Strange Eye Problem

[Tigger's Mum]

We're just back from the vet. Has anyone seen anything like this before? This is Harley. He is an 18 year old half-Bengal. He and his brother spend most of their time curled up on my son's bed. Today we had workmen coming to do a repair in the kitchen so my son very kindly cleared the equipment from the worktops. This was between 6am and 8am. When he went up to his room, the two cats were curled up on his bed. When Harley turned round, my son saw his eye and immediately came through for me. He really got a scare and was visibly shaking.

We got an appointment with our vet at 2.30pm. This is a new vet on the practice. She was convinced the cat had a trauma, maybe hit by a car. I had to tell her twice that he is an indoor cat only. The last time Harley (and his brother Benji) were out of the house was 18 years ago when they got neutered. Neither has had a days illness in their lives.

She did give Harley a thorough examination and said he was very healthy for an 18 year old. She took him into their darkroom so she could examine his eye. When she came back she didn't have an answer for us except that there was no bruising and that Harley wasn't in any pain from it. Unfortunately, because of the amount of blood in the eye she couldn't see into the back of the eye.

Her suggestions were:

a) Trauma (how?)

b) High Blood Pressure causing a rupture of one of the vessels at the back of the eye

c) Possibly a small tumour that's burst

She gave him some treats which he happily ate then proceeded to groom himself once back in the cat carrier.

For now, we are to monitor him closely and we have another appointment on Thursday afternoon by which time she's hoping the blood will have cleared enough to let her have a good look inside his eye.

I have only seen something like this twice. Once with a neighbour's cat after he got hit by a car and my friend's elderly dog, with her dog it just happened. I am going to phone her tonight to see if she can remember what caused it - it's a few years ago now but her dog did lose her eye (bad vet care).

If anyone can shed some light on this we'd be very grateful. In the meantime, Harley and Benji are tucking into their late afternoon meal.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I really have no ideas about what might have happened. But since the vet suggested it could be tied to high blood pressure, I hope she took some readings to either help confirm or rule it out as a possibility. Most of the time, beyond taking the BP a few times in one visit to get an average, it will be retaken again in a separate appt. just to see if the second readings are similar to the first ones.

Short of that, I can only suggest that you please make sure the vet advised you, in detail, as what you are supposed to be monitoring him for. And, then watch him 'like a hawk'. She may be trying to save you money by avoiding what could be unnecessary tests, but she seems pretty lackadaisical given he is an 18 yo cat, IMO.

 

[fionasmom]

I saw this once in a cat in our feral colony who was hit by a car, but we knew for sure that was what happened as it was witnessed. However, I did wonder if you mentioned the workmen because you were concerned that one of them had encountered Harley.

As was mentioned, I would want the vet to be a little more engaged in this. High BP or a small tumor that burst both suggest that something made an abrupt change for the worse. Seeing an ophthalmologist might be an option, but I don't think that you will be able to get an appointment overnight and this may not be strictly eye-related. Injuries to the cornea are usually more cloudy than the black color that is in the pic and this is more like a condition called hyphema.

Hyphema in Dogs & Cats - When There's Blood in the Eyes
This is a very general article, but it may give you some talking points with the vet.

 

[Tigger's Mum]

I really have no ideas about what might have happened. But since the vet suggested it could be tied to high blood pressure, I hope she took some readings to either help confirm or rule it out as a possibility. Most of the time, beyond taking the BP a few times in one visit to get an average, it will be retaken again in a separate appt. just to see if the second readings are similar to the first ones.

Short of that, I can only suggest that you please make sure the vet advised you, in detail, as what you are supposed to be monitoring him for. And, then watch him 'like a hawk'. She may be trying to save you money by avoiding what could be unnecessary tests, but she seems pretty lackadaisical given he is an 18 yo cat, IMO.

She wanted to hospitalise him tomorrow - all day at a cost of £400 ($500). She didn't take any readings but before we were seen, she was dealing with an emergency. From what I could hear, a poor cat had been hit by a car and also had eye trauma. This vet called the head vet to take a look so I'm not sure she's that confident. I heard her say she wasn't sure of the problem. That didn't inspire me with confidence. She's not a young vet either, lady probably in her mid 40s.

