[shan841]

When we adopted Banjo back in December, he had a greyish spot on his eye. The SPCA said that his eye had been scratched, which became infected, and turned into a corneal ulcer. They gave us drops(antibiotic?) when we got him, which we put in his eye twice a day. I took him to the vet right away and my vet said that it had healed nicely and gave me a different type of drop(steroid?) to put in it to try to minimize the scarring. We took him back a week later and our vet said that it had probably healed as much as it ever will, and to continue the drops until the bottle was gone. My question is, sometimes the scar looks darker, and sometimes it looks lighter. Is this normal? It doesnt seem to bother Banjo in the least bit, he doesn't squint his eye or seem in pain at all. I am just wondering if there is a possibility of the ulcer causing issues in the future? I figured I would ask to see if anyone hear had experience with something like this before I called the vet. Thanks

 

[doodlebug]

We haven't had a lot of discussion around here about corneal ulcers, so we may not have anyone with any real knowledge about it. The fact that the vet said it's "healed as much as it ever will" is a bit concerning to me that there could be issues down the road. I'd suggest an appt with a veterinary ophthalmologist...your regular vet is probably not an eye specialist.

 

[Lenkolas]

Hey!

Yes, I agree with doodle. That "as much as it ever will" doesn't sound really...specialist. But it could be, on the other hand, that the scratch was deep and he will have a scar for life...anyway my recommendation is to take him to a cat specialist, ophthalmologist better. I'm inclined to think your kitty can be completely cured from his ulcer.

When we found Chikis, he had an awful eye ulcer. All infected, he couldn't see...terrible. First ER vet said he'll lose his eye. When we took him to our vet (she's a cat specialist, a wonderful professional) she said treatment with ciprofloxacin drops would cure him completely. He is completely cured now, and there's no scar whatsoever.

Chikis ulcer, after 5 days of treatment with cirpofloxacin. When we found him it looked worse than that.

Treatment was over, but he had a slight discoloration in the injured eye

Chikis completely healed, no discoloration, perfect sight Rulos, lil' bro from the same feral mom with him.

Good luck, and please keep us posted!

Lenka

 

[shan841]

Wow chikis healed very well! I have to check the bottle when I get home to see exactly what drops the vet gave me. I think that he was referring to the scar when he said it had healed as much as it ever will.

Here is the best pic I can find of Banjo's eye, it's his right one. You can just see a bit of a greyish cloudiness. It is definately noticable though, and while it doesnt seem to slow him down any, I would imagine it must cloud his vision in some way.

There is a veterinary eye specialist right near me, unfortunately it is located in the same place as the oncologist, where I spent a lot of time last december...bad memories...oh well, I guess I will have to deal. I want to make sure I do everything I can to get his eye healed. Thanks for the responses! I will keep you posted

 

[shan841]

yikes! i just called the opthamologist and it is $197 just for the initial appointment and eye stain... does that seem normal or should I keep looking?

 

[RachandNito]

Eyes are a very touchy subject. Like Lenka said, sometimes they can heal completely. It all depends on the kind of infection, how bad the ulcer was, and even how deep into the tissue it extended. At my clinic, we treat all eye issues as an emergency that is what we tell people when they call. I have seen lots of cats with severe eye issues that get completely cured. I have also seen eye issues that don't ever completely heal, and the scarring in there forever.

The best bet would be to talk to a specialist and see what he thinks. If it doesn't heal completely, at least Banjo's scarring is small and probably doesn't really affect his vision that much.

 

[laurief]

I've dealt with more corneal ulcers in my animals' eyes than I care to remember. BooBoo, in particular, loves to instigate slap fights with the other cats, but she's too slow or foolish to close her eyes when they slap back. She frequently ends up with a torn lower lid that heals turned in (entropion) and scratches the cornea with her lashes. It seems like she has to have at least one of her lids surgically repaired at least once a year, silly girl. Anyhow, while I'm waiting to see if her torn lid will miraculously heal correctly, her lashes sometimes rub an ulcer into her cornea.

As RachandNito wrote, sometimes a deep ulcer will leave a permanent scar after healing. The only thing that concerns me about Banjo's story is that the ulcer/scar continues to change color. That indicates to me that there is some sort of ongoing process with the injury to that eye that should be checked out, preferably by the veterinary ophthalmologist. It's probably nothing serious, since Banjo is not squinting or showing any other signs of discomfort in the eye, but you're better safe than sorry where his vision is concerned.

Laurie