Need advice Roxy

First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I
should take her back ASAP.

It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night,
it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The
important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness,
not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in
evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see
her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other
cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from
her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She
doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing
it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit,
but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of
sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and
purring, etc.

But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see
*some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by
this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this
evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if
I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The
receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning
appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by
Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem
alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much
concern. But she's not medically trained, either.

I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably
get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for
me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you
folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to
leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well
here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this
evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if
I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't
even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is
legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this.
I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her
in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few
more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..."

I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at
all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye.
Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a
bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears
swollen in the area around her eye.

Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce

wrote:
snip
Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce

If I were in your position I'd go straight back to the vet, I wouldn't want
to take any chances.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Well, I would think you would see some improvement. I'd sure try to get them
to see you tomorrow at the very latest. I would press to talk to the vet as
a receptionist doesn't know beans. It's possible it just isn't the right
ointment. Eye stuff can be very specific. I hope that maybe you can call
them back and talk to the vet at least.*Usually* if we are that concerned,
it means we are right. My vet always says, 'you are with her all the time,
you know her best'. Vets while good or bad can only be as good as the info
they have and you can be sure the receptionist doesn't report every call.
You need to speak with the vet. I sure hope she gets to doing better soon.


wrote in message
...
First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I
should take her back ASAP.

It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night,
it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The
important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness,
not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in
evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see
her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other
cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from
her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She
doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing
it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit,
but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of
sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and
purring, etc.

But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see
*some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by
this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this
evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if
I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The
receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning
appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by
Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem
alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much
concern. But she's not medically trained, either.

I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably
get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for
me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you
folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to
leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well
here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this
evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if
I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't
even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is
legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this.
I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her
in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few
more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..."

I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at
all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye.
Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a
bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears
swollen in the area around her eye.

Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce

wrote:
Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?


Such a difficult situation, I understand exactly how you feel. Being the
worry-wart I am, I would take her in as soon as possible, or at least
insist on speaking to the vet and ask about how soon I could expect to
see a difference in the eye. It sounds terrible when you describe it,
but if she doesn't seem bothered maybe it really isn't as bad as it
looks. OK, this post didn't help at all. I'd better just send more purrs.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

wrote in message
...
First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I
should take her back ASAP.

It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night,
it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The
important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness,
not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in
evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see
her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other
cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from
her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She
doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing
it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit,
but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of
sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and
purring, etc.

But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see
*some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by
this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this
evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if
I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The
receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning
appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by
Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem
alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much
concern. But she's not medically trained, either.

I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably
get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for
me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you
folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to
leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well
here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this
evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if
I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't
even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is
legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this.
I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her
in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few
more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..."

I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at
all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye.
Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a
bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears
swollen in the area around her eye.

Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce




I am a worry wart, so I might be tempted to take her back also..

I thought that I was the only one with a kitty with a goopy eye, we are
battling the same thing..... the eye specialist basically dumped us tho,
we had one pcr test done , and it was negative for herpes, but it takes
several before they definitely say yes or no.... Koko did test highly
positive for bartonella.... a compounding pharmacy mixed up zithromycin
for her , and that did the trick a few times....
Koko is strange tho, when her eye is goopy, she eats MORE, she just
loves her crunchie food, (nutro lamb and rice for kitties ) but she will
still eat the wet food also. She is a nibbler,and if there are no
crunchies in her bowl, she will nibble body parts.. legs, ankles, butts
when we are on the potty...lol.
http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1
That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye
looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen .
They did have us wet a paper towel and wipe her eye with plain water,
3-4 times a day, separate paper towels for each eye, and also the nose ,
to keep it clearer for breathing. And she took an oral antibiotic
,along with drops for the eyes. They eye drops need to be ONLY
antibiotics, some of them have a steroid component, and thats not good
for our goopy eye kitties. What about a mild pain med for kitty, even
if you give it just once a day, at least there will be some time that
the 'edge' will be taken off the eye bothering her...
We were never able to keep our cats apart.... we wouldnt have doors left
on the house. Kady never got sick.. They arent a 'lovey' pair of
kitties, but they do occasionally lay together and grooom each other.
Seems like when Koko is sick, Kady will hang around and just check on
her.
Good luck with her, hope she turns around quickly....

I rarely post, but am always reading

laurie wrote:

http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1

That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye
looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen .

Thanks for the comparison shots. Roxy's eye looks *much* worse than the
most goopy-eyed picture of Koko in the series. At least you can see that
Koko *has* an eye - you can see the iris and pupil in all of the shots,
even when her eye is squinty and runny.

Roxy's eye doesn't look like an eye - all you can see is white, sort of
a pinkish-white, where the eye should be. Wish I had a camera so you could
see what I mean.

