Mellie presents vet with first case of dry eyes

I brought the kitties in to the vet for their annual wellness exam today. Mellie has been doing something funny with one of her eyes lately -- acting like there's a speck of dust in it and it's irritating her. So I asked the vet to check it out. She first looked for an ingrown eyelash and couldn't find anything. Then I asked her to check tear production. She did and was surprised to find the test showed it to be about one-half of normal. She said this was the first case of dry eye she'd ever seen. Apparently it's quite rare in cats. So I get to give Mellie artificial tears a couple times a day. I'm sure she'll really love that!! But she's got such pretty eyes....I wouldn't want any harm to come to them.

Other than that, all the kitties are as healthy as can be!!

BTW, anybody here have any experience with this syndrome in cats? Forgot to ask the doc about possible causes and the prognosis. (I was getting pretty tired by the third cat.)

That's news to me! have you had a chance to look for info on this. I was Just wondering.

Ironically, I have a mild case of Dry Eye Syndrome myself -- that's why I asked the vet to check -- so I'm familiar with it in humans, but haven't had a chance to research it in cats, yet.

Tim...I have a mild case of dry eye too.
My Ophthalmologist recommend the same treatment that you are using for Millie.
Let us know what you find out about Dry Eye in cats.

Bumping an old thread here.

My kitty also has chronic dry eye (Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca) that she was born with (the shelter got a litter of kitties who all had it).  The shelter sent me home with artificial tears but her eyes soon got infected and now she is on 2% Cyclosporine drops, which is the treatment usually given to dogs.

She has stains in her eyes already from the two years she was in the shelter.  It is possible she could go blind even if I do care for her well, but much more likely if I slack with her eye drops.  It is likely her eyes will give her health complications for her entire life.  I also have antibiotic drops to give her whenever she starts having discharge.  I got her in Feb and had to give her some starting a few days ago (and when I originally got her).

The vet said this will happen frequently most likely and to just give the drops and that I only need to bring her in if the discharge doesn't go away after 7 days or she has other symptoms.  I also have atropine drops for pain but they make her drool/foam at the mouth (a reaction to the bitterness) and it really upsets her so I'm avoiding that, plus she doesn't seem to be in pain.  When I first got them she needed them but now it seems more harm than good to give them to her.

Anyone else have a KCS kitty?  I'm not sure what to expect going forward except a propensity for eye infections and having to wash her eyes/give her drops for the rest of her life.  Obviously she has to stay inside no matter what.  The vet said it's very unusual to have a cat with congenital KCS and could only tell me how it normally goes in dogs and it usually doesn't shorten their lives or anything like that.

thanks