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eye removal necessary?

post #1 of 10
6/4/06 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
My cat was recently diagnosed with glaucoma in one eye. It all started after he had a tooth pulled by the vet. Don't know if this is at all related or just a coincidence. His pupil was very dilated and his eye looked weird. I became very concerned when he spent the night in a box in the cellar which he only does when he's not feeling well. When I finally found him he came out of the box and followed me upstairs. He wasn't himself and didn't even want his breakfast...a big sign that he was sick. I took him to the vet that morning which is when he was diagnosed with glaucoma. The vet sent me to an animal opthamologist who says his eye is totally blind and will have to be removed because of all the pressure. I have eye drops that are supposed to relieve this pressure. A couple times I wasn't able to give him the drops and was worried he'd be in pain but he wasn't. I decided to test the situation myself. I have not administered any eye drops for a few days now and my cat is fine. He eats, plays, purrs and doesn't hide in the cellar like he does when he's in pain. I'm wondering if removing his eye is really necessary. I don't want to put my cat through this whole ordeal if I don't have to. Sometimes I think it's a big money rackett. If anyone has any knowledge on this situation I would appreciate your feedback. His other eye is fine but I'm wondering if it'll get glaucoma as well if I don't remove this eye.
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post #2 of 10
6/4/06 at 1:42pm
As your vet for a referral to a specialist - we human would ... why not kitty and get a second opinion.
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post #3 of 10
6/4/06 at 1:53pm
I would continue with the eye drops until you can either get a second opinion, or find out why the opthamologist wants to remove the eye. I would definitely get more detailed info from him. My understanding of glaucoma is limited, but I know having pressure build up in your kitty's eye is not a good thing, and would assume it could become painful.
Best of luck with your kitty.
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post #4 of 10
6/4/06 at 2:48pm
It is painful and can damage other things besides the eye itself.
I have a glaucoma kitty, her right eye was removed as it was not salavagable.
Because of the size it had swelled to, and her young age forcing a wait on surgery, it caused damage to her sinus cavity and passages.
Her left eye is also affected, but to a much lesser degree. With treatments (no longer ongoing!) we have reduced the size and her pupil has about 50% reaction size to light intensity.
We are also fully aware that the swelling may return and she may end up having the second eye removed sometime down the road.

Just so that you are aware, the eyedrops that help (they do not remove) pressure, are steroids and really should not be used long term.
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post #5 of 10
6/4/06 at 6:43pm
Thread Starter 
The opthamologist is a specialist. Apparently, there are only 2 in CT...one in Wilton and the other in Norwalk. Both are approximately an hour and a half away from me. My cat doesn't like the car and had never been on a long car ride before. The regular vet is about 2 minutes away from home. The stress from the car ride is bad enough for him...and me! I don't think I want to take him shopping around at this point. Thanks for the suggestion though.

P.S. This was in reply to Hell603. I'm new at this and didn't click on the correct button.
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post #6 of 10
6/4/06 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by libby74
I would continue with the eye drops until you can either get a second opinion, or find out why the opthamologist wants to remove the eye. I would definitely get more detailed info from him. My understanding of glaucoma is limited, but I know having pressure build up in your kitty's eye is not a good thing, and would assume it could become painful.
Best of luck with your kitty.
I guess I'll continue the eye drops and call the opthamologist tomorrow. I was so upset when he gave me the prognosis that I couldn't think. All I could do was cry. I do need to ask him more questions before I make a decision. Thanks for your input.
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post #7 of 10
6/4/06 at 6:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arlyn
It is painful and can damage other things besides the eye itself.
I have a glaucoma kitty, her right eye was removed as it was not salavagable.
Because of the size it had swelled to, and her young age forcing a wait on surgery, it caused damage to her sinus cavity and passages.
Her left eye is also affected, but to a much lesser degree. With treatments (no longer ongoing!) we have reduced the size and her pupil has about 50% reaction size to light intensity.
We are also fully aware that the swelling may return and she may end up having the second eye removed sometime down the road.

Just so that you are aware, the eyedrops that help (they do not remove) pressure, are steroids and really should not be used long term.
Can you tell me what was involved with the eye removal? Did your cat have to wear that dreaded collar? How many meds did you have to give her after surgery? How many follow-up appointments were involved? How long did it take to heal? I know I'm full of questions but I want to know what I'm in for. Thank you for your input and any info you can share.
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post #8 of 10
6/4/06 at 9:39pm
My girl was only 4 months old her recovery was fast.
She did wear the collar for 10 day till her stitches were removed.
She had one recheck a week after her stitches came out.

She was on a 7 day course of antibiotics, she recieved only a pain shot at the hospital after she was out of recovery, we were told to bring her back if she appeared to be in any discomfort, she was playing the day after surgery.

If the swelling in your cat's eye is bad, it can start pushing his good eye out of orbit, you'll want to keep an eye on that.
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post #9 of 10
6/4/06 at 11:27pm
If the ophthamologist suggests removing the eye, then I would take that advice. Ophthamologists are in the business of saving eyes and besides, if it really were a money racket then the ophthamologist would want him to keep the eye since he'd need to keep coming back for more glaucoma treatment.

Your cat may not appear to be in pain but bear in mind that cats hide pain until it is just too much for them to bear and they have to start showing signs of distress. A cat who appears to be in pain is most certainly in a great deal of pain.

It is in your cat's best interests to do what the ophthamologist has advised. He can't see out of that eye and it does nothing except cause severe pain. Remember that he doesn't care one way or the other about the cosmetic issue of having only one eye. We humans are the only ones who can care about that. What your cat wants is to be free of pain. Once that eye is gone his quality of life will improve 100%. I suspect that once you see how good he feels after the procedure, the only thing you will think is "why didn't I do this sooner?".
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post #10 of 10
6/5/06 at 12:44am
Definitley get the second oppinion, if they suggest it, then I would do it. Glaucoma is really painful. One of my coworkers had a cat that had it in both eyes and kept her for forever and did the drops. It got worse and worse, and they decided to remove both of her eyes and she didn't adjust the change well and passed away.

You don't want to have to remove both of his eyes. It's less of a shocker if you can remove the one, and keep the good eye healthy. Just because he doesn't act like he's painful doesn't mean he isn't, and I'm sure if it was YOUR eye you'd want it removed rather than have it be in pain and be "okay" on eye drops, but still painful. Afterall we as humans can't gage the pain our pets are in, so for all anyone knows the eye drops have varying effects.
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