something is wrong with my cat's health! vet found nothing.

have a 3 year old silver female tabby cat that had all required shots. this cat has always been kept indoors except for 2 nights she got out,2 years ago. guess what happen? we got 2 cats now.

this cat has always liked sweets,although only rarely has she gotten to eat sweets.
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HERE'S WHAT'S WRONG:

First of all, i have brought this cat to a vet who said the cat was fine. Trust me,i cant afford to bring myself to a doctor so i would like to take what the vet said as final. but something is wrong with the cats health.

off and on during the past 3 years,this cat's one particular eye will tend to swell up,pus up close,then it will go away. last time it pussed up,i brought the cat to the vet who said the cat is fine.


2 weeks ago,my cat has started to shake her head really fast(my intuiton says no mites but something else). today,her eye started swelling up,pussing up close.


so i post this message

Could your cat maybe have allergies? Has the vet explored that option? Or perhaps, she's getting bitten by insects? My Ivo had an episode where her eyelid swelled up and got pussy. By the time I took her to the vets, it had settled mostly. The vet guessed that she had been bit on the eyelid by a bug. Is it always the same eye each time?

If you are unhappy with your current vet's diagnosis, I would recommend seeking a second opinion.

It sounds to me as if your kitty may have problems related to an upper respitory infection as a kitten or young cat. More than likely it is due to the feline herpes virus. it may also be why she is shaking her head. Her eye is bothering her and she's trying to make it go away.
You want to make sure and get some eye ointment, Terramycin is usally prescribed for this. You can also start putting some L-Lysine in her food. You just crush a 500mg tablet and sprinkle it on her food.

(thanks first of all for replying)

to respond to your q's:
i'm almost sure its the same eye
insects? not likely. both cats have never had one flea in years.

the upper respirtory infection might be a possiblity. now that i think of all,my cat tends to sleep upright and makes irregular noises when she breaths,especially during exhaling.


a second opinion? there are not many vets in my area,i have comtemplated driving 5 hours to angell vet hospital in boston.

My cat has just recovered from a two week bout of (conjunctivitis?) swollen eye, caused by an insect bite - he never goes outside, except to the vet, and has never had fleas. But the vet could actually see the area with the bite, so we think a flying ant or something got inside and Nik was playing with it. (he had no discharge or pus though).

Your cat might be a carrier of cat flu or feline herpes virus. Some cats have this in their system (maybe from having it when they were young) and it re-emerges from time to time, especially in times of stress. It might be worth doing a google search on feline herpes virus and seeing if that could be the problem.

And I think if at all possible, you should see another vet - it concerns me that the vet said your cat was fine when his eye was actually swollen closed.

Good luck

Naomi

I'm orginally from Maine, and I can say that I have never heard any of my friends who are pet owners, rescuers are breeders screaming out about any spactacular vet in their area.

Most the vets in Maine... seem to have a good enough heart, but they are a bit behind the times. There is something clearly wrong with your animal, and at the very least a vet could explain to you what was causing her eye to do this, whether or not he felt it needed to be treated.

I agree with maybe bugs, or allergies, or a URI, I'm betting more so towards the last two.
I know it's winter time up there right now and allergies are at a low, how long has your cat been like this, does it seem to get worse durring different seasons.
Another question is food, what are you feeding the cat, and how long has she been on that specific diet. Lots of cats can be allergic to specific foods or products in the foods as well.
Lamb & Rice diets are often benifical for cats who are allergic to things like beef & corn.

I do feel you should see another vet, do some research about different vets in your area. Call the new vet and explain what happened with the last vet and that you don't want the same thing to happen. If you tell them that, almost any vet will try their best to NOT give you the same answer the last vet did. If you can afford it, get some blood work done, getting all the shots is one thing, but blood work should be done if there isn't an obvious diagnosis.
If you find a more competant vet they will be able to advice you on all the tests that could be done to rule out additional factors causing this.

Good luck! The next vet you find, just make sure you express your concern, go in with the cat, if they say it's fine ask "Why is he fine, can you explain to me what it is that makes this a healthy problem, that doesn't need treatment?" etc etc etc
It's not only a vets job to heal animals, but to help owners understand what is going on with their pets as well, it's terrible to be left in the dark.

FOOD:the cat has been given dry food in addition to at least 1 can of tunafish(peoplekind)every week for years. (i just learned real tunafish might not be a good food for cats-the cat begs for tunafish).

BUG CAUSING EYE PROBLEM?":bugs? i have a second cat(her kitten-2 y.o.)who doesnt have eye problems.

EYE OCCURANCE:i'd say my cat's eye problem occurs once every 5 months.

