Cats' Eye Diseases

Unlike some pet afflictions, which may involve vague and ambiguous symptoms such as lethargy or sneezing, feline eye diseases involve readily visual cues in the form of discoloration, cloudiness and discharge. This makes diseases of the eyes easier to spot and diagnose in a timely manner. Acting on those cues as soon as possible is important to prevent permanent vision damage in your cat.

  1. Feline Uveitis

    • Feline uveitis is an often chronic swelling of the pigmented part of the eye, including the iris, the choroid and the ciliary body. Because the iris, choroid and ciliary body parts of the eye are so close to each other, an inflammation of one of these eye parts usually leads to an inflammation, of a greater or lesser degree, in another.

      Symptoms of feline uveitis include light sensitivity and squinting, excessive eye watering, redness of the whites of the eye or discoloration of the iris, malformed pupil shape and cloudiness of the eye. Causes of uveitis are often an infectious disease, trauma or cancer.

      Feline uveitis symptoms are to be taken seriously and addressed with a veterinarian immediately, as untreated uveitis leads to blindness and ocular pain.

    Feline Herpes Virus 1

    • Cats can get a form of "pink eye," much in the same manner that people do. Known as feline herpes virus 1, or FHV-1, the virus is passed on from one cat to another. Telltale signs of an FHV-1 infection in your cats' eye include symptoms that might normally be associated with a cold, including sneezing, runny nose, fever and lethargy. More visual cues may come in the form of eye discharge, a pink tint to the whites of the eyes (conjunctivitis) and a swelling of the covering of the eye. While not quite as severely damaging as uveitis, an FHV-1 infection is nonetheless a serious matter requiring time-sensitive attention, as the vision of your cat could become permanently impaired without treatment.

      The common practices among veterinarians in dealing with FHV-1 is to prescribe an antibiotic, and a medicated eye drop. The FHV-1 virus will usually have run its course after three weeks.

    Chlamydia Feline Eye Disease

    • Chlamydia feline eye disease, or chlamydiosis, is a common bacterial infection of the eyes in felines. As with FHV-1, chlamydiosis is passed from one cat to another, and includes symptoms such as conjunctivitis and eye discharge, though a key difference with chlamydiosis is that the cornea is not affected. Frequently, both eyes will eventually become infected as the disease spreads.

      Chlamydiosis is highly treatable with antibiotics such as tetracycline.