Cats eyes dilated all the time

[mommytobuck]

Is it possible for a cat to have naturally dilated eyes? Perhaps due to living in a darker apartment all the time.

I had a little panic moment that my cat always seems to have dilated eyes but thankfully, I take pictures of him, and I have pictures of him over the last 10 years and his eyes are always saucers.

Going back to when he was a just a teenager.

 

[ramscici]

I had a tabby girl like this when I was living with my parents. She to this day has huge eyes at 15 years old, which gives her a baby face. As long as your kitty isn’t showing any signs of disease or discomfort, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, but definitely ask your vet for peace of mind.

 

[mommytobuck]

Well he is having watery eyes but she gave me an ophthalmic creme.

 

[fionasmom]

While it could be normal, or have been normal at one time, it can also be a sign of concern. What caused the dilation earlier in his life might not be the cause now; you may not be looking at the same thing over time. It can happen with age, or with conditions like hypertension which would need care. Since you have a cream for the eyes, does that mean that the vet has seen the cat and thinks that everything is okay?

 

[tnl]

My cat is 14 and I noticed his eyes were really dilated and he started bumbling into things once in a while. He might of had this problem for a while but long of the short, he has hypertension and was put on blood pressure medication. He too also had big pupils but one night I noticed it was more so than usual plus bumbling was a good indicator. Definitely get him checked out because it might be something that can be reversed if caught early enough.

 

[mommytobuck]

I think I am going to have to take him in.. Again though my cat has had massive dilation every since he was a kitten so to me it seems like I could be overacting. But his eyes just look wrong and sick. I will finish the the creme and see if that does anything and if not take him in. My cat is not bumping into anything. My vet did not see the cat for the creme other than a video I sent her. She said if the creme didn't change things I would have to take him in. He had a full examination a year ago at 14 with a clean bill of health and he has been seen by the vet almost every year.

 

[di and bob]

Dilated eyes can be a sign of an infection too, make sure he has a blood count to make sure he does not have that.

 

[mommytobuck]

So frustrated. My vet does not have a single available appointment before 7/16 (and with my vet not until 7/28). That does not work for me because i have been called back to work on 7/12. Plus my cat's eyes are getting quite bad.

Does anyone know if the ophthalmic creme can make the eyes look worse? They look greasy and shiny. The thing that gets to me is that light seems to be bothering him. But otherwise he seems happy as a clam, walking around and being happy.

 

[di and bob]

What exactly is the creme? Terramycin is what I have always been given. I have never heard of a creme for the eyes, it is usually a salve/ointment. I saw it on Chewy, Amazon, and PetMeds.

 

[mommytobuck]

Ophthalmic erythromycin.
It is a ointment sort of clear. Greasy.
I seem to remember at one point having Conjuntivitis myself and using something like this (that was sort of clear) and it made my eyes look greasy and glassy.

 

[di and bob]

That is a good one too. I don't know why they would prescribe an antibiotic eye ointment if there were no other symptoms, like watering, swelling, redness, etc. It sounds more like a structural or neurological problem to me. Did you take him into a bright room and see what they do, or have him in a window with sunlight coming in? Does his eyes water more then, like he can't get his pupils to constrict? It may be genetic too, or just that the light in your apartment isn't bright enough to cause constriction.

 

[mommytobuck]

That is a good one too. I don't know why they would prescribe an antibiotic eye ointment if there were no other symptoms, like watering, swelling, redness, etc. It sounds more like a structural or neurological problem to me. Did you take him into a bright room and see what they do, or have him in a window with sunlight coming in? Does his eyes water more then, like he can't get his pupils to constrict? It may be genetic too, or just that the light in your apartment isn't bright enough to cause constriction.

No sorry there was watering (clear liquid). But that does seem to have subsided. I say seem because the ointment gets all over his eye when I apply it and so around the eye is what could either be water or the ointment. But I suspect the watering has stopped.

He does seem to have issues when he is put in the light. As if the light hurts his eyes him. But it isn't like he doesn't look out the window because it hurts him. He just seems to struggle not to blink. When his eyes were watering - it could kick off a watering bout. When he looks at me now no matter what the light he blinks a lot as if he can't meet my gaze without blinking

 

[mommytobuck]

I did just test his eyes by putting him at the front screen door. He stayed inside I went outside and look at him through the glass. His eyes were little slits. No dilation. But he was having issues not blinking. I didn't see any watery eyes.. so maybe the ointment is working.

 

[di and bob]

I hope so, the poor little guy needs a break!

 

[mommytobuck]

I read some side effects and it does say that the cat can be more sensitive to light. He definitely seems that way. He is sleeping under my bed this morning. Now it is hot and humid here (and he has always gone under the bed for that reason) but I also suspect he is sensitive to light because his eyes are quite dilated. I have largely stopped seeing any leakage from the eye. But his eyes are now very dilated and blink a lot when he tries to look up or at me.

I remember when I had this same treatment for conjunctivitis I had similar problems. I remember taking a photo to try to prove to co workers that my conjunctivitis was bad and my eyes were more dilated than I would have expected for the light in the area.

 

[mommytobuck]

Ok this might be a dumb question but the eyes are looking good. But he is blinking at me all the time. Could it be because I am always trying to look at his eyes?

 

[fionasmom]

That is really hard to tell. I suppose he could be, but frequent blinking is also associated with eye conditions. My cats don't necessarily blink if I look into their eyes...one turns away, one just looks back, one sort of stares me down.

 

[mommytobuck]

It is hard to figure out. My cat is now sick of me. I have been non stop bothering him for about 5 days and I wonder if some of the squinting is due to that. I have been giving him eye medication for 5 days and though it says to give it for a lot more I think I am going to stop. He is absolutely fighting me hard with it and avoiding me because he seems afraid I am going to bother him at every move. This morning he woke up after a nap and his eyes looked horrible but then I realized.. I had given him the eye ointment 2 hours before. Now, 6 hours later, they don't look that bad. But truly they don't look that much different than before.

Is it just that I am home all the time and looking at him? I just don't know. I have been trying to take video to compare and contrast but it is very hard getting him to look at me for more than 1 second.

 

[mommytobuck]

Here is a video