Actually, Roxy's *other* eye often looks like Koko's eye - the other eye
has more trouble from the herpes. I don't worry too much about that - I
just keep treating her with Lysine, and if she gets worse (starts coming
down with more sniffles and sneezes than usual), then I give her interferon
for 2 weeks. Otherwise, the herpes hasn't been much of a problem for her.
I don't know if her current ailment is related to the herpes or not.

Joyce

wrote in message
...
laurie wrote:

http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1

That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye
looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen .

Thanks for the comparison shots. Roxy's eye looks *much* worse than the
most goopy-eyed picture of Koko in the series. At least you can see that
Koko *has* an eye - you can see the iris and pupil in all of the shots,
even when her eye is squinty and runny.

Roxy's eye doesn't look like an eye - all you can see is white, sort of
a pinkish-white, where the eye should be. Wish I had a camera so you
could
see what I mean.

Actually, Roxy's *other* eye often looks like Koko's eye - the other eye
has more trouble from the herpes. I don't worry too much about that - I
just keep treating her with Lysine, and if she gets worse (starts coming
down with more sniffles and sneezes than usual), then I give her
interferon
for 2 weeks. Otherwise, the herpes hasn't been much of a problem for
her.
I don't know if her current ailment is related to the herpes or not.

Joyce



Is she on oral antibiotics at all ?
It seems as though the flare up is an infection, not so much the herpes.

sorry i spelled the med wrong, its Azithromycin or Zithromax.
It made a HUGE difference when Koko was sick. If Roxy's herpes eye is
not a problem now, I would probably stop the interferon until after the
other eye is cleared up. The interferon and lysine did not seem to
make any improvements with Koko at all, so maybe it isnt herpes for her
after all. Round and round we go, we did so many tests. We are just
letting things rest for now, and see how she does with no intervention..
The next testing route requires anesthesia, and, like you, I am afraid
about doing that.
The antibiotics seem to clear her eyes and nose up the most. Perhaps she
just needs a double or triple course of antibiotics, for her eyes and
also orally, to get at the root of whats causing the problem.

laurie

Laurie

In my limited experience, antibiotics (internal ones) work quickly on cats.
I'd expect improvement in 24 hours. It really sounds like it is connected
to her teeth. Eyes, teeth, sinuses really connect in a cat. Our Rosie's
blocked tear duct was diagnosed by putting coloring in her eye and seeing if
it dripped out her nose. So I'm sure an infected tooth could infect an eye.

I would be going back today. In large part because I'd worry that she was
in pain. Cats often don't show it. I'd also be worrying about permanent
damage to the eye my now.

Then again I'm good at over reacting. So I'm going to wish Roxy all of the
best and let my two know that it would be nice of them to purr for her while
they sleep away our rainy afternoon.

Jo


wrote in message
...
First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I
should take her back ASAP.

It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night,
it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The
important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness,
not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in
evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see
her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other
cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from
her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She
doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing
it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit,
but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of
sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and
purring, etc.

But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see
*some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by
this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this
evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if
I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The
receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning
appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by
Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem
alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much
concern. But she's not medically trained, either.

I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably
get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for
me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you
folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to
leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well
here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this
evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if
I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't
even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is
legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this.
I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her
in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few
more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..."

I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at
all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye.
Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a
bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears
swollen in the area around her eye.

Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce

laurie wrote:

Is she on oral antibiotics at all ?

No, just a topical.

sorry i spelled the med wrong, its Azithromycin or Zithromax.

I can't remember which one Roxy is on - it's at home.

It made a HUGE difference when Koko was sick. If Roxy's herpes eye is
not a problem now, I would probably stop the interferon until after the
other eye is cleared up.

I called my vet back and she referred me to a veterinary opthamologist.
I have made an appointment there for tomorrow morning. So hopefully they
will have more to say on all this!

Thanks for the advice and feedback everyone!

Joyce

On 08 Feb 2007 18:58:15 GMT, wrote:

First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I
should take her back ASAP.

It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night,
it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The
important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness,
not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in
evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see
her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other
cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from
her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She
doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing
it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit,
but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of
sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and
purring, etc.

But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see
*some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by
this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this
evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if
I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The
receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning
appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by
Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem
alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much
concern. But she's not medically trained, either.

I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably
get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for
me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you
folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to
leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well
here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this
evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if
I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't
even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is
legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this.
I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her
in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few
more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..."

I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at
all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye.
Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a
bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears
swollen in the area around her eye.

Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet
tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her
separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days?

Thanks...

Joyce

Hi Joyce,

How is Roxy doing tonight? Were you able to get her seen by a vet? I
hope she is doing better!

I did a bit of searching for possible suggestions as to what she has
going on, and I found a site w/a photo of conjunctivitis:
http://tinyurl.com/2u4ubr

I have seen this in kits before - it is not a fun thing to treat!

Good luck with her!
Patti