my old cat has started to sleep w/his eyes open

Have any of you experienced the same thing? Any info?

One of my cats does it sometimes, but not very often, and the eyes definitely aren't 100% open. When she does it maybe once a month or so, usually her outer lids are half open, but the inner ones are less than a quarter of the way open.

I know my girlfriend knows a girl who sleeps with her eyes open all the time. Actually, I think it happens to a lot people during the REM cycle of their sleep, but it would only be for part of the night. It probably happens a bit in every species. As for it being serious or not, I'm not sure...

I don't have any info on that, sorry, but my RB kitty Roo used to do that and it would freak me out! I'd always have wake her to make sure she was still alive...

The only time I've seen that was in an extreme, the eyes were always open and it was a sign of real dehydration

He is old, undergoing some thyroid issue and kidney failure. (I really wonder how much of that particualr disease in cats is due to the common cat foof people get(I have for years switched to petguard and wysong))
He used to sleep w/his eyes closed but now they are open, w/the inner eyelid partially covering them. Even in deep sleep or rem sleep he doesn't closes. (wonder what cats dream)
I'll have to ask the vet.
Parli italiano Marcello?

Originally Posted by oregon

He is old, undergoing some thyroid issue and kidney failure. (I really wonder how much of that particualr disease in cats is due to the common cat foof people get(I have for years switched to petguard and wysong))
He used to sleep w/his eyes closed but now they are open, w/the inner eyelid partially covering them. Even in deep sleep or rem sleep he doesn't closes. (wonder what cats dream)
I'll have to ask the vet.
Parli italiano Marcello?

Click to expand...

I would think that does go along with dehydration...are you giving your kitty in sub-q fluids or wasn't that prescribed for his kidney failure?

In Bookie, shortly before it was time to let her go, she had this odd opened eyed look constantly, when I had her in for an exam as we tried to stablize her, my vet told me this was a sign of dehydration. I was only familiar with checking skin tenting as a way of assessing hydration status.

Here is a link to a site discussing signs of dehydration (and more) in a cat:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/DehydrationInCats.htm

I am fortunate that Tyler, who is my 17 1/2 y.o. and has hyperthyroidism and early crf also, does not have dehydration issues (knock on wood).

I have been giving sub cutaneus fluids, but i'll check w/the vet.
thanks for the tip