ABOUT VETS: your right angelzoo,i have got that feeling,the vets in Maine do not seem to be compassionate about cats. i also got a feeling the vet who checked my cat was not a college-degreed vet,although practising like one including surgical procedures
About searching for a new vet,there are some "cat hospital only" type vet places opening up half a day ride from where i live. should i assume these places are superb for treating cats?

Your best bet to find a good vet is to ask the clinic if they declaw, if they do not, they are aware of good cat care.

Hissy: That's a very good point. Try that too. Just find out what your their views are on things, the more you have incommon or the more they know, the more you will like them and the communication will go smoother. Plus if they know what things are good and bad then that means they are UP TO DATE.

A lot or most of the vets in Maine which myself an anyone I know have come across, just are not good, they encourage declawing, if a cat starts to pee in the house they say "just keep it outside!"

Babysfather: No more human tunafish, PERIOD. Even if he begs for food, why would you give him something which could be posionous? Feed wet cat food instead or healthy people food, like chicken, or raw egg yolk.
What brand are you feeding, that could be an important factor. But I doubt it's food related since you say it happens about once every 5 months.
Do you happen to have a picture of the cat while his eye is effected? And how do you help him to to treat it when this happens? About the vet, I'd say to first call the closest vets to you and speak to them about your situation, and just find out if they are the type of vet you think will be willing to help you, if not, then move on to the next alternative, which I guess would be the cat hospital.
I don't know which town you are in, so I don't know if I could specifically list off vets.
If you have a local Humane Society or other shelter, ask them where they would recomend.

today,3 days later,the eye has cleared up. although the pattern has been it will become swollen with pus again about 5 months,so its a reoccuring health ailment that has me concerned(i once had a close relation with a cat who died when i acted too late when the cat got sick).


CAT'S DIET : up until about 1 month ago, my thinking was feeding my cat people-type tunafish(geisha brand)was healthy:ie it was tuna fish processed for human consumption. now i finding out tunafish is not good for cats.
angelzoo,about giesha brand ingredients,my cat had one of those mysterious oddities,the cat would absolutely refuse eating any other tunafish brand except geisha.

CAT VET:yes i have concluded maine has poor health services,people and cat. maine is not a nice place to live.
i will inquire about the declawing question when i search for a new vet.

CAT's EYE TREATMENT:i placed an eye ointment for cats(puralube vet ointment-a petrolatum ocular lubicant). the cat's pupil seems not to change in size,but she has reddness

Well.... I don't know THAT much about feeding tuna. But I know with any animal, if there is one food that they want they WILL hold out for it. Including Tuna... if you read this statement, it further proves my point.

"TUNA: Tuna is low in calcium and too high in phosphorous. It may cause vitamin E deficiency or yellow-fat disease. Plus it may increase susceptibility to "rubber jaw," a form of osteoporosis. Several problems are associated with feeding cats tuna. The first one is that it's highly addictive--cats love tuna oil! Additionally, "people" tuna lacks many of the essential amino acids and vitamins, especially taurine and vitamin A, B and E, necessary for feline health. Be aware that the high amount of mercury in some canned tuna is detrimental to your cat's health. Tuna should not be a staple of any cat's diet. Reserve it for an extra special treat."

I do not know if his current health problem could be due in part to the large amount of human tuna you fed him. I advice that whatever vet you see next, you bring that issue up with him/her.
What is it that you are feeding your cat now, as in what brand? Another thought, is since during that period the cat wasn't getting adequit nutrition for so long, perhaps it bogged down it's immune system making it prone to a URI.

Here is a link I think you should read, and it states about how tuna can basically form "cat like allergies" (sounds like your baby perhaps?)

http://www.vetcentric.com/reference/displayFAQ.cfm?ARTICLE=168

And yes, good luck I hope those articles help, and I hope you are able to find the help your baby deservs!

my hoots gets eye irritaion every 4-8 months or so. and her eye swells shut for a few days. but then it goes away. and she is just fine. I took her to the vet, he checked her eye, it was ok. I have took her to 3 different vets with the same results. And she has been having the same problem now for 10 years! but it goes away in a few days so i just live with it. The eye being shut seems scary, i know. I realy know! but when the cat gets an irritation it rubs is eye, and that makes it swell, and that makes the cat rub it more and that makes the eye lids swell more and shut. If there is a lot of greenish colered discharge, or thick yellow cheeze curdy mucus coming from the eye. that is pus, that is indicative of an infection.If the cats eye is irratated and he is just rubbing it, and it goes away in afew days and bothers him/her no more It might be be an recurring irratation and nothing more. This is my experience, please seek out vet care when in doubt.