cat eye problem.

My female cat started very last night with an aggressive pawing at
her own eye, which seemed closed. I could not see anything in there
when I looked gently except it was obviously sore, She settled on
my bed for the night although her eye was closed, and all as quiet
until 3am when she had a pawing at the eye session and agitated
whining. I picked her up and soothed her and she lay next to me for
the remainder of the night, but in the morning again the same. So
away to the vet first thing in the morning. The vet examined the eye
and said there was a corneal ulcer, about 8mm, probably caused by
some trauma (her eye had seemed OK yesterday) and she gave a
painkiller/anti inflammatory injection and some eye antibiotic
medication to be applied twice a day. The cats eye is closed/almost
closed most of the time at the moment which I guess is to be expected
at this stage, The vet would like to see her in 48 hours to
examine the eye again with the approptriate light

But I am concerned about when the intraveneous shot runs out. I
should have asked how long it would be effective. Then I would have
thought some oral painkiller mioght be helpful and I should have been
pleased to pay to have some prescribed but it was not suggested and I
didnt think to ask. No advice was given about an elizebethan
collar, and my worry is that in a matter of hours, she will again
start pawing at her eye, witrh the risk of making matters worse.

Should I go back this evening and raise these questions ? I
gather the chances of recovery are very promising but permanent damage
can result from the cats own pawing

Also this cat is a bit more snuffly than my other cat. I am
wondering about tear ducts etc but the vet thinks its unlikely to
explain the problem

Any advice appreciated

Should I go back this evening and raise these questions ? I
gather the chances of recovery are very promising but permanent damage
can result from the cats own pawing


YES. Since she is pawing at her eye so much, I would get an E collar
and put it on her for a couple of days. She probably won't like it,
but corneal uclers can cause blindness in extreme cases, so I would
not take that chance.

I hope she's feeling better soon.

On 27 Nov, 14:10, "Rene S." wrote:
Should I go back this evening and raise these questions ? I
gather the chances of recovery are very promising but permanent damage
can result from the cats own pawing

YES. Since she is pawing at her eye so much, I would get an E collar
and put it on her for a couple of days. She probably won't like it,
but corneal uclers can cause blindness in extreme cases, so I would
not take that chance.

I hope she's feeling better soon.

Thank you, Yes, I will at the minimum, get an E Collar. The poor
thing. her eye is almost totally closed up, but that will at least
be protecting the cornea while it is

"dragon" wrote
But I am concerned about when the intraveneous shot runs out. I
should have asked how long it would be effective. Then I would have
thought some oral painkiller mioght be helpful and I should have been
pleased to pay to have some prescribed but it was not suggested and I
didnt think to ask. No advice was given about an elizebethan
collar, and my worry is that in a matter of hours, she will again
start pawing at her eye, witrh the risk of making matters worse.

Should I go back this evening and raise these questions ? I
gather the chances of recovery are very promising but permanent damage
can result from the cats own pawing


I surely would. Some times I just wonder about these guys. I mean, the
pawing
is an obvious risk, so he should have addressed the issue. Poor baby, they
are
so stoic, it must really hurt her. I'm sorry you both have to go through
this.

"dragon" wrote
Thank you, Yes, I will at the minimum, get an E Collar. The poor
thing. her eye is almost totally closed up, but that will at least
be protecting the cornea while it is

I wonder how she hurt it?

On Nov 27, 4:33 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"dragon" wrote

Thank you, Yes, I will at the minimum, get an E Collar. The poor
thing. her eye is almost totally closed up, but that will at least
be protecting the cornea while it is

I wonder how she hurt it?

one of my cats years ago injured her eyeball we think in a scrap with
another cat. she must have got a claw in the eye or something the vet
thought at the time, and we caught it it before anything like
infection set in, just eyedrops and stuff to clear it up and aid
healing

On 27 Nov, 17:22, bookie wrote:
On Nov 27, 4:33 pm, "cybercat" wrote:

"dragon" wrote

Thank you, Yes, I will at the minimum, get an E Collar. The poor
thing. her eye is almost totally closed up, but that will at least
be protecting the cornea while it is

I wonder how she hurt it?

one of my cats years ago injured her eyeball we think in a scrap with
another cat. she must have got a claw in the eye or something the vet
thought at the time, and we caught it it before anything like
infection set in, just eyedrops and stuff to clear it up and aid
healing

I really appreciate all the replies so far. I dont know how it
happened. She seemed fine yesterday evening, but she may have caught
a paw in a play fight with my other cat. Hard to say. But that
eye is sometimes a little vulnerable to becomomg mucky, usually
resolved simply by a with with some clean wet tissue. Never anything
like this though before.

