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#1
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Update- Cat Cataracts
Just a quick update on my one year old cat, Peanut, who I posted about last week asking for information on cataracts. Forgive my use of layman's terms, but I'm not yet up on the technical terms wrt cat eyes! Anyway, I took Peanut to a specialist today. Glad I did. Now we have a good data to start with to use for measuring growth rate of the cataracts going forward. He has two - one in each eye. His left eye looks, for now, like a kind that might remain fairly static, not a lot of growth. His right eye has a larger cataract, and it appears to be the kind that will grow over time. I have a follow-up schedule in 6 months to monitor how quickly that will happen. He is not yet blind, and the vet doesn't think he will be any time soon. When the time comes, surgery is highly successful on cats, even more so than in dogs. Glaucoma is not a concern - eye pressure and a few other tests were done, and we're good there (for now). His retinas look healthy and attached, which is a good thing. No disconnects there :-) Trauma is not the suspected cause, because that would typically be some kind of blunt force, and not usually in both eyes for that kind of trauma. Here's the interesting think I learned today - they're seeing cat cataracts, a relatively rare condition apparently, in higher rates with cats that were raised primarily on cat milk replacement (how these guys were raised). Mama lactated some, more as time went on, but their diet was mostly milk replacement, especially in the beginning before mama eventually seemed to catch up over a period of a few weeks, though she never completely caught up. So - thought I'd share. Things are good for now, glad I took the advice to get him in so I have a good starting point from which to monitor progress. Oh - he mentions drops that are being marketed as a solution, said he hasn't seen them really make a difference, but gave me the info to google and if I want, try out. Thanks, all! |
#2
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Update- Cat Cataracts
Poe wrote:
Just a quick update on my one year old cat, Peanut, who I posted about last week asking for information on cataracts. Forgive my use of layman's terms, but I'm not yet up on the technical terms wrt cat eyes! Anyway, I took Peanut to a specialist today. Glad I did. Now we have a good data to start with to use for measuring growth rate of the cataracts going forward. He has two - one in each eye. His left eye looks, for now, like a kind that might remain fairly static, not a lot of growth. His right eye has a larger cataract, and it appears to be the kind that will grow over time. I have a follow-up schedule in 6 months to monitor how quickly that will happen. He is not yet blind, and the vet doesn't think he will be any time soon. When the time comes, surgery is highly successful on cats, even more so than in dogs. Glaucoma is not a concern - eye pressure and a few other tests were done, and we're good there (for now). His retinas look healthy and attached, which is a good thing. No disconnects there :-) Trauma is not the suspected cause, because that would typically be some kind of blunt force, and not usually in both eyes for that kind of trauma. Here's the interesting think I learned today - they're seeing cat cataracts, a relatively rare condition apparently, in higher rates with cats that were raised primarily on cat milk replacement (how these guys were raised). Mama lactated some, more as time went on, but their diet was mostly milk replacement, especially in the beginning before mama eventually seemed to catch up over a period of a few weeks, though she never completely caught up. So - thought I'd share. Things are good for now, glad I took the advice to get him in so I have a good starting point from which to monitor progress. Oh - he mentions drops that are being marketed as a solution, said he hasn't seen them really make a difference, but gave me the info to google and if I want, try out. Thanks, all! That is very interesting. Sending purrs for your kitty's wellbeing. MLB |
#3
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Update- Cat Cataracts
Thanks for the interesting information. It's good that you're going to
follow up on that one eye. Peanut is lucky that surgery might be an option, since that's not an option for our Benny. What kind of drops were suggested? Something to lubricate the eye? Interesting note about the milk replacement. We aren't completely sure of the history of our cat. He was adopted at approx. 8 weeks old from the shelter. It's possible part of his diet included milk replacer, but we'll never know for sure. |
#5
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Update- Cat Cataracts
They are called OcluVet, and there is little data on the success rate, especially for cats, since cataracts are so uncommon in cats. Here's the website:http://www.ocluvet.com/ They aren't cheap, it looks like around $130 for 2 months worth (using in 2 eyes; 4 months treating 1 eye). Even though they're expensive, I might give them a try after researching, provided they don't seem like complete snake oil. The thinking is that the drops might slow down progress, not eliminate the cataract entirely. That's really pricey for what appears to be antioxidants and vitamins? I hadn't heard of these before. I'm not sure they would help in our situation, since one cataract (in our cat's 'bad' eye) has already matured and stabilized. I'd be interested to see any research/etc. you might find. |
