# Swollen Eye, Panicking



## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

She's been fine all day, but then she started rubbing her left eye a lot. Suddenly I saw it looked swollen and her second eyelid is half-closed. She still seems happy and wants to play but shes rubbing it a lot and now its looking swollen. Now she's meowing as she rubs it and starting to look disconcerted. Now shes hidden under the bed and is sitting there rubbing it. I panicked and rushed off to the vet but they're closed until tomorrow. Im a little panicky now, what should I do?


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Had to go find an emergency vet (which my wallet didnt really enjoy...)
He was befuddled and suggested it could be an allergic reaction, or an irritation from possibly a small insect or piece of cat sand or something and gave her a cortison shot and cortison eyedrops. I am to give her cortison eyedrops twice a day. Its already dramatically less swollen. Im shaking like a leaf lol...Shes now getting as much kibble as she wants under the bed and shes calming down, though still nervous.
Anyone have any thoughts?


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Shes out from under the bed and fairly calm now. Im hoping shes going to jump up next to me and have a rest soon. She's stopped rubbing her eye for the moment at least and probably hasnt for 30 mins. I thought her eye was going to pop out it was so swollen! I'm calming down now, phew...She's never seen that much food before lol. Shes now sitting on her tree, cleaned her eye up which has a bit of guck around it from where the tears have solidified, but she's not rubbing. 

So is this what its like to be a parent? I think one kid is enough for my nerves lol...


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I too would have taken her to the emergency vet, and since she seems to be rapidly improving, you did the right thing. I'm glad to hear she's getting better. I can't offer too much in the way of advice, other than to say if and when you're able (once the swelling has gone down, etc.) you might try to see if there's a foreign object in her eye (you said the vet suggested that as a possibility, implying he wasn't sure one way or the other). If so, I wouldn't try to remove it, but would call the vet to see what your next step should be. However, with a bit of luck, anything that might have been in her eye might have now been flushed out with the tears. I hope she's back to her old self soon.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Thanks.

Shes still squinting with that eye, but its hardly swollen anymore and she's not touching it at all. He said that we'd probably never find out what happened. I didnt want to take her to that vet because Ive visited him once before and didnt really like his attitude, thought he was a bit rude. When he seemed surprised and didnt know what it was I was thinking oh great, he's useless, what am I going to do now? But he turned out quite pleasant after we'd had a chat, so I feel a little more reassured about him. I dont think I really look like a cat-lover with my harley davidson leather jacket, tight jeans, ray bans and semi-long hair, perhaps my panic impressed on him that I am.

God I hope this doesnt turn into something worse. Shes quite calm and isnt scared of me anymore but she's still preferring to rest under the bed, which isnt surprising.

I cant believe I cycled to one vet, phoned another, found a 3rd, got her into her carrier and got her a shot and medicine and back home all in 45 minutes lol...


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## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

Sounds like she's okay and just needs treats.

They're more of a worry than kids becasue they can't tell you what happened.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

> They're more of a worry than kids becasue they can't tell you what happened.


Heh, thats almost verbatim what the vet said.
I lay alongside her under the bed which is where she goes when she wants to be alone stroking her and she started purring  . Lil gal, shes sleeping now.
I was supposed to be at a birthday party, there goes that plan lol.


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## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

Did he put some dye in and check for a scratched cornea*? My vet did. You might need a follow up to a non-emergency vet.











*I'm not a vet but in intertubes tradition I'm willing to second guess a vet.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

No. The swelling is pretty much gone now, she is still squinting a little bit. She's had a good nap and is purring and cuddling again. I'll be giving her the cortison eye drops and monitoring her carefully. She isnt touching it at all, hasnt for several hours now. He said I should do so and come back after the weekend. He said even if she's fine, I should come back and just let him know that she's fine, which was kind of him. What happened to your cats eye? This bloomed up from nothing to really swollen in about half an hour and now its pretty much gone again, which makes me think it was perhaps her rubbing it so hard that caused the excessive swelling.


