Dilated Pupils

About a year and a half ago I took in a kitten that someone had
dumped at Wal-Mart. (She wasn't feral, like most cats in that
woodsy area, so I'm guessing she was dumped.) She has always had
dilated pupils, even in high light. When my other cats are in
sunlight with only little slits, Sweetie's pupils are still open
wider than normal.

Is this a common thing, or could this be the sign of a problem, like
an earlier trauma?

Thanks in advance,
--

8^)~ Sue (remove the x to email)
~~~~
I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was
yesterday. -Adlai Stevenson

As seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/wacvet

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/
http://www.intergnat.com/pussygames/

"Suzie-Q" wrote in message
...
About a year and a half ago I took in a kitten that someone had
dumped at Wal-Mart. (She wasn't feral, like most cats in that
woodsy area, so I'm guessing she was dumped.) She has always had
dilated pupils, even in high light. When my other cats are in
sunlight with only little slits, Sweetie's pupils are still open
wider than normal.

Is this a common thing, or could this be the sign of a problem, like
an earlier trauma?
-----------
The first thing that comes to my mind is that she may be blind. The reason I
think this is that the reason a cat's pupils close to slits in sunlight is
because otherwise too much light would be entering the eye. For one thing,
this is extremely uncomfortable. That's why you often see [human] drug
addicts (narcotics cause dilated pupils) wearing sunglasses all the time. If
your kitty's pupils were unable to react to light, but she could see, I
would think her reaction would be to run away from the light into a darker
place. But, if your kitty is able to stay in bright sunlight and her pupils
remain dilated, I would suspect she can't see. Does she behave normally
otherwise? Please let us know what your vet says.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

-----------
The first thing that comes to my mind is that she may be blind. The reason I
think this is that the reason a cat's pupils close to slits in sunlight is
because otherwise too much light would be entering the eye. For one thing,
this is extremely uncomfortable. That's why you often see [human] drug
addicts (narcotics cause dilated pupils) wearing sunglasses all the time. If
your kitty's pupils were unable to react to light, but she could see, I
would think her reaction would be to run away from the light into a darker
place. But, if your kitty is able to stay in bright sunlight and her pupils
remain dilated, I would suspect she can't see. Does she behave normally
otherwise? Please let us know what your vet says.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

No, this is not normal. Dialated pupils can mean a number of things,
including stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and more. What has
your vet said about this?

You might need to bring her to a feline eye specialist for some tests
if your vet can't find a primary reason for the dilation.

If she is indeed blind, she can still live a long and healthy life.
Right now, you need to make sure there isn't another medical problem
causing the dialation. Please let us know what happens!

In article ,
"cindys" wrote:

"Suzie-Q" wrote in message
...
About a year and a half ago I took in a kitten that someone had
dumped at Wal-Mart. (She wasn't feral, like most cats in that
woodsy area, so I'm guessing she was dumped.) She has always had
dilated pupils, even in high light. When my other cats are in
sunlight with only little slits, Sweetie's pupils are still open
wider than normal.

Is this a common thing, or could this be the sign of a problem, like
an earlier trauma?
-----------
The first thing that comes to my mind is that she may be blind. The reason I
think this is that the reason a cat's pupils close to slits in sunlight is
because otherwise too much light would be entering the eye. For one thing,
this is extremely uncomfortable. That's why you often see [human] drug
addicts (narcotics cause dilated pupils) wearing sunglasses all the time. If
your kitty's pupils were unable to react to light, but she could see, I
would think her reaction would be to run away from the light into a darker
place. But, if your kitty is able to stay in bright sunlight and her pupils
remain dilated, I would suspect she can't see. Does she behave normally
otherwise? Please let us know what your vet says.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

Next time we see the vet, I'll ask. I never thought to ask before
since, yes, she behaves normally. She's not blind.

I've never thought of it as a problem, since she does act normally.
I'm really just curious.

--

8^)~ Sue (remove the x to email)
~~~~
I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was
yesterday. -Adlai Stevenson

As seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/wacvet

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/
http://www.intergnat.com/pussygames/

In article ,
Suzie-Q wrote:

In article ,
"cindys" wrote:

"Suzie-Q" wrote in message
...
About a year and a half ago I took in a kitten that someone had
dumped at Wal-Mart. (She wasn't feral, like most cats in that
woodsy area, so I'm guessing she was dumped.) She has always had
dilated pupils, even in high light. When my other cats are in
sunlight with only little slits, Sweetie's pupils are still open
wider than normal.

Is this a common thing, or could this be the sign of a problem, like
an earlier trauma?
-----------
The first thing that comes to my mind is that she may be blind. The reason
I
think this is that the reason a cat's pupils close to slits in sunlight is
because otherwise too much light would be entering the eye. For one thing,
this is extremely uncomfortable. That's why you often see [human] drug
addicts (narcotics cause dilated pupils) wearing sunglasses all the time.
If
your kitty's pupils were unable to react to light, but she could see, I
would think her reaction would be to run away from the light into a darker
place. But, if your kitty is able to stay in bright sunlight and her pupils
remain dilated, I would suspect she can't see. Does she behave normally
otherwise? Please let us know what your vet says.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

Next time we see the vet, I'll ask. I never thought to ask before
since, yes, she behaves normally. She's not blind.

I've never thought of it as a problem, since she does act normally.
I'm really just curious.

I should add that this isn't a recent change, she's been like
this since I took her in about 18 months ago.

--

8^)~ Sue (remove the x to email)
~~~~
I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was
yesterday. -Adlai Stevenson

As seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/wacvet

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/
http://www.intergnat.com/pussygames/

Hi there,

One of the kittens born in our house to a newly-acquired stray, had
pupils that did not dilate. It gave him the cutest teddy-bear look.

The vet thinks the mother had distemper while pregnant and he had
neurological problems because of that. He can see, but his eyesight is
not good at all. His adoptive mother thinks he can just see shadows
although he gets around very well.

Rhonda

Suzie-Q wrote:
About a year and a half ago I took in a kitten that someone had
dumped at Wal-Mart. (She wasn't feral, like most cats in that
woodsy area, so I'm guessing she was dumped.) She has always had
dilated pupils, even in high light. When my other cats are in
sunlight with only little slits, Sweetie's pupils are still open
wider than normal.

Is this a common thing, or could this be the sign of a problem, like
an earlier trauma?

Thanks in advance,

How do you know? Blind cats behave very normally. When my elderly cat's
vision got very bad, my vet told me it was not unusual for cats to be blind
and their slaves would never know because they (the cats) are so adept at
compensating.
Best regards,
---Cindy S

I've experienced this myself. My one cat is blind in one eye, and we
didn't even know until the eye specialist told us!

Since this cat has had dialated eyes since kittenhood, it's possible
there isn't an immediate danger here. However, this is still worth a
vet visit. if exposing her to sunlight might be painful for her,
wouldn't you do all you could to make her comfortable? And at least
you could get some answers about what happened to her.