Eye problem please share your knowledge!

Hi everyone, I have a 5-7year old neutered male, domestic longhair.I have had him for the last year. I noticed he had a slight discolouration in his eye which now seems to be growing. Its on the iris, looks a little cloudy and some capillaries are visible. I will take him to the vet, but I am quite freaked out and was hoping one of you can advise me if you have seen anything like it. Thank you, any advice is appreciated.

I wish I could help you figure out what that is, but I've never had a cat with that kind of problem.  I do think you should get him into the vet as soon as possible, especially as it is growing.  My concern is that your boy might have a tumor but that's based on reading and not any hands on experience. Pigmentation changes in the iris are associated with melanomas.   Hopefully someone who has seen this kind of thing before will chime in with more information but I am pretty sure it is nothing to wait around on.  

Good luck.  He is a very beautiful cat.  

Thank you Margd. I have taken Alex to the vet. They confirmed that the eye is abnormal, that whatever is on his iris is spreading upward and from the side it looks like his cornea has thickened. They said he needs to go to a specialist and were unable to give a diagnosis.

Did the vet put a drop of uv dye in the eye to check for uveitis? My cat is having eye issues too, and although he doesn't have discoloration, he was diagnosed early with uveitis via the dye eye drops, and had to go in prednisilone acetate (saved his sight), and when looking it up, I saw there was another thread here where their cats eye became discolored and I believe that vet said it was herpes as well. But your cats eye looks open and healthy otherwise, which was not the case for my cat.

I wish you well and hope it's nothing serious, and hope you see the specialist soon in case it is uveitis or cancer, because with that, every day matters, according to my vet. Did your vet put your cat on anything like eyedrops? Anything? The corneal issue is concerning and yes, cancer is a very real possibility too since the growth seems to be originating on the iris .



Good luck, and keep us posted.

Hi, The vet was not very helpful. Not even an educated guess. She explained that she is just a 'normal' vet and that specialists have further training. I need to arrange time off work as I have been advised there are no weekend appointments. Not very happy. Of course I will have him seen. He is in no obvious pain thankfully.

Google magic. Has anyone heard of corneal sequestras?
I have found an interesting article with the case of a Persian cat whose photo bears a resemblance to what Alex has. The cause in this case is somehow linked to the breed's short nose which does not apply to Alex. I will look into underlying causes a bit more (feline herpes was mentioned, thank you misterwhiskers). I have pasted in the link to the article, have a look at the pic please and compare and let me know if you agree.

http://www.vettimes.co.uk/article/considering-corneal-sequestras/

...although it is not on the surface of his eye...can corneal sequestras occur in the eye with no obvious blistering on the surface? For example, if he had an injury prior to when I got him?

http://www.northwestanimaleye.com/corneal-sequestrum.pml

Right everyone, specialist appointment is coming up on Weds 25/04/16 in the afternoon. Will let you know what happens!

Alex is staying in overnight. Tomorrow, they will take a sample out of his iris (aqueocentesis and needle aspirate of iris leisons) under sedation to see what is going on.
Normal tests have not revealed anything other than uveitis/pressure on the eye but that can be due to anything from bacterial infection to cancer. Bacterial infection is unlikely as there is no discharge.
Hopefully it will prove diagnostic of something. Otherwise more blood tests, possible biopsy.
We will collect him tomorrow eve.

Alex is home now. The effected pupil is still dilated. He has got two eyedrops from a human pharmacy. Acular x4 daily and Azopt x2. Both keep going down his throat and he does not like the taste. Poor kitty not himself, but his appetite is back thankfully. Considering more pain meds from the vet.Awaiting results within 24-48hrs. Not sure if I want them to be diagnostic as they are essentially testing for cancer and yet if this was all for nothing..very mixed emotions.

Update: The results just came back, no sign of lymphoma thankfully. Next; blood tests.

Zsofia said:

Update: The results just came back, no sign of lymphoma thankfully. Next; blood tests.

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That's really great news!  I'm so glad to hear it.    Any news on the blood work,yet?