Comments on: Cat Eye Operation

By: RIchard

RIchard — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:42:11 +0000

My cat Charlie was a recused stray from the RSPCA. He had already had an operation to resolve turned in eye lids before we adopted him. He had been to the Vet a number of times where we mentioned his right eye always seem to have a grey tinge and the pupil seem grey. We were always told be the various Vet’s that the eye was fine.

Recently he walked in with his right eye closed with discharge. After a trip to the Vet we were prescribed drops. After checkups the Vet’s said the eye was much better. That was far from the truth, after checking the eye ourselves we could see that it was completely cloudy, almost white. Again the Vet gave us drops for conjunctivitis.

Three days later we asked to be referred to a eye specialist. After one question and a quick look in the eye, he immediately diagnosed the problem. Anterior Lens Subluxation, basically the Len’s had detached and fallen into the space at the front of the eye. A condition that needs immediate treatment to save the eye, he actually operated that day. Because of the time it had been left undiagnosed it was hit and miss if the the lens could be removed or if he would loose the eye. What was also confirmed is he had a long standing cataract in the Lens and actually could never see out of the eye!

Charlie is on the road to recovery, hence lots of drops, antibiotics and not being able to go out (and £1200 light). However, he now has sight in both eyes!

If a Vet cannot diagnose a condition or you are not happy with the diagnosis then a visit a specialist for a consultation, it will not cost much more than a standard Vet. At least the problem will be diagnosed correctly and you can make an informed decision on treatment. Vets taking pot luck on treatments is just not acceptable! I know its only a cat, but its my cat!

By: dog groomers sydney

dog groomers sydney — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:12:21 +0000

very inspiring – thanks for the post.

By: Jooles

Jooles — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:32:08 +0000

Been for another visit to the vets, breathing still not good and now has high temperature. Wish we could have stayed to comfort her but she is in an incubator of oxygen. Only couple more hours and we can visit again. Not bothered about the eye, she has another one! but worried what damage has been done. fingers crossed.

By: Susie

Susie — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:37:26 +0000

Hi Jooles, So sorry to hear that, if the sight in the other eye is not affected she should adapt well to life with one eye. I hope the breathing is better now.

By: Jooles

Jooles — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:32:50 +0000

We got the dreaded phone call at 1230 this morning to say our youngest cat, not even 12 months old, has been in a RTA. She has lost an eye, and not very responsive this morning. No broken bones or internal injuries have shown up on the xray, but breathing not good. So worried.

By: Susie

Susie — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:31:53 +0000

Adam, I’m so sorry your trust seems to have broken down with your vet, its really important that you go and discuss with them how you are feeling. You always have the right to ask for a second opinion either with a different vet within your existing practice or a vet from a completely different practice. Unfortunately exactly as Joe said in the last post eye problems can be very difficult to treat, its a specialist area and your own vets cannot give the same level of service as a specialist would.

By: adam

adam — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:48:48 +0000

Ollie stayed in the vets over night – so they could administer his drops throughout the night. I had to tell the vet it was only one night for definite – he had written on the admission form “indefinite.”

I picked him up this morning, and the nurse said he need to come back every 24hrs. Guess what? I get charged a consultation fee every time I take him back. Handy, that.

She told me that his eye might not be saved – how on earth can I possibly know any difference to what they tell me? Do I just trust them at face value – or do I get a second opinion? He does not look to be in any discomfort at all.

By: adam

adam — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:08:22 +0000

My Persian, Ollie, has a similar problem. I thought he originally had conjunctivitis, however, the vet said there was an ulcer – a prominent red lump at the top of his eye. He’s on drops and tablets at the moment – to be honest, it actually looks worse now than it did before.

The vet talked about an opthalmic specialist – £200 per consultation – yikes! That was quickly dismissed as soon as the vet found out Ollie wasn’t insured. Funny thing is, Ollie shows no sign of discomfort – it’s as though nothing was wrong with his eye at all.

The vet gave me a collar to put on him – waste of time. Because of his flat face, he can’t reach his water or food, so I took it off, and he hasn’t gone anywhere near his eye, even after the drops.

The vet mentioned something called “melting eye” – and delivered quite a lengthy monologue on its causes. I’m sorry, but vets exaggerate – they all do.

Anyway, I don’t know how long his eye will take to heal. He’s in no visible discomfort, he’s eating and drinking as usual, so losing his eye is not an option for me.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:01:32 +0000

I’m very sorry to hear about your dog’s eye and I can understand your frustration with your vets. However problems with eyes can be challenging to treat and unless you’re able to go for a referral to a specialist, most general vets can only offer quite limited treatment options and can sometimes struggle with more unusual cases.

For future reference it’s probably worth asking to be seen by the vet at the practice who has most experience in dealing with eye problems as there is usually one vet in any practice who is has more expertise than the others, or, if possible asking to be referred to a specialist, although this can get expensive.
Anyway, I’m glad the end result is not too bad, and I’m sure she’s much better off now without the eye than with a painful eye.

By: Lynda Kelly

Lynda Kelly — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:03:55 +0000

Sadly my 16 year old Westie girl lost an eye in October.
It developed a funny looking mark which looked like cracked ice. Took her to one vet-no idea-then another had no idea either (though both prescribed differing drops and charged me nonetheless)….
In July I was made redundant so tried PDSA as a third option. They too had no idea but did observe it was now ulcerated into the bargain.
Eyedrops didn’t help so they cleaned it under a local with a cotton bud. Still no improvement so had her in and debrided it. Waited 2 weeks-no improvement so had her in to sew the eyelid down. However once they had her under they phoned to ask permission for a removal as it was too badly damaged and a chance of it working was less that 50%. I didn’t want her knocked out yet again so agreed.
I was very angry that the previous 2 vets had had no idea and showed little interest in bothering to find a solution for her. I feel if they’d helped us more her eye may well have been saved.
She has done well without it and has been far less bumpy without it than while she still had it. It looked shocking at first and I was very distressed at having to resort to this solution but she adapted beautifully.