#6
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Update- Cat Cataracts
On Mar 9, 12:59*pm, Poe wrote:
Just a quick update on my one year old cat, Peanut, who I posted about last week asking for information on cataracts. Forgive my use of layman's terms, but I'm not yet up on the technical terms wrt cat eyes! Anyway, I took Peanut to a specialist today. Glad I did. Now we have a good data to start with to use for measuring growth rate of the cataracts going forward. He has two - one in each eye. His left eye looks, for now, like a kind that might remain fairly static, not a lot of growth. His right eye has a larger cataract, and it appears to be the kind that will grow over time. I have a follow-up schedule in 6 months to monitor how quickly that will happen. He is not yet blind, and the vet doesn't think he will be any time soon. When the time comes, surgery is highly successful on cats, even more so than in dogs. Glaucoma is not a concern - eye pressure and a few other tests were done, and we're good there (for now). His retinas look healthy and attached, which is a good thing. No disconnects there :-) Trauma is not the suspected cause, because that would typically be some kind of blunt force, and not usually in both eyes for that kind of trauma.. Here's the interesting think I learned today - they're seeing cat cataracts, a relatively rare condition apparently, in higher rates with cats that were raised primarily on cat milk replacement (how these guys were raised). Mama lactated some, more as time went on, but their diet was mostly milk replacement, especially in the beginning before mama eventually seemed to catch up over a period of a few weeks, though she never completely caught up. So - thought I'd share. Things are good for now, glad I took the advice to get him in so I have a good starting point from which to monitor progress. Oh - he mentions drops that are being marketed as a solution, said he hasn't seen them really make a difference, but gave me the info to google and if I want, try out. Thanks for the information - and I am very glad that there is nothing else going on with your cat's eyes but the cataracts. As he is so young, he will very likely adapt well and easily to his reduced acuity, enhancing his other senses in compensation. My $0.02 on the drops - if you think it is possible that the cataracts are caused by either a vitamin deficiency or a vitamin uptake problem (both possible given your cat's early history) then I would go for the drops. In point of fact, and given that there are no other complications, I would try the drops anyway just on general principle as doing tests for uptake deficiencies would be very expensive and even then uncertain - and the drops look pretty benign in general. But if there is no improvement over a month or so, you might want to re- consider. Good luck with him - he seems to be in good hands. Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA |
#7
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Update- Cat Cataracts
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#8
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Update- Cat Cataracts
"Poe" wrote in message ... Just a quick update on my one year old cat, Peanut, who I posted about last week asking for information on cataracts. Forgive my use of layman's terms, but I'm not yet up on the technical terms wrt cat eyes! Anyway, I took Peanut to a specialist today. Glad I did. Now we have a good data to start with to use for measuring growth rate of the cataracts going forward. He has two - one in each eye. His left eye looks, for now, like a kind that might remain fairly static, not a lot of growth. His right eye has a larger cataract, and it appears to be the kind that will grow over time. I have a follow-up schedule in 6 months to monitor how quickly that will happen. He is not yet blind, and the vet doesn't think he will be any time soon. When the time comes, surgery is highly successful on cats, even more so than in dogs. Glaucoma is not a concern - eye pressure and a few other tests were done, and we're good there (for now). His retinas look healthy and attached, which is a good thing. No disconnects there :-) Trauma is not the suspected cause, because that would typically be some kind of blunt force, and not usually in both eyes for that kind of trauma. Here's the interesting think I learned today - they're seeing cat cataracts, a relatively rare condition apparently, in higher rates with cats that were raised primarily on cat milk replacement (how these guys were raised). Mama lactated some, more as time went on, but their diet was mostly milk replacement, especially in the beginning before mama eventually seemed to catch up over a period of a few weeks, though she never completely caught up. So - thought I'd share. Things are good for now, glad I took the advice to get him in so I have a good starting point from which to monitor progress. Oh - he mentions drops that are being marketed as a solution, said he hasn't seen them really make a difference, but gave me the info to google and if I want, try out. Thanks, all! Excellent! Thanks very much for taking such good care of your cat and for giving us an informative update. MaryL |
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