Cat Care | Eye Care
Your cat’s eyes are sensitive, take care of them for a life of full and healthy vision!
Taking care of your cat’s eyes requires attention, diligence, and visits to your vet. However, don’t fret. There are many ways to ensure your cat’s healthy eyesight for many years. Starting with regular visits to the vet, you can do checks to make sure no debris or illnesses have made their way into your cat’s eye or eyelid.
Common Symptoms of Eye Illness
- Red inner eyelids
- Matter in the eyes or in the corners
- Cloudiness in the eyes
- A dull eye surface
- A “third” eyelid coming across the eye
- Excessive tearing or unusual discharge’
- Tear stained fur around the eyes
Tests Your Vet Can Give
- Fluorescein stain to identify corneal ulcers
- Schirmer Tear Test to regulate tear production
- Ocular pressure to test for glaucoma
- Ophthalmoscope to peer into the eye chamber
Common Eye Conditions in Cats
Conjunctivitis is when inflammation of the membrane that covers the inner lining of the eye and the white as well. It can be caused by allergies, bacterial infection, fungus, or viruses. In fact, recurrent or chronic conjunctivitis in cats is often the result of the herpes virus, which can return over and over again. This can be infectious to other cats and humans, so keep infected cats away.
Corneal Ulceration can occur when the surface of the eye is scratched or damaged, either as a result from a fight with another cat, personal injury, or more serious, a bacterial or viral infection.
Watery Eyes is when your cat constantly cries or “weeps”, or if the fur around them appears to be “stained”; he may suffer from this from an inherited trait, when the tear ducts are malformed and don’t produce normal amounts of tears.
Cataracts & Glaucoma, much like humans, can have serious, debilitating eye diseases. Cataracts, which is when vision is hindered by clouding in the eye, is most seen in elderly cats. A thorough evaluation from Dewinton is necessary as surgery is the only treatment. Glaucoma comes from too much pressure on the eye’s interior, which is a result of a decrease in the amount of fluid draining from it.
Home Eye Care Tips
- Remove any debris or discharge from your cat’s eye using a cotton ball moistened with warm water
- Hold your cat sideways on your lap or place him on a table at a comfortable height
- Follow any instructions given to you by your vet, or that are on the bottle
- Use one hand to hold the bottle, between the thumb and index finger, while using the other to support the cat’s head
- Tilt the head back, and to avoid blinking, use your free fingers to hold the eyelids open
- Hold the bottle close to the eye but do not touch the eye. Squeeze the drops onto the eye and once the drops are in, release the head
- Your cat will blink naturally, which will spread the medication
- Remove any debris or discharge from your cat’s eye using a cotton ball moistened with warm water
- Hold your cat sideways on your lap or place him on a table at a comfortable height
- Follow any instructions given to you by your vet, or that are on the cream
- Gently pull the upper and lower eyelids back
- Hold the tube parallel to the lower eyelid, squeeze out the ointment to the edge of the eyelid
- Massage upper and lower eyelids together to spread the medication
- Release your cats head and let them blink
