It happened again.

mommytobuck

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So I mentioned in another post a strange thing that has been happening since September. When I have a long weekend and sleep in on one of the days my cat somehow hurts his eye. I wake up to a swollen and lid shut eye with running eyes. But it always goes away the next day. It doesn't happen on other times and I can go 6 weeks at a time. It is always the same eye though so that is strange.

Well last weekend, the long one it happened again.

I was determined to give my cat something to make it itch less but I did that and he seemed not to be rubbing his face. This weekend, not a long one, all was well.

But tonight I got home late -- 15 hours after I left... (I usually get home about 12) and it happened again.

I now think it has something to do with food. When he doesn't get the food he wants and needs he does something to his face. My best guess is that it has also to do with the dark.. like maybe he can't see well in the complete dark and isn't aware he is rubbing his actual eye?

It does seem to have to do with him NOT getting his food. My cat is already fat but I feel like I have to give him more food. I got out the automatic cat feeder that I used to use all the time (stopped when I stopped giving him dry food) I hate to give him more food as he is big and that isn't great.

I also changed food and I suspect maybe the food I am giving him does not have as high a caloric count has his old food. So one handful of the old food would be more than one handful of the new food.

I do not understand what is going on. I would take him to the vet but I fear they will just tell me the same and they don't know what is going on since 99% of the time he is just fine.
 

Furballsmom

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I don't have any good ideas about his eye, well, other than maybe he's trying to get inside something to access food? but maybe put a camera up so you can video him...

Can you take him for walks or try something else to get him more active?
 

verna davies

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Try making a game out of giving him a small amount of dry food. Throw a piece across the room and make him run to get it, keep doing this with each piece until he has had the amount you want him to have. Hopefully this will make him tired and sleep whilst you are away and he will stop doing whatever he might be doing to hurt his eye. He might lose a little weight as well. A win win situation.
 
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mommytobuck

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"I think your cat is rubbing his head on something out of frustration like he wants to get out of somewhere or it could also be him rubbing his head for food."

I think that has to be it. I am afraid he has hurt his eye permanently as this morning it is still somewhat closed. But I will give it a few more days. This morning I woke up and he wasn't that hungry so hopefully this will end the issue. I think I got him into the habit of doing this when he wasn't getting his food and I have to get him out of the the habit.

I would prefer a fat cat the one without an eye.

ETA: He has a cat carrier that I suspect he is rubbing on (perfect height and location to get this one eye) so I took that away and replaced it with a soft carrier that I have. I hope that significantly helps.
 
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Willowy

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Some cats just seem to have sensitive eyes. Is he orange by any chance? All of mine with sensitive eyes are orange, lol. Anyway I figure they just got some dust in their eye and as long as it starts to look better within a couple days I don't worry about it.
 
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mommytobuck

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He is not orange. He is black and white. Anyway.. I saw ok progress this week. Last night the train was an hour late so I didn't get home until 15 hours after I left. He was fine. Then this morning I slept until 9 am and he was fine. He did cry for food around 8 but typically that starts at 6. Odd that it is happening after years of him not getting food for 12 hours or more but .. perhaps he just started the maladaptive behavior and I can nip that in the bud with the automatic feeing dish.
 

Willowy

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How old is he? Extreme hunger can be a sign of a health problem. Running bloodwork might be a good idea.

Have you considered increasing his canned food intake? Canned food is often more satisfying for cats because it has more meat protein and moisture.
 
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mommytobuck

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No I don't think it is "extreme hunger" he just needs to lose weight and doesn't like to be on a diet. He gets two cans of wet food when I am home, but having it extended so far out (12 hours or more) gets him upset. It always did I just think he just developed this new maladaptive behavior to deal with it.
 
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