Eye Diseases in Cats

Cats are very much susceptible to various eye infections and diseases. In fact, what draw cat-owners to veterinarian most of the time is eye problems in their domesticated felines. The condition is generally widespread among old cats. Cats when they grow older suffer from various visual impairments. Sometimes they even go blind in one eye. Apart from injuries and accidents, blindness is also caused by various clinical conditions. Blindness is however one of the many eye problems that cats are prone to. Let us go through some of the major eye disorders that are generally noticed in cats.

Glaucoma
Glaucoma is characterized by an increase in the pressure within the eye, which results in the improper functioning of the eye lens. The intraocular pressure can however be reduced by specific medications during the early stages. In severe cases, surgery is the only available treatment.

Melanoma
A common feline eye problem, melanoma develops due to the thickening of the iris. A veterinarian can easily notice the same. The color of the infected iris also visibly changes. The disease is generally prevalent among older cats. Normally, the contaminated eye is removed with the help of surgery.

Cataracts
In this disease, the eye lens become opaque and leads to optical disorders. If left untreated, cataracts may also lead to glaucoma. The disease is more common in dogs, rather than cats. So, it becomes important to detect and treat the primary causes of cataracts. Surgeries can be performed for lens transplants.

Herpes
This eye disease in cats is attributable to presence of the Herpes virus in the body. The virus is found in the optic nerve, trigeminal ganglia, tonsils and even in the nasal terminates of cats. One of the easiest ways of preventing the disease is providing your cat with a Herpes vaccination.

Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)
This is an inherited eye disorder in cats and is incurable. A cat with PRA suffers from a slow decrease in eyesight and eventually becomes blind. Due to the gradual and painless nature of the disease, an infected cat in such cases easily adapts to his reduced vision and blindness.

Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis occurs when the eye membrane gets inflamed and reddened, often due to the presence of Herpes Virus. Treatments in such cases are very complicated and there might be recurrent surfacing of the disease. Various free-living organisms may also carry the disease.

Sudden Blindness
Stress and hypertension also give rise to sudden blindness in cats. Various hormonal disorders, kidney problems and diseases like Diabetes are off-shoots of hypertension in the animal, and leads to this condition. Bloody eye chambers and dilated pupils are its major symptoms.

Sometimes, eye infections in cats may also be the result of various tumors in the eyelids or other parts of the eye. Though, in some of these cases blindness will be unavoidable, yet it is always better to seek the guidance of a veterinary ophthalmologist depending on the severity of the condition.