She didn't advise on what to monitor except the usual, if he's eating, drinking and using the litter box. I've kept cats for 40 years so at least I do know what to keep a watch for and any problems that might happen, I will deal with quickly even if it means going to the vet in the middle of the night.

Neither my son nor myself were keen on this vet and we got the impression that she thought we'd caused the trauma. We weren't even in the same room when it happened and the lack of any bruising and Harley not being in any pain should have told her this was not the case. My son was in the kitchen and I was still in bed (retired now) when he came through in a panic. It annoyed me also that I had to tell her twice that there was no way Harley could have been in a car accident as he has always been an indoor cat.

There were no scratches on the cornea so not caused by his brother. Even though they are both 18, from time to time they still play fight. At the moment they're both curled up on my son's bed sleeping off their late afternoon meal while my son keeps watch over them.

I've been with this practice for over 20 years and fairly recently they expanded and opened a Cat Clinic - where we were today. My son remarked when we had to wait over 30 minutes (understandable as they had an emergency to deal with) that they may have expanded but didn't seem to have enough staff to cover both the main surgery which is mainly for dogs now and the cat clinic. The receptionist was running between the two buildings. Not really a good look.

 

[Tigger's Mum]

I saw this once in a cat in our feral colony who was hit by a car, but we knew for sure that was what happened as it was witnessed. However, I did wonder if you mentioned the workmen because you were concerned that one of them had encountered Harley.

As was mentioned, I would want the vet to be a little more engaged in this. High BP or a small tumor that burst both suggest that something made an abrupt change for the worse. Seeing an ophthalmologist might be an option, but I don't think that you will be able to get an appointment overnight and this may not be strictly eye-related. Injuries to the cornea are usually more cloudy than the black color that is in the pic and this is more like a condition called hyphema.

Hyphema in Dogs & Cats - When There's Blood in the Eyes
This is a very general article, but it may give you some talking points with the vet.

See my reply to FeebysOwner.

The workman, in this case a workwoman came a few hours after this happened. We couldn't cancel the appointment as we've waited for a long time to get the worktop in the kitchen sorted out. The lady took one look at it and said we need a completely new worktop so we'll probably have to wait another few months. Our council is very slow at doing repairs.

We also had to wait for a couple of deliveries, one of cat litter and Royal Canin cat food. We order it online from a reliable company and the other a new lawnmower as our one finally gave up the ghost. Can't complain, I bought it for £35 ($40) second-hand 27 years ago. The lady from the council and the cat food/cat litter turned up within a few minutes of each other and the lawnmower arrived an hour later so everything was well timed before our vet appointment.

Thank you for the link. I'll go and have a read of that.

 

[Tigger's Mum]

UPDATE

Just back from the vet with Harley. I think the last vet we saw has gone. He read the notes Ruth had left and didn't seem to be very impressed with her.

He was very thorough with Harley and also says he's in no pain from whatever has caused the Hyphema. He was concerned that because Harley is an old cat, it could be Glaucoma so he tested him there and then. It's not Glaucoma.

One thing we told that other vet, Ruth, was that every so often there's a bad smell coming from Harley's right ear (same side as the eye problem). We asked her to take a look. She ignored us, said she couldn't smell anything - well she wouldn't as she'd put Harley back in the cat carrier. Well, she wouldn't smell anything with the cat in the carrier.

We told this other vet about it, he had a sniff and said, yes, definitely a bad smell, had a look in Harley's ears and found a lot of fluid in his right ear. He's taken a sample from both ears and we are waiting for the results which we should get this evening. I also liked that this young vet was very kind and gentle with Harley. As for that other vet, Ruth, only word I can use to describe her is incompetent.

He, due to Harley's age is also of the opinion to give it a few more days of wait and see. Of course. if anything further develops, Harley will be straight back at the vet.

Meanwhile, apart from the eye and ear issues, Harley is his normal self. Eating well, drinking well, doing everything else well...and telling everyone about his day.

The next step will probably be a blood test next week to check for Hyperthyroidism, kidney disease etc. If he does have Hyperthyroidism we'll get his brother checked as well.

This young vet (he's Brazilian) is on a 3 month placement. I think whoever gets him permanently on their practice will be getting a wonderful asset. What a difference between two vets.

 

[fionasmom]

Keep us posted! Could not be bothered to sniff Harley's ear....sheeesh!

