Cat Eye Ulcer

[Halley571]

I have a 5 year old cat with what I believe to be an eye ulcer. He has a cloudy gray-ish colour covering the outer cornea of his eye. He does not squint it very often, only in sun light. There is no discharge from the eye and he doesn't appear to be in pain. He is an outdoor cat and there are two other cats in the house. He's had this on his eye for over six months. I took him to my vet a few months ago when he was squinting it more and she gave me fusidic eye gel. This seemed to help a lot and he stopped squinting his eye but the cloudiness was still there. Its been a few months since then and the cloudiness is still there. Will his eye ever recover? Is this just scaring from the ulcer? What needs to be done? I am a student and cannot afford to take him to the vet. I feel helpless. What should I do?
PLEASE HELP. Any help would be so appreciated!
I've attached a photo of the eye as well.

[Riversyde]

To anyone that may come upon this discussion, please don't give a cat with am corneal ulcer any steroidal treatment. Steroids can stop and even worsen ulcers

[Jade59]

Lysine is an amino acid which can be beneficial in supressing herpes.  Do go to Ask a Vet for a more in depth answer.

Good luck with your kitty!

[zodiacqueen]

I'm glad that I've been able to help, but honestly I wish that I knew more about eye problems.  I've had cats my whole life (over 30 yrs) and we've always had 3+ cats at a time.  I have seen eye problems only twice.  The cat with the ulcer from herpes was my mom's cat-he was about 1 yr old when that condition popped up.  He died young-3 or 4 yrs old, but the ulcer only acted up once.  I don't remember if the vet specifically tested for that.  I sure wish I could remember!  ={  I think they put him on steroid eye drops and this eye gel stuff.  Not sure if the eye gel was antibiotic or pain med!!

HMMMMMM, haven't heard of Lysine.  What's it supposed to do?  Maybe, you can go to the Ask A Vet forum on MedHelp-there's an awesome vet on there-her name is Aleda.  She is a sweetie and goes out of her way to help-it's obvious that she loves animals and people.  To go to the vet forum-look to the right of this screen-it will say Related Expert Forum-click on there.  Please be sure to write Aleda's name on the subject line, since there are 2 vets on there.  The other vet is no where near as helpful as she is.  She will also recommend home and herbal remedies that will help your fur baby!

That is awesome that you're doing some research on this.  I hope that you and Kellie will be able to help each other out.  If you find out anything interesting, please be sure and post the things that you find and it'll help others that come to the site with kitty eye problems.  

Good luck and only the very best wishes to you and your baby!!!

[Halley571]

Ok I will definitely look into the pain meds and steroid drops. I have also done some more research today and found something called Lysine (sp?) that can either be taken in liquid form orally or in pill form also orally. It's a natural product you can buy from the health food store or get it from the vet. Have either of you tried this? Does it do any good.. or can it do any harm? Also is there a way to tell at home if your cat has the herpes virus or just an eye ulcer? What is the test (and approx. cost) that the vet would perform to find out?
You have been more than helpful!

[zodiacqueen]

Yes, there is a form of herpes in the eye that causes ulcers.  And, an antibiotic gel only works to get rid of bacterial infections, it won't do a thing for a virus.  Your best bet is steroid eye drops AND some pain meds.  Even though money is tight for you now, you can always call the vets to see if they can work out payment options for you.  You can always use a credit card, too.  I am also a student, so money is definitely tight with me right now but I still manage to get my cat the care and treatment that she deserves, since she is my responsibility.  If there's a will........there IS a way.

[Halley571]

Thanks zodiacqueen,
So the herpes virus and ulcers are connected? I have antibiotic gel that I put in his eye twice a day and that seemed to make him stop squinting his eye.. which is a sign they are in pain right? Should I continue with the antibiotic gel and a pain killer as well?
Thanks for all your help!

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, just wanted to let you both know that the herpes eye infection IS very painful.  My friend's little boy had the same condition-yes, humans do get this condition, and he would be miserable and crying every time that ulcer would resurface.  The only difference between human and kitty, is that we can voice our pain.  This ulcer is recurring, and eventually causes blindness.  My cat was either very lucky or the vet was mistaken about the herpes, since he only had it once.  

I'm sorry to tell you both that this condition is painful, but I can tell that both of you love your babies and would want to know that.  I know that the vet can give you some eye drops-steroid (inflammation) and maybe, they make some for pain, too.  Most definitely get them something for pain, whether it's pills or the drops.

I think it would be very very helpful to both of you to do some online research about herpes eye infections-human or cat.  The disease causes the same symptoms in both.  To prevent paranoia, the herpes virus is a different strain in humans and cats, so you won't get it from your cats.  By looking up the info and educating yourself, you won't feel helpless anymore and you'll have a better understanding of the disease and it's treatment.

Good luck with your kitties.  I wish both of them lots of healthy, happy, and playful years to come!  =D

[Halley571]

Thanks Kellie. It helps to know someone out there has a similar problem. Hobbes is only 5 so perhaps I should consider eye removal but the operation is very expensive. As long as he's not in pain I feel like it's worth keeping the eye. My vet said that he had an ulcer in the eye, does the herpes virus and an ulcer look similar?
Thanks for your help everyone. Feeling pretty helpless!

[kellie453]

I personally would not consider eye removal for our boy.  I was told by the vet that this is not painful for him, however sometimes I do wonder if it bothers him.  At his age (14 yrs) I would not put him through such a traumatic experience unless I thought he was in continual pain.  His herpes did not first come to light until he was about 8-9 yrs old.  He has never stepped foot outside nor do any of our other cats have this problem (we have 11 total). Good luck with your boy Halley and thanks for the info zodiacqueen.

[zodiacqueen]

I've also had a cat that had the herpes infection in his eye as Kellie's cat.  It happened when he was a kitten, and thankfully-we were very lucky-it was a one-time only outbreak.  But, if it had continued, we would've considered having his eye removed because it was very painful to him.

Would either of you-Kellie or Halley, consider eye removal?

[kellie453]

I have a 14 yr old cat with the exact or very similiar eye problem.  I can not tell you the amount of money that we have spent over the years taking him to various vets to try and get this resolved.  I finally was told by a vet that she believed this was a form of herpes and there was no way to ever get completely rid of it.  Our cats eye over the years gets really bad, it will gradually turn almost all white (left eye only) and then get blood vessels on top of the white cloudy film.  The vet will prescribe an eye antibotic but in all honesty it really doesn't help.  The good news if there is any is that his eye will clear up once in awhile for a couple of months, but it never stays clear long.  He does not seem to be in any real pain with it, he eats good and plays.  Hope this helps.

[zodiacqueen]

Sorry to break this to you, but you must find a way to get him medical care.  There really is no over the counter medicine that can treat an eye problem as bad as this one.