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## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

Fay's eye didn't swell. I just noticed that she had something crusted under it and then that it seemed 'weepy'. She wasn't worrying at it either.

When I brough her in the vet put in some drops that dye the cornea to see if she had a scratched cornea since I have 2 cats and we were woried that it might have been damaged in a play fight. The drops seemed like a standard check.

She said the some cats catch a virus and then will have bouts of weepy eye. She gave me some drops and that cleared it up quickly.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

ok, thanks. We both thought it was strange if she'd picked up a virus since she's a single indoor cars. I think he was more leaning towards an insect or something getting into her eye and causing irritation. If nothing dramatic happens, I'll go to my favorite vet on monday and have a little debriefing with them. I've dealt with them before and thought they were great. Shes super-cuddly now lil gal.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Glad to hear the swelling has almost gone down as she's back to her cuddly self!


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Me too! Thanks!


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

I am so glad that you are both back to normal (or close to it). i tried to post earlier but it wouldn't go through.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Whew! What an ordeal you both had!

I thought that was amazing-quick-thinking you had in getting her bundled up and to the vet so quickly! I don't mess around if the kitties have an eye injury. 
A slight squint ... eh, I'll wait-and-see how they feel after a bit.
Weepy, Rubbing, Swollen and Distressed ... VET!


Squirrely-Jo has a torn third eyelid from rough-housing with the big cats when she was a kitten. Vet said it managed to 'just' get hooked/torn and not scratch her cornea. It never healed together so she has a split in it. Every once-in-a-while one of the flaps from the split will get tucked under and cause her to be uncomfortable but some eye drops and quick/short massage puts things right. If that happens and I can't get it flipped back w/in 5min she'll be going to the vet but the flip-under has only happened three times in the past 9yrs.

Our cat Mister has had some eye issues! 0_o
As a kitten, he had some sort of kitten virus or infection that damaged the cornea on one of his eyes. The best I can describe it is when looking at his eyes, that damaged eye looked like it had several hazy and crinkled layers of saran wrap over it. His depth perception was off because of that eye, too.
Then he got to wrestling too vigorously with his brother and got a claw-scratch on the cornea of his Good Eye. My vet looked at it (w/_ dye_) and said she had never seen a scratch this deep that hadn't popped the eye. 
THAT was SCARY. 
She gave me drops to put in his eye to encouraged blood vessels to grow over the eyeball and provide nourishment to heal the scratch in the cornea. Let me tell you how creepy it was to have a mostly black cat with one eye that was blood-red from the blood vessels grown completely over it. He looked like he had a red marble in there, instead of an eye. 
I had to bring him to her twice a week to check progress and about week 4 or 5 she did the dye-thing again and said it was probably healed as well as it ever would be so she gave me different drops to put in that would make the blood vessels recede and uncover his eyeball. That took a few more weeks and when his eyeball reappeared there was a noticeable divot in the center of it, but other than that one spot, the cornea was still clear. She cautioned me that the divot could be a problem in the future because it would act as a gathering-place for debris but we were lucky and he had no more issues with his eyes.

Your girl is so lucky to have someone so attuned to her and her distress level. You're an awesome cat-dad!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm so pleased her eye is doing better!


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Thanks! I can tell you I was rushing about the place as fast as I could, cycling as fast as I could against traffic lights on a busy lane, I was panicking! Im reading everbodys experiences with a good deal of interest, looking for common denominators, so keep 'em coming.
She's still squinting but no swelling. She's been resting all day and been cuddly and needing affection. No playing, so shes obviously feeling a little out of it.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

faithless said:


> She's still squinting but no swelling. She's been resting all day and been cuddly and needing affection. No playing, so shes obviously feeling a little out of it.


