Question about cat’s vision/eye problems

J

Jingleballs

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Sorry I know this isn’t really NL but I wasn’t sure where to put it – maybe we need an “all about cats” section!

We have a cat on our yard – she’s been there since before my Y/O took over - in fact it’s though she’s been there for over 15 years and no one knows her age.

I’ve taken to looking after her as she was a bag of bones when I moved there as the yards previous owners had moved away and left her.

She’s well fed – probably more than she needs but she’s a greedy wee thing! She’s wormed regularly and has a nice cosy cat bed to sleep in. She’s never had any real health problems since I’ve been there – over 2 years now!

I noticed on Sunday that one of her eyes was a slightly different colour than normal – more orange than yellow but it wasn’t massively noticeable so I though it was maybe a trick of the light.

The issue is still there and last night I noticed that this eye was not reflecting in the light as it usually does and that eye was not glowing in the headlights while the other one was so there is obviously something wrong.

Other than this she seems fine although recently she’s sometimes seemed a bit confused – she meows for her dinner, you feed her and then two minutes later she’s back meowing at you for food even though she’s not finished what’s there – although to be fair I’ve been feeding her the tins of food recently and the little bugger has decided she prefers the sachets and she’s been good since I put her back on them.

Anyone have any suggestions what it could be? She likes to sleep in the hay so could she have just jagged her eye?
 
If that eye doesn't reflect light anymore, it sounds more than a temporary problem, more like changes in the structure of the retina, a growth maybe..? (I'm no vet, just watch lots of vet programmes on TV!).

As for the memory loss, our old cat was exactly the same in her twilight years. She went completely dotty, knew she wanted something but could never remember what!
 
Any chance you could take her to the vet? Do you know her age? It could possibly be an ulcer. She may also have been clipped by a car if her behaviour has suddenly changed or it could be onset dementia due to age.

Sorry am having to type this 1 handed as other hand is being used by a black cat for a pillow... :D
 
She's a bit funny about being handled - you can't really pick her up nevermind get her into a cat crate but depending on how she is over the next day or so she may need a trip to the vet - not looking forward to that!
 
Sorry can't help what it could be. But just a thought, if you think the cat couldn't be put in a box easily, then you could see if anyone else was getting the vet out at your yard and see if they could look at the cat at the same time? We once took our cat down to the yard when my pony was getting injections, and the vet was more that happy to look at her aswell!
 
I would be tempted to leave well alone if she's old and otherwise ok. I had an old cat with an injured eye that healed its self although he was blind in that eye. Years later I took him to the vets as it had started to weep and he took the eye out. He never really recovered and was pts a few months later. Why not just leave her to finish up her days in peace ?
 
Sounds just like my cat at the moment! Could be glaucoma.

My cat's eye had started to change colour and stop reflecting the light like the normal eye does, on closer inspection the pupil in the bad eye is always slightly more dilated than the good eye. I was at university so only saw him in the holidays and over the past couple of years it has been getting progressively worse.

Glaucoma is a condition in which the eye does not regulate fluid in the eyes properly and fluid can build up, causing increased pressure in the eye. I took my cat to the vets before Christmas and was given eye drops to try to decrease the pressure. It can be very painful, and I have noticed that sometimes my greedy cat will not eat his breakfast and curl up somewhere and not want any attention which is unlike him. Most of the time he is fine.

My cat's eye is too far gone for eye drops to have any affect and he is having his eye removed tomorrow. The blood vessels in his eye are now non existent therefore there is no blood supply to his retina and he most certainly is completely blind in that eye now (no reaction when vet moves her finger towards his eye). His eye is bigger than the other on close inspection due to increased pressure.

It can be caused my trauma, but more likely something like uveitits (spelling?) in which case the second eye may end up the same way. My cat had a huge abscess on the side of his face a few years ago which the vet thinks may have caused this....so hopefully his second eye will be fine.

I am getting the op done as he is only 10, and no point in him having a painful blind eye but sounds like this cat is very old. Could you take her to the vets and get some eyedrops? These need applying every 12 hours for the rest of her life mind. However if se is very old and probably feral then I may leave her alone.
 
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