Unknown cause of dilated pupils

[Toreylee]

My cat is 4 yrs. old and had no problems with his eyes.  This morning I found him in the laundry room skiddish and both eyes dialated.  No noticeable bites ( considered spider). He can not see real well. Yesterday his eyes were perfect and there were NO problems. He acts though he is very scared of different objects as well as fearful of me, initially.      Could pain cause dilated eyes?

[slaytheday]

Hi, Julie.

  I'm so sorry that your kitty gets frightened like that.

  She reminds me of my boy Spike who apparently has the best hearing in the world.  Sometimes he'll just start growling and at first we thought he was being weird .  Then as we gathered more data as we listened or looked for a stimulus we noticed he growled when he saw or heard a neighbor coming   our apartment to get to theirs.

  He always hears rain or thunder before his humans do.

  It something to consider with your baby girl.  Or it could be the opposite & her hearing is impaired.  I'd check with her vet.

Blessings,

  Melinda

[jenga007]

I  have a cat that acts normal most days, then all of the sudden her eyes will dilate and she acts scared of us and runs and hides, like cowars~  She is strictly indoors~ I cant imagine what would cause this..most days she is normal~ if it were something bad, would this be happenin every day??
     THANKS JULIE

[Jade59]

Hello and Welcome.  First, how is your boy now?  Any improvement?  The first thing that comes to mind, is he may of acquired a brain injury somehow.  Many times dilated pupils can be indicative of a brain neurological problem.  This exact same thing happened to my last cat.  She was an indoor/outdoor, and one day, she came home with her left back leg paralyzed and her pupils completely dilated.  Prior to this incident, we had noticed a few other times when she would come home with her eyes dilated, as well as acting frightened of everything, and it took her hours to get back to herself.  In retrospect, we believe she had some sort of epileptic episodes the 3yrs we had her.

If kitty isn't better by the time you read this, please get him to the vet ASAP.  If it IS a brain injury from a fall, time is of the essence as there are injections to help the brain swelling. It might be a good idea to take him in even if his pupils are back to normal, because to act that way other than just plain being scared of something, is not normal and you may be nipping a problem in the bud early.  Now don't panic...I am not saying any of this is wrong with your kitty, just some ideas to consider.  

Best of luck, and please keep us updated!

[margypops]

are you the only one around could someone else frightened him ?

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, I think that pain can cause the eyes to dilate, but so can fear, sickness, as well as other reasons.  

Please let us know how he's been eating, any change in litter box habits, and is he indoor/outdoor, and is he neutered?  And, to be totally sure that he's having a hard time seeing, if you haven't done this already, hold up a string or one of his favorite toys and see if he follows it w/ his eyes.  Or, you can set a treat a few inches in front of him and see what he does.

But, if you haven't noticed any changes in his habits, then you can be pretty sure that he's going to be just fine.