Eye is the most important sensor of any animal. Like humans without active eye cats are mostly inactive. Their life becomes dependent on humans. They can’t do anything without help. So, for keeping a healthy and playful cat, you have to understand what type of issues can happen in a cat’s eye.
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How healthy eyes contribute to a cat’s well-being.
Cat’s Eye without any issues improves cats mental health and physical growth. Cats can easily navigate their environment and help them to understand how to get around. Healthy eyes help the cat to play with toys and practice hunting behaviors. Cats with eye conditions can feel uncomfortable. The high eye pressure may experience symptoms similar to headaches. This may happen for high glaucoma.
Cats with good vision ensure a healthy life and make them active.
Signs of eye problem:
Ocular cloudiness:
If you found your cat has ocular cloudiness, redness, or swelling. It is a symptom of eye problems.
Discharge:
if you find your cat has any type of fluid on eye-sight. It may be the symptom of eye problems.
Squinting:
Squint is when eyes do not align properly but look in another direction. It is also known as strabismus.
Reluctance to move around: if your cat can not move its eye, it is a serious problem. This is known as Oculomotor Dysfunction. In this case, the cat can’t control voluntary and purposeful eye movement. It hampers the cat’s daily work.
Bumping into objects:
bumping into objects could be a symptom of serious eye conditions. It could be a sign of eye conditions, including vertical heterophoria (VH), visual field defect, glaucoma, etc. There are other possible causes of bumping into things including not getting enough sleep, health issues that affect joints and muscles, such as arthritis, and Medications such as anti-anxiety, antidepressants, and anticonvulsant drugs.
Behavioral changes like anxiety or aggression:
behavioral changes are a major sign of defective eyes. Cats are like children; they can’t talk. For this reason, they change their as-usual behavior. They do this from anxiety which is created from visual problems.
Sign of infection on eye-sight: signs of infection are thick, yellow, green, or white discharge, often accompanied by other symptoms.
Anatomy of cat’s eye:
The structure of the Cat’s eyes is similar to that of other animals and similar to a large extent to humans.
The cat’s eyes consist of the bony cavity socket which is known as orbit, sclera, conjunctiva, cornea, pupil lens, cone cells, retina, rod cells, area centralis, optic nerve, nictitating membrane, lacrimal glands, meibomian glands, and so on.
Orbit is a structure formed by several bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and the structures that produce and discharge tears.
The sclera is the white section of the eye. It is the outer layer of the eye and covered by a thin membrane which is known as conjunctiva, located near the front of the eye. Conjunctiva covers the inside of the eyelid.
The cornea is a crystal clear dome on the front surface of the eye. It helps light enter into the eyeball and helps to focus the light on the retina. The retina contains the cells that sense the light. There are two types of cells which absorb light and produce signals to generate images in the brain. The most sensitive area of the retina is called area centralis which contains thousands of photoreceptor cells.
Cat’s eyes are the only sensor of its body that deals with light and gives visual opportunity. So you have to take your cat to their regular veterinary visits. It is the key part of maintaining their eye health. A vet is an expert for your cat’s eye health to check any dysfunctional issue.
Common eye health issues in cats:
Conjunctivitis:
It is also known as pink eye. It is a condition in cats that causes inflammation of the conjunctiva which is the mucous membrane that lines the eyelids and covers the eyeball.
Symptoms: if you find your cat has redness, swelling, pain, discharge, watery eyes, and a third eyelid that’s more visible, it may be Conjunctivitis.
It happens due to the reaction of viruses, bacteria, allergens, dust, foreign objects, trauma, and other factors. There are other causes such as Eye ulcers, parasites, immune-mediated diseases, systemic diseases, allergies and environmental irritation, glaucoma, uveitis, tear duct diseases, eyelid and eyelash problems, and eye tumors.
Treatment: Provide anti-inflammatory drugs to your sick cats, use lubricating eye drops, antibiotic eye drops, and antiviral medications.
Corneal ulcers:
it is painful sores on the surface of a cat’s eye. It happens due to trauma, disease, or other factors. Corneal ulcers happen due to scratches from other animals, thorns, or playing with sharp objects. Corneal ulcers can not be seen with the open eye. So, a vet is needed for better treatment. If you don’t treat, corneal ulcers may turn into blindness or even loss of the eye.
Cataracts:
It is a condition of the eye where the lens of the cat’s eye becomes cloudy or opaque which interferes with their vision. Cataracts can happen due to several things like uveitis which is the inflammation within the eye, genetic, trauma or injury to the eyesight, diseases like high blood pressure or diabetes, nutritional imbalances, radiation exposure, cancer, and viral bacterial, fungal or protozoan eye infections.
Signs of cataracts:
Cloudy, hazy appearance in one or both eyes is the major symptom of cataracts. Bumping into furniture, difficulty finding food or litter box, white bluish-gray pupils, and hiding more than usual are other signs of cataracts.
Treatment: Surgery is the only treatment for cataracts. In the most common surgical procedure, ultrasound is used to break cataracts. After that, an artificial lens is implanted to restore the vision of cats.
Glaucoma:
When the eye’s drainage system fails, then glaucoma occurs due to the buildup of high fluid pressure inside the eye. Primary and secondary, mainly these two types of glaucoma observed in cat’s eye. Secondary glaucoma is more common than primary glaucoma and can affect both eyes. Primary glaucoma is very rare to find.
Treatment: The treatment of glaucoma is a long-term treatment. Instant treatment can prevent blindness, but treatment must be carried on to fully cure it. Eye drops, Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, and beta blockers can be used for glaucoma treatment.
Tear duct blockage or over-production:
The nasolacrimal duct of a cat drains tears from the eye to the nose. Sometimes it can become blocked due to inflammation, tumors, or other causes. Uveitis, corneal problems, conjunctivitis, abnormal growth of eyelashes, etc. can cause duct blockage. Overproduction of tears can happen due to allergies, infections, or eye injuries. In maximum cases, it is not a serious issue or medical concern.
When seeking emergency care:
If your cat faces sudden blindness, there is no option to delay. You have to take your cat to emergency care. Sudden blindness may come from various issues like high blood pressure, retinal detachment, uveitis, brain disease, retinal degeneration, head trauma, taurine deficiency, medication overdose, etc.
Rapid swelling or severe redness indicates a serious condition. So, do not delay. And consult a vet immediately. Otherwise, your cat can become blind.
For maintain a healthy life of your cat, there is no alternative without regular checkups with a vet.