 

[Tigger's Mum]

Keep us posted! Could not be bothered to sniff Harley's ear....sheeesh!

As I said, incompetent and add to that, lazy.

The vet phoned not 5 minutes ago. Harley has a mild bacterial infection in his ears so we have to pick up medication for it tomorrow. Seems we've nipped that in the bud before it develops into something nastier. He wants to see Harley again in 7 days time or sooner if there's any further complications. I imagine the vet will want to do a blood test which will tell us a lot. Doing it this way is less stressful on Harley as we are with him. Poor Harley had enough today and hid his head in the crook of my son's arm, bless him. I think he'd really freak out if left there for a whole day.

 

[Tigger's Mum]

Further update on Harley. Saw a different vet this time and he thought the ear and the eye problem could be connected (what I've been saying all along). He wasn't happy with the ear so took a swab to send to an external laboratory so they could grow a culture. We got the results of that back on Monday. It's a staphylococcus infection and was resistant to the broad spectrum antibiotics. He's now on one that specifically targets this type of bug. So far,so good except he's losing the fur round his ears. I wonder how he's managed to pick up this infection as he's an indoor cat only, never ever been outside. On the plus side, his eye is clearing up now and is a pale orange colour. Another couple of weeks and it should start to turn green again.

 

[JamieN]

We're just back from the vet. Has anyone seen anything like this before? This is Harley. He is an 18 year old half-Bengal. He and his brother spend most of their time curled up on my son's bed. Today we had workmen coming to do a repair in the kitchen so my son very kindly cleared the equipment from the worktops. This was between 6am and 8am. When he went up to his room, the two cats were curled up on his bed. When Harley turned round, my son saw his eye and immediately came through for me. He really got a scare and was visibly shaking.

We got an appointment with our vet at 2.30pm. This is a new vet on the practice. She was convinced the cat had a trauma, maybe hit by a car. I had to tell her twice that he is an indoor cat only. The last time Harley (and his brother Benji) were out of the house was 18 years ago when they got neutered. Neither has had a days illness in their lives.

She did give Harley a thorough examination and said he was very healthy for an 18 year old. She took him into their darkroom so she could examine his eye. When she came back she didn't have an answer for us except that there was no bruising and that Harley wasn't in any pain from it. Unfortunately, because of the amount of blood in the eye she couldn't see into the back of the eye.

Her suggestions were:

a) Trauma (how?)

b) High Blood Pressure causing a rupture of one of the vessels at the back of the eye

c) Possibly a small tumour that's burst

She gave him some treats which he happily ate then proceeded to groom himself once back in the cat carrier.

For now, we are to monitor him closely and we have another appointment on Thursday afternoon by which time she's hoping the blood will have cleared enough to let her have a good look inside his eye.

I have only seen something like this twice. Once with a neighbour's cat after he got hit by a car and my friend's elderly dog, with her dog it just happened. I am going to phone her tonight to see if she can remember what caused it - it's a few years ago now but her dog did lose her eye (bad vet care).

If anyone can shed some light on this we'd be very grateful. In the meantime, Harley and Benji are tucking into their late afternoon meal.

View attachment 449818

View attachment 449819

This just happened to my cat. That’s why I’m here. Did you ever find out what caused this? Is he ok? My vet said the tissue in his retina detected and his iris is flouting to the back of his eye. It happened overnight. I’ve been to er and to ophthalmologist. Er said cancer, ophtha said detached retina. Anyways I was just curious what ended up happening with you little guy. Thanks

 

[Tigger's Mum]

Harley's eye returned to its normal colour but when the light picks up his eyes, his left eye has the normal reflection but his right eye does not. The last vet we saw thought Harley's ear infection and the eye problem were connected, something I'd said from the start. He was put on target specific antibiotics and that cleared up the infection within a few weeks. Harley is going downhill and we don't think we'll have him too much longer. For now he is eating and drinking normally but sleeps most of the time. He has become very thin so I suspect there's something underlying and I do wonder if there is a cancerous tumour somewhere. That said, Harley is an old cat at 18 going on 19 so I don't think it would be fair to put him through lots of tests. My son and I have discussed PTS but while Harley still has some quality of life that won't happen. We know we are going to lose Harley and it's not a question of "if" but "when". For now, we cherish every moment we have with him.