
    
    thanx to all for their concern for the boy....
    
    diane, stanley & stella
    

    so now i am on the verge of hysteria.  stan was having problems last
    night with his *other* eye.  i thought maybe eyestrain from using just
    the one eye.  this morning it was worse, so i took him back to vet. his
    second eye now has an abrasion, worse than the first!
    
    i am at my wits' end wondering how this could happen? i can't help but
    think that the second problem is related to the first. which would
    support the theory of chemical rather than scratch abrasion.  of
    course, what i'm really concerned about is that it might be a viral
    infection, and i wonder if stella is at risk.
    
    the second abrasion has been judged as worse than the first, and will
    probably require surgery.  the only good news in all of this is that
    the first eye is healing somewhat, so at least the poor little fellow
    can see out of it some.
    
    when do you decide to take the animal to a specialist? i looked
    through the yellow pages, and there is a veterinary opthalmic center
    here in atlanta, although a ways from where i live, but who cares about
    that?  i am just agonizing, wondering what to do...
    
    diane, stella & stanley
    

    I would pack him up and take him to the specialist now, both for
    your own peace of mind and in case the specialist can identify what
    is causing this.
    

    I agree with Karen. Especially since we have a L-O-N-G wekend comming
    up and the specialist might not be open again until Monday.
    
    Deb

    How is Stan?  Did you get him an appointment with the Opthomologist?
    If you haven't, I would go ahead and do that.  Since the problem
    is now in both eyes, it sounds more viral than chemical.  If it
    was chemical, then Stan probably wouldn't go back to the source
    and hurt himself again.  A specialist will also save you money in
    the long run.  They have more experience with just the eyes, and
    can get right down to the proper treatment without having to go
    through the trial and error procedure that most vets use.
    
    Jo

    Di:
    
    Just wondering how your Stanley is doing?  Hope you got in to see
    an Opthomologist and that Stanley's little eyes are getting better.
    
    Thinking of you and Stan
    
    Giudi in SF (Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)

    Diane tells me that Stanley seems to be feeling better and his eyes
    look better.  He is due back in at the vet's tomorrow.
    

    we are doing ever so much better here in atlanta...
    
    stanley had his latest trip to the vet today, and things are definitely
    looking up.  the corneas are healing.  eye #1 is almost healed, #2 is
    on the road to recovery.  the redness and swelling has mostly
    dissipated.  he is totally off the shots and pills now.  the vet no
    longer thinks that stan will need surgery, since the healing process is
    going as it should.  stan is still wearing his collar, which caused a
    friend to refer to him as a conehead.  so now we are calling him
    beldar....
    
    i felt for the last couple of days that he was feeling better 'cuz he
    was starting to get rowdy again.  he has been chasing stella all over
    the place.  he can look out of his eyes without squinting them.  it's
    like a 180 degree turn-around; he was just so pitiful looking last
    week.  i was not able to get him into the specialist--they take
    referrals only!  but i got out my worn copy of dr. gerstenfeld's book of
    cat care, and the things i read were the same thingz i was hearing from
    my vet.  so i felt better.  stanley's continuing improvement makes me
    feel even better.  it looks like we may both make it.
    
    thanx so much to all who have expressed concern, esp. karen for passing
    on the good word.  luvz to all...
    
    diane, stanley & stella
     
                     

    The referal shouldn't be a problem, if you want to go, your vet
    can refer you.
    
    Jo

    Glad to hear the good news - it's just horrible when these little
    guys are under the weather.
    
    Take good care and keep us posted.
    
    
    Giudi in SF 

    That IS good news.  Definitely brightened my day.  Give
    Beldar a pat for me.
      Nancy DC