 Yeah, I bet her worrying at it was stressful and tiring. I'm sure she'll feel much better after a good night's sleep. Squinting is okay, I just hate to see them in so much distress that they worry at it with pawing and crying, finding no relief. Sometimes the pawing can cause additional damage and it is such a good thing that you got her to veterinary care so quickly. The swelling you described sounded SCARY-as-heck to me! I think that alone would have freaked me out something awful. 
Snuggles and scritchies for everyone!


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

well at about 8a.m. this morning, her eye was still looking less swollen but it was looking a little sort of glazed over and murky and she was still squinting. Now at 4pm its looking normal and healthy again and the same color as the healthy eye with just a slight squint so Im breathing a big sigh of relief. She's super-cuddly. I had a midday nap with her and when we woke up she just sat purring and making happy eyes at me non-stop for like half an hour and now shes asleep again with her head in my lap. Its like she was showing gratitude. Perhaps relief that she was feeling better and gratitude that I didnt turn predator on her when she was weak.

She probably put on half a pound of fat from all the spoiling her I did and Im always in a continual struggle to try to keep her slim anyway, so its the fat farm for her now. Im slightly suspicious of the red berries that have fallen onto the balcony from the tree just outside now. Maybe she rubbed her eye with poison, she had been doing her rolling around scent-marking the balcony shortly before all this happened. She was pretty scared at the vet and escaped me a couple of times but I still have to respect her behavior. When I used mild force to hold her she didnt use claws and submitted to me. Even when she got that needle in her back she flinched but didnt fight me. She hasnt seen that carrier since she got spayed about 8 months ago and I suspect she likes it even less now after this adventure, but what can you do.

Thanks everyone for the support!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Aw! Poor both-of-you for having to go through such an ordeal! ((hugs))


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

They do keep us on our toes! It's great to hear she's looking healthy again, and that she trusted you enough not to fight you at the vet. It sounds like the two of you have a very special relationship.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

Im having trouble administering the drops...She's learned the smell of them now so I have no chance of sneaking them into her eye, she zips off as soon as I get near her with them...I tried to do it while she was sleeping, I practiced opening her eye up a couple of times and she didnt really care, but as soon as I tried that with the bottle in the other hand she was fully awake and under the bed in milli-seconds flat. She no doubt connects the drops with the whole ordeal and perhaps thinks they're what irritated her eye. hmmm...


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Time for Treats-In-The-Bathroom! Then shut the door and medicate her. Another treat and then *you* scoot out of the bathroom before she does and act nonchalant, as if nothing bad happened.

My Mallie is like your Gal, can smell medication a MILE away. Ugh.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

I hate having to scare her like this...and I hate that she might think Im the one who hurt her. I was sitting here thinking that maybe Ill give her a pass today and see what she looks like tomorrow? If it was for example an insect sting then there wouldnt be any need for the cortisone anymore...she opens the eye completely most of the time but still squints some of the time. Is that stupid?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I don't think it's stupid. Once the initial threat of *danger* is past then you can weigh the benefits of medicating against the fear-factor/stress doing-the-medicating causes her to have when around you.
_I do the things I have to do but it is also weighed alongside the stress of doing those things. _It's a judgement call.


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

ok, thanks for both tips. She gets a pass today and careful monitoring tomorrow and I feel much better!


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## faithless (Dec 4, 2009)

no sign whatsoever of anything, the eye is completely normal now. As the vet said, I'll never know what happened. If it had been summer, I would have suspected a wasp sting or something, but they're all dead now, so it shall remain a mystery. Well that was my first cat emergency, pretty dramatic stuff - but with a happy ending


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

That's good news! And, now you don't have to keep putting drops in her eyes, which is also good news. I shudder to think what I would do if I had to put drops in my girls' eyes, because I know they would struggle and run away. Hopefully, this was just a one-time thing. Perhaps something foreign got in her eye, but has since been washed out through her tears and/or the drops. Who knows? But I'm glad to hear her eye is now back to normal.


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