She messed her carrying cage at the vets she was so stressed, then
after a dye and light test we were able to come home. During the
day she ate well, played several times for up to 5 to 10 minutes
and groomed normally., and it seemed the eye got gradually a bit less
closed, sometimes around half open. Then early evening I used the
first application of fulcithalmic and that made her whinge and paw at
herself again a;beit only for a second . But probably because an
initial stinging is to be expected (I looked at some internet notes
about the drug) . Since abouit 6pm she hasnt been pawing at it
(now 9.35 pm UK time) but she is keeping the eye fairly closed.

I have seen lots of stuff on the net about these problems and how
they can date back to viruses caught when kittens etc etc.

I have the E collar ready, and will keep it by the bed. Hopefulyl
I wont need to put it on her.

I hope there isnt any distressing pain for her in the night being
as the vets painkiller injection was at 9 am . One because I
wouldnt want her to suffer, and (2) because the vet charges 120
pounds to come out in the night and in my opinion, oral painkillers
should have been prescribed this morning for this 8mm abrasion/ulcer
with some conjunctivitis with the cause unknown. It would be
outt=rageous to have to pay 120 in these circumstances.

The vet probably has seen hundreds of cases and probably I am getting
over worried about a everyday case .

I will keep you posted

Thanks again.

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:53:42 -0800 (PST), dragon
wrote:

On 27 Nov, 17:22, bookie wrote:
On Nov 27, 4:33 pm, "cybercat" wrote:

"dragon" wrote

Thank you, Yes, I will at the minimum, get an E Collar. The poor
thing. her eye is almost totally closed up, but that will at least
be protecting the cornea while it is

I wonder how she hurt it?

one of my cats years ago injured her eyeball we think in a scrap with
another cat. she must have got a claw in the eye or something the vet
thought at the time, and we caught it it before anything like
infection set in, just eyedrops and stuff to clear it up and aid
healing

I really appreciate all the replies so far. I dont know how it
happened. She seemed fine yesterday evening, but she may have caught
a paw in a play fight with my other cat. Hard to say. But that
eye is sometimes a little vulnerable to becomomg mucky, usually
resolved simply by a with with some clean wet tissue. Never anything
like this though before.

She messed her carrying cage at the vets she was so stressed, then
after a dye and light test we were able to come home. During the
day she ate well, played several times for up to 5 to 10 minutes
and groomed normally., and it seemed the eye got gradually a bit less
closed, sometimes around half open. Then early evening I used the
first application of fulcithalmic and that made her whinge and paw at
herself again a;beit only for a second . But probably because an
initial stinging is to be expected (I looked at some internet notes
about the drug) . Since abouit 6pm she hasnt been pawing at it
(now 9.35 pm UK time) but she is keeping the eye fairly closed.

I have seen lots of stuff on the net about these problems and how
they can date back to viruses caught when kittens etc etc.

I have the E collar ready, and will keep it by the bed. Hopefulyl
I wont need to put it on her.

I hope there isnt any distressing pain for her in the night being
as the vets painkiller injection was at 9 am . One because I
wouldnt want her to suffer, and (2) because the vet charges 120
pounds to come out in the night and in my opinion, oral painkillers
should have been prescribed this morning for this 8mm abrasion/ulcer
with some conjunctivitis with the cause unknown. It would be
outt=rageous to have to pay 120 in these circumstances.

The vet probably has seen hundreds of cases and probably I am getting
over worried about a everyday case .

I will keep you posted

Thanks again.

Many years ago I got some furniture stripper (heavy duty solvents..) in
my eye.

I went to the hospital, and they examined my eye, etc. etc. They put
some opthalmic lidocaine (like novocaine for dental work) to numb the
eye while they did the exams.

Damage was not too bad.

They gave me a script for some codeine. just as I was leaving the
emergency room, I grabbed the little bottle of opthalmic lidocaine.

I filled the script for the codeine, and it didn't help AT ALL. My eye
really, really hurt.

The opthalmic lidocaine numbed the pain instantly, but only lasted about
3 hours. Still, it worked far, far better than the narcotic pain
killers.

If your kitty has an ulcer on the cornea itself, she is probably in a
*lot* of pain. The cornea is very rich in nerve endings. The damage to
my eye was to the side of the cornea, but the pain was still very bad.

You might ask about a topical anesthetic.

I have just called my vet's office after I've taken my cat in, and asked
for additional meds, and have been able to just pick them up, without
having to pay to see the vet. But I have a very, very good vet.

My advice would be to put the E-collar on any time you are not at home.

I hate putting an E-collar on any kitty, but one paw at her eye could
undo all previous healing, and put her at risk for an infection.

Corneal infection can be very, very serious. The cornea is very poorly
vascularized, (or perhaps not at all, I'm forgetting my anatomy...) so
that if bacteria (or virus) gets in there and is not handled by the
topical antibiotic, serious damage to the cornea can result very
quickly.

I hope that I am being over cautious, but I have seen cats lose an eye
to an infection, several times.

I hope your cat gets well quickly, and makes a complete recovery. Please
keep us posted.