help! anyone with cats w/ eye ulcers?

hello there, both my cats are a little over a year old, brother and sister, both rescued from the streets of brooklyn. a few months ago my lil' boy developed an ulcer in his right eye, and i've been to the vets a few times and they give me anti-bacterial ointment which makes it go away for short periods of time, but the vets said the only other alternative was to go the surgery route where they scrape the ulcer in hopes that new and healthy tissue forms....and now just this morning my lil' girl's eye was closed and i could see what looked very much like the ulcer in my boy's eye! i'm so stressed...i don't have the funds right now for surgery, is there anyone who's been through this??? i need help!
-Scott

(their names are Bombadil (boy) and Tinu (girl))

I don't have any experience with this, maybe someone else does. Sending good vibes your way though!

Will your vet let you make payments to cover for the surgery?

Persistent corneal ulcers in cats can usually be linked to the Feline herpes virus. In these ulcers, antibiotic drops are not normally helpful except to prevent any secondary bacterial infection. You can ask your vet about Atropine as it can sometimes make the eye feel a little better but it has no direct healing benefit that I am aware of or can find doing the research on it.

You may also want to discuss the possibility of using an anti-viral medication such as oral acyclovir - it is sometimes necessary in severe cases to use these types of medications in some cats to get the ulcers to heal. I have also heard of success stories for cats who were given l-lysine supplementation (this is a food supplement - can be found in most natural food stores). I have read that some vets sepcializing in ophthalmology think that debriding the ulcer edges is helpful but I have no direct experience with it. I also know that there is some disagreement about what the best topical anti-viral ophthalmic preparation may be so you may have to try a few to see what works best for your cats.

I would suggest that you speak candidly with your vet about a referral to a vet specializing in ophthalmology and/or trying the oral or topical anti-viral meds.

I would highly suggest going to a a specialist in feline ophthalmology. Our ares had an eye ulcer, not persistant as you state but this specialist was invalueable. Ares is all healed up and just has a bit of a scar.

I agree with gayef. It sounds like the herpes virus to me. My kitty had it and I cleared it up with 500 mg of lysine per day. Lysine is an amino acid that interferes with viral replication. I got the ok from my vet to use the lysine. It took almost 2 weeks for the symptoms to go away but once they did her eyes have been clear and beautiful ever since. I have to give it to her every day for the rest of her life to prevent further outbreaks. I buy it in capsule form and mix it in with the gravy from a Nutro pouch. Chicken broth and wet kitty chow would work too.

My cat Elmo had an eye ulcer. He has VERY expensive surgery and it has cocked up his eye for good. He can't see out of it. It is jammed shut and filled with pus every morning.

This is a picture of him after the surgey. You can see all the plastic tubes and stuff in his eye (kinda) the surgery was on his right eye.



My vet said the surgery went well, so I'd hate to see the surgery go bad

Rocky has a nasty ulcer on one eye. He has had it since we brought him home. No one wanted the poor baby b/c of it. We have tried antibiotic ointment (terrymycin), and also some anti-viral drops. The only thing that changed was that the anti-viral drops seem to help his eyes from tearing as much, but its a real pain to give them to him. He doesn't paw at it, it doesn't seem to cause him any pain. He does have some vision in that eye per all the vets that have ever seen him. He also has some cloudiness around the other eye, but not as bad. One vet did suggest an ophtamological consult, but the newest vet, who I trust much more said that it probably wouldn't help that much. I would rather leave well enough alone with him.
I would however, bring the cat in who is starting to develop one, and bring the cat who already has one if it is getting worse. Lysine is a great idea to add to the food. It can't hurt them one bit.
Here is a pic of Rocky to show you what his looks like. he is the kitty on the right. Sorry if others have seen this pic before.

I am dealing with this right now with one of my older ferals. He got into a fight and got a hole in his eye. Since he didn't come back home right away, the eye festered got infected and as a result Cleo has an ulcer now. I saw it at the vet's this morning. We are hopeful he will respond to the antibiotics and the shots he was given as well as the ointment. The hole is quite large though, and will require surgery to close it. because he is an older feral and fairly antisocial, I am not sure I will put him through the surgery. Time will tell-

ugh...it's a pain, right? i've been through so much with bombadil since april i always said to people, "thank god they BOTH don't have it, right?" and now they do. i'm not quite sure what to do, i've been hearing things from people for the most part that seem to lead to the same thing: there's no real cure. and i've got the lysine already. i put it in their food everyday. and the ointments i have seem to work for bombadil, i guess i just have to keep up with the medicine and see what happens...man, i hate this...

Originally Posted by brooklynkitties

ugh...it's a pain, right? i've been through so much with bombadil since april i always said to people, "thank god they BOTH don't have it, right?" and now they do. i'm not quite sure what to do, i've been hearing things from people for the most part that seem to lead to the same thing: there's no real cure. and i've got the lysine already. i put it in their food everyday. and the ointments i have seem to work for bombadil, i guess i just have to keep up with the medicine and see what happens...man, i hate this...

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I know its very stressful and you feel powerless. Just do whatever your vet says about treating them- the only thing I may disagree with them on is the surgery, esp based on what happened w/ Samantha (wellingtoncats)'s baby. Unless your baby is in pain or suffering- don't stress out! Rocky's eye has actually been the least of his health problems- he may look a little funky, but honestly he is the best cat I have ever met. My husband says it makes him look like a bad a**. It sounds like you are doing a great job with your kits.

Originally Posted by zak&rocky

Rocky has a nasty ulcer on one eye. He has had it since we brought him home. No one wanted the poor baby b/c of it. We have tried antibiotic ointment (terrymycin), and also some anti-viral drops. The only thing that changed was that the anti-viral drops seem to help his eyes from tearing as much, but its a real pain to give them to him. He doesn't paw at it, it doesn't seem to cause him any pain. He does have some vision in that eye per all the vets that have ever seen him. He also has some cloudiness around the other eye, but not as bad. One vet did suggest an ophtamological consult, but the newest vet, who I trust much more said that it probably wouldn't help that much. I would rather leave well enough alone with him.
I would however, bring the cat in who is starting to develop one, and bring the cat who already has one if it is getting worse. Lysine is a great idea to add to the food. It can't hurt them one bit.
Here is a pic of Rocky to show you what his looks like. he is the kitty on the right. Sorry if others have seen this pic before.

Click to expand...

Your babies eye looked like Ares's did. I used a eyewash i picked up from petsmart..and some missinglink supplement..and it healed..