Keratitis Eye Disease in Cats

When a cat's eyes are teared up, there can be several causes. Keratitis is one of them. To know for certain, the cat must visit the veterinarian, who can run diagnostic testing. As keratitis is a chronic disease, cat owners should be aware that control and treatment of it requires a long-term commitment. Not controlling the disease can lead to blindness. However, many cats live long lives with the disease.

  1. What Is Keratitis?

    • Keratisis is the inflammation of the cornea, which is the clear front layer of the eyeball. It is sometimes called feline dry eye. Exact causes are hard to pinpoint, but a couple of culprits include eye injury or a feline herpes virus that is not transmissible to humans.

    Symptoms

    • A cat suffering from keratitis can exhibit a combination of any of the following symptoms: squinting even when not in direct sunlight, a mucus discharge from the infected eye, rubbing its paw across the eye excessively, fever, sneezing, nasal discharge and being less active.

    Types

    • Ulcerative keratitis is the diagnostic name used when the condition is caused by injury to the eye surface. Chronic degenerative keratitis is common in Persian, Siamese and domestic shorthair cats in which the infection of the cornea occurs frequently. Eosinophilic keratitis is a more advanced form of this disease, involving the white of the eye as the cornea turns pink and as the disease progresses, is covered by a white plaque.

    Diagnosis

    • A clinical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis. This may involve collection of corneal tissue to be studied under microscope. A fluorescein stain that uses orange dye to detect damage to the cornea may be applied to the affected eye. Rose Bengal is another eye drop stain that will highlight damaged cornea cells. The veterinarian may swab the cat's eye to run a Polymerase Chain Reaction test that identifies viruses.

    Treatment

    • There is no absolute cure for keratitis. Because it is often caused by a feline herpes virus, the best course of treatment is prevention. Once a cat has the disease, outbreak control is the best option. Boosting a cat's immune system will help. For accompanying bacterial infections, veterinarians prescribe eye drops and ointments.