Entropion

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This thread has been moved here from another as it is its own topic.

Quote:

"Mosi Medical: May 2013---Spay. October 2013---Left eye Entropion. December 2013--- Foreign object removal surgery. January 2014---Right eye Entropion."

Born: December 3, 2012. Breed: Maine Coon.
Feed: Wellness grain free canned and dry.



Mosi Maine Coon
(29 photos)"

 I am curious about this condition because it was once recommended for one of our semi-feral rescues.  However, his eyes did not seem to bother him at all after the initial treatment for the infection he came in with, so we opted not to have it done at that time because he was not very trusting and not at all amenable to treatments of any kind, and I think it would have been torture for him at that time.  I have not known anyone whose cat had the surgery before so I was curious.

Off topic but I must say to @mosimom: Mosi is the prettiest MC I've ever seen. Do you show her?

Mosi started squinting her left eye a lot so we took her to the vet. He did the dye test and found a small ulcer on the eye. He rinsed out the eye and sent us home with eye drops. The drops were not helping and within five days she closed her eye completely. We took her back and saw a different vet. He diagnosed it as entropion. Because she was still a kitten and growing he advised to tack it with stitches instead of surgery. Ten days in a cone. It worked for three months and she started squinting again. We were advised to do the surgery. Ten days in a cone and now fully cured.
Her right eye was absolutely fine until she received a sub-q treatment two days after her FO surgery in December. The fluid ran and settled on the right side of her face. It was so swollen she couldn't open the eye. The swelling went down within two days, but she kept her right eye closed. Because of the stress of her situation and some weight loss, it caused her eyes to temporarily retract back in her head. Her right eye lid was very loose around the eye and it started to curl in on the bottom. Two weeks after her stitches from the FO surgery came out (she had to have some freedom fun from the cone first), she had the right eye entropion surgery.
Because of the distinct shape of the Maine Coon head, they have high cheek bones and the hair there is very close to the eye. Entropion is rare in cats, but Maine Coons are one of the most susceptible. Mosi's sire is from Europe where they breed for the more ferrel look....so higher cheekbones. You end up paying for it one way or the other!

bigperm20.....
Thank you. I don't think Mosi or I would enjoy showing at all. Never crossed my mind.

Mosi's papa.

She does have a much "wilder" look than the Coonies bred here in the states. I love that big muzzle too. Very striking.

Are you saying that the US bred MCD's are less likely to have eye problems?

I think US breeders are the same, but they are making it worse by bringing in more and more of the Europeon line. I expect this eye problem to escalate because of that.... IMO. What draws people now is that feral look and the breeders are looking to Europe lines to accommodate.

I didn't even know what entropion was until Mosi was diagnosed. It is a simple surgery to fix and not that expensive ($300 per lid), but it is an unpleasant surprise.

Thanks for sharing that in such detail, @Mosimom.  It has actually put my mind at ease that I definitely did the right thing for this cat.  He was already about 3 years old, not neutered, had bad ear mites with infection, unable to hear much if anything, and cruddy eyes with infection & ulcers and not able to see much if anything, and he had been in Animal Control for a month!  He was an owner turn in -- oh, and he's a gorgeous cat, seal point snowshow shorthair and a polydactyl as well (with nails growing all the way around and into his paw pads).  The only reason he wasn't euthanized was that some of the "Friends Of Shelter Animals" for the county he was in had taken a liking to him so they were advertising him on Petfinder and trying to find a rescue to take him. He was too much of a mess to offer for adoption!  So for some reason the Cat Goddess made me stumble across their ad while I was putting some of my own cats on Petfinder, and I'm partial to Siamese mixes because so often they have emotional problems with losing their families and ending up in shelters and they act mean when they are really scared and depressed, etc.  So since I'm a volunteer with another group who had "pulling rights" with that county, I said I would foster him for them to get him out.  So the poor guy finally got out of jail only to be shlepped to the vet, poked and prodded, tested for leukemia and aids, vaccinated, neutered, toenails clipped and extracted from his paw pads, and then brought back to me.  I had to take him to the eye specialist a couple of times, and he doesn't travel well at all.  He always drools, back then he vomited too, and he pees and poops in the carrier, and the vet is only 15 minutes away, but the eye doctor is half an hour away.  Then he would fight them tooth and claw to avoid being examined and when he was back in his safe room at home, he didn't want to be messed with.  Eye drops?  Forget it.  Pills?  Not a chance. Liquid medicine?  Surely you jest. (This is when I discovered Clavamox pills have hardly any taste and can be crushed and wrapped in turkey bacon and are gobbled down with no hesitation.)  The drops the vet prescribed for his eye ulcers were ones I had used on my own eye ulcer a few months before and they sting like crazy and have to be put in every two hours.  AND they didn't do much at all.  I had ended up ordering WONDERFUL antiviral eye gel called "Virgan" (in England) and "Zirgan" in the U.S.  A tiny tube in the US. costs over $200 and medicare (which I have) doesn't cover it, which is why I used the other stuff after the sample from the eye doctor ran out, but I ended up being able to get it through Canada Drugs for $58 including shipping!  I got the "Virgan" which was shipped from England!  (We cannot order drugs from England, so it had to come through Canada drugs.)  Anyhow the eye vet had not even known about it, but it worked very quickly on the cat -- I just refilled my own prescription and used it for him.  His ulcers cleared and he has not had any eye problems in the 3 years since.  His personality improved over time and as less treatments were needed.  I can even clip his claws myself now and he cooperates!  His eyes are very deep set but as long as there's no swelling, entropion doesn't seem to be a problem.  I can't even imagine how he would have handled 10 days in a cone back then, but I am now SO GLAD I said no to surgery at the time and did a wait and see approach. 
This photo was taken in November of 2011, after I had had him about 6 months.  Look at all those toes!

Wow, quite an experience. He is handsome! I see the toes too! So lucky you found him and fostered. Fate.

Entropion is so obvious that you can't miss it. I have no idea how the first vet missed it....he wasn't a cat friendly vet. I feel sorry for the kitties that have to have all four lids done. What a sight! And a cone is a must because pulling stitches from scratching/rubbing can cause a lot of damage....delicate area.

Your kitties all look content and happy. Love the opossum! I get one at the back door every night to eat the sunflower seeds the birds left.
Strange little creatures they are.....