My 14 year old friend, Nub, just had a rapidly escalating eye problem. One of his pupils became enlarged all of a sudden on Tuesday, and we took him to the ER, who referred us to an ophthalmologist. We went yesterday and she performed more tests and saw a lesion on the back of his eye, as well as that his eye was slightly bulging. She didn't find any ulcers, scratches, or inflammation inside of the eye, and the pressure in the eye was high (something like 21 or 22), but she said that she doesn't think it's glaucoma as that usually starts at 25. His symptoms in addition to the dilated pupil/bulging include a droopy eyelid and some discharge, and the eye doesn't seem to move very well.
The doctor's diagnosis was that it seems that there is something on the optic nerve that is pressing on the eye, which could either be infectious-based or a mass. Based on his age, she seemed pretty convinced that it's a mass, but prescribed some antibiotics anyway (though she seemed like she was just doing that to make sure she ticked all the boxes, or something, like she doesn't have hope that it will work).
We have an appointment with an oncologist next week, the next steps would be to do an MRI (which requires general anesthesia) to see what's going on, but I haven't decided yet whether I'll pursue that, since if it is a mass, I'm not sure it's best for him to put him through treatment at this point (surgery or radiation, most likely).
My questions are:
1. Has anyone had an older cat with these symptoms (basically something going on with the optic nerve) that didn't turn out to be a mass but actually an infection? Should I abandon all hope or try to remain optimistic?
2. Has anyone pursued treatment for a mass? If so, how did it effect your friend's quality of life? Was treatment successful? For how long?
3. Has anyone dealt with something like this and not pursued further treatment? If so, how long did you let your cat friend live with their symptoms? How did you make a decision about that? It's so difficult to tell because on the one hand he is still somewhat active, bringing me toy mice, snuggling me in the bed, going on furniture, etc., not acting like a completely sick or miserable cat. But on the other hand, I can tell that he has pain/discomfort and is not super happy, and I've seen him shake his head and paw at his eye. I'm not sure how to find the balance between allowing him (and me) to tolerate some pain or discomfort with aging and making sure he's not suffering.
Any feedback on any of these things would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.
The doctor's diagnosis was that it seems that there is something on the optic nerve that is pressing on the eye, which could either be infectious-based or a mass. Based on his age, she seemed pretty convinced that it's a mass, but prescribed some antibiotics anyway (though she seemed like she was just doing that to make sure she ticked all the boxes, or something, like she doesn't have hope that it will work).
We have an appointment with an oncologist next week, the next steps would be to do an MRI (which requires general anesthesia) to see what's going on, but I haven't decided yet whether I'll pursue that, since if it is a mass, I'm not sure it's best for him to put him through treatment at this point (surgery or radiation, most likely).
My questions are:
1. Has anyone had an older cat with these symptoms (basically something going on with the optic nerve) that didn't turn out to be a mass but actually an infection? Should I abandon all hope or try to remain optimistic?
2. Has anyone pursued treatment for a mass? If so, how did it effect your friend's quality of life? Was treatment successful? For how long?
3. Has anyone dealt with something like this and not pursued further treatment? If so, how long did you let your cat friend live with their symptoms? How did you make a decision about that? It's so difficult to tell because on the one hand he is still somewhat active, bringing me toy mice, snuggling me in the bed, going on furniture, etc., not acting like a completely sick or miserable cat. But on the other hand, I can tell that he has pain/discomfort and is not super happy, and I've seen him shake his head and paw at his eye. I'm not sure how to find the balance between allowing him (and me) to tolerate some pain or discomfort with aging and making sure he's not suffering.
Any feedback on any of these things would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.