Iris health

[CWAL]

Hi,
Before I consult a vet should I be worried about my cats eye health?

The Iris (coloured part of eye?) appears to be discoloured/brown bordering on red, but I'm not sure if some of the yellow/green may be diluting this? Particularly around the outside of the coloured part. Please see photos, sometimes they do look more red than brown, may be light / time of day etc. I know kittens to juvenile the eye colour changes from blue to adult colour, which I presume if yellowy/green, however mine have this brown/red tinge, is this normal? This appears to be slightly more obvious in the female cat. I'm just concerned about some of the many eye conditions cats can have and is this a precursor. Are they just changing as part of getting older? OR I know it could be purrfectly normal, and some reassurance would be great.

What makes me less inclined to book the vets is the general eye health looks fine, nothing wrong with pupil changing in light, third eyelid, white part is not blood shot, both identical, little sleep/crusts like normal no obvious runny nose.

Context: found the two kittens dumped at about 3-4months old; male and female; been with me 3 weeks; they've had first jabs; not neutered yet; seem to eat normal, although constantly hungry (no sign of worms/have had worm pill); general behaviour fine. We have a few plug in airfreshners, not on high, the one in the kitchen where they sleep is a pet odour fighting one. They do sometimes struggle to spot their treats (could just be the contrast again background, but not noticed any other difficulty seeing. Cats are all black with tiny patch of white on chest, and male slightly brown around the mane.

We reduced these cats from an uncertain future so am hopeful the cat community can help, I would be ever so grateful.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment x

 

[CWAL]

*We rescued (not reduced).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I honestly don't know if it's a problem or not, not knowing anything about what their eyes looked like before, but it would seem strange if both of them had an issue . At any rate, I did manage to find the below information on felineliving.net, which may help you out a little bit:

When Changing Eye Color Should Be a Health Concern

A cat with orange eyes that were previously another color can mean an inflammation known as uveitis. The cause for this may be diabetes, high blood pressure, eye trauma, metastatic tumors, a fungal or bacterial infection or a viral disease such as feline herpes, FeLV, FIV, or FIP.


If they look darker than usual it may be due to red blood cell build up. Cloudy eyes can mean a build up of cataracts. (No pun intended.) There is also glaucoma to look out for. Glaucoma is an occular condition accompanied by increased pressure in the eye. This will cause loss of vision if left untreated. The usual symptoms to look for are a cloudy, milky white eye color. Glaucoma can also lead to uveitis


A reddish-brown copper color like a new penny can be beautiful, if it is a natural trait of the cat. Some cats are even bred to have this feature. However, copper colored eyes can be a symptom of a portosystemic shunt, or liver shunt. This can be a congenital condition, or can be acquired later in life. Do keep in mind that not all cats that have liver shunts will have copper colored eyes.




In any case, if your cat is well past the age of three months and her eye color suddenly changes there may be a health problem and you should take her to a vet.