What is the most important thing when it comes to taking care of your cat's eyes?
The most important thing about taking care of your cat's eyes is to watch them closely for any sort of changes or anything like that, as eye issues can progress quickly.
How does good eye care impact the health and wellbeing of your cat?
Your cat needs to have good, healthy eyes. Unfortunately, they can have very painful eyes. I've seen quite a bit of that, and they get infections pretty quickly.
What are some signs and symptoms of eye issues in your cat?
Discharge is often a sign of infection. You'll just see some crusty bits, or you might see a little bit of drainage from those eyes. In the case of infection, you can see the goopy discharge as well as redness or tearing. Irritated eyes and eyeballs will often be very red, and they might be squinting quite a bit.
What are some signs and symptoms of cloudy eyes in cats?
Cloudy eyes, often cataracts or corneal problems, usually come with a bit of white in front of the eyes.
What are some signs and symptoms of glaucoma in cats?
Glaucoma involves pretty painful eyes. They're kind of bulgy sometimes, or else they look very red.
What are some signs and symptoms of cataracts in cats?
Cataracts, you might see a little bit of whiteness in front of the eye, and you might notice your cat's not getting around as they usually do because they can't see very well.
What are some signs and symptoms of allergies in cats?
You see a lot of tearing with allergies. The clear discharge comes from there. The cat might be sneezing too.
What are some signs and symptoms of dry eyes in cats?
Dry eyes will generally be pretty red. You might notice that they look slightly less shiny than usual, but generally, they're just pretty red irritated eyes.
What are some signs and symptoms of discoloration?
You'll often see the colored part of the eye get some dark pigment on it with discoloration. This can be signs of either normal aging or else some kind of tumor in the cat.
What are some signs and symptoms of uveitis in cats?
Uveitis is uncomfortable—you'll notice a slight haziness with that as well. The cat will also be squinting and blinking in the bright light.
How will a veterinarian diagnose a problem with vision or other eye issues in your cat?
To start, we'll take a good look at the back of the eye there. We'll also test the tear production to see if there are any cuts on the cornea or anything like that. But we'll first start with a good exam on those cats.
What types of eye treatments are commonly recommended for cats?
We often do topical treatments for cats, especially for infections, but depending on the severity of the disease, they might also need some more systemic treatments, such as if they have high blood.
Why is it important to avoid self-diagnosing eye issues in cats?
We want to make sure to get your cat in to make sure that we're not doing anything that might harm the eyes. Like I said before, they can go downhill really quickly, so it's vital if you notice any changes in your cat's eyes to go ahead and bring them in because the treatments vary quite a bit.
Why is early detection and diagnosis of problems with a cat's eye or eyes so important?
It's imperative to get them in very quickly because eyes can rupture. They can have nasty infections. If it's glaucoma, those can also be very painful eyes. And then potentially, if the eye issue is not caught early enough, we might have to remove the eye to treat the cat.
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