scratch on cornea

[catmom5]

My 8 year old boycat, Jess, was not opening his left eye or squinting so I took him to the emergency vet.  They found a scratch on his cornea, gave me an antibiotic ointment for him and put him in an e-collar.  That was Saturday and I don't see much, if any, improvement.  Will definitely be making a phone call tomorrow, but just wondered if any of you have had a similar situation.  How long should it take an eye to heal?  Seems as if something would be better after 3 full days of treatment.

[DebJ]

Is your cat's eye better?  Do you have an opthamologist vet you can go to?  I don't remember the specifics, but my cat developed a dark spot on his eye & a lot of cloudiness (corneal sequestrum), which developed because of feline herpes.  My regular vet didn't have experience with this, or so it seemed, and was treating it as a cornea ulcer.  The eye vet put him on a couple of different medicines & l-lysine for a long, long time.  I don't mean to alarm you.  I wish someone had told me about this so I could've acted quicker.

I think his eyes look pretty good now that he's on different food.  We'll be going for his annual checkup this fall and I'm anxious to see what the eye vet says.

[sylvia]

Get the cat back to the vet! Having had a scratched cornea myself and having had dogs with them, one in 2005, the meds usually work quickly. You have to use the full course but improvement should be noted in about 24 hours. See if you can find a pet ophthamologist in your area. They do exist and are as knowledgable as the human kind.

[catmom5]

Thanks for your replies.  I took him back in and the eye stain showed a much smaller corneal ulcer, but he continues to squint more than I think he should.  I will take him back in the beginning of the week if it continues.  He's been on the triple antibiotic ointment for a week now.  I think that he has reirritated it because when I take the e-collar off for him to eat and drink, he quickly finds a spot to give himself a good cleaning, including his face! Guess I'll have to watch him more closely and get the collar back on sooner.

[catmom5]

Just got back from the emergency vet who saw Jess last weekend.  They believe he likely had an allergic reaction to something in the triple antibiotic ointment he was getting.  (Fortunately, the ophthamology resident was there to see a dog who also came in with an eye problem!)  He's on a lubricant and still has the ecollar for a couple of days so he won't irritate the eye.  The cornea has healed.
The down side is that he gets very easily stressed and has a heart murmur.  By the time we got home he was open mouth breathing and it looked as if his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.  He's settled down now, but I think we'll have to schedule a cardiac recheck in the next few months, too.
Hope I don't have too many more cat emergencies since I am still paying for CJ's May - June hospitalization and surgery.  (And she goes back Thursday for recheck bloodwork andpossible ultrasound)
Guess I'm just very appreciative that I live near a wonderful vet teaching hospital! It's only money, right?

[Therese]

HA! Only money, huh? That's what I say to myself every time I drop a chunk of money on my fuzzy kids, but they're certainly worth it!

I hope Jess gets to feeling better soon.

[catmom5]

Thanks ~ his eye still has some drainage but isn't closed like it has been.  Hopefully it is healing without the nasty ointment.  I hear ya about them being worth it!  At least if I spend my entire savings maybe medicaid will pick up my nursing home costs if I need one! 

[Therese]

HA! Too bad there isn't kitty medicaid

[sylvia]

catmom5
Glad your kitty is doing better. Ulcerations depending can take longer to heal than a scratch caught early. Depends on how bad but looks like your kitty is on his way to recovery. Glad you found a specialist for him.