Should I be concerned about this?

[redvelvetone]

A few days ago I noticed something a bit off about my cat's eyes. I'm not sure if they are tear stains or areas where the fur got worn or ? (He's a black cat and it's bit hard to see). I called and left a message with my vet to see if this is something I should bring Magnus in about or if I should just watch him. Everything else about him is fine - he's acting normal, eating normal, litter box is normal etc, still active and playful.

I have a video I took of him yesterday when he go into some shower curtains I was changing in the bathroom. You can see his eyes better around the 0.52 mark

Are these allergies? We did just have a change of weather recently in the past few days.

 

[orientalslave]

Looks OK to me.

 

[redvelvetone]

so you don't think it looks weird right at the inside corners of his eyes where they connect to his nose?

This is how they normally look

magnus-april2012-025.jpg

• redvelvetone
• Sep 17, 2012

 

[redvelvetone]

argh!

Ok I am calling the vet first thing tomorrow

Magnus has appeared to rub off the fur (or scratched off?) along the line of his tear duct. there's a little bald patch now where the tear stain area would be.

What could this be?

Allergies?

 

[ilovemia]

My Mac's eyes look that way too (like the fur is gone in the insides of his eyes. When I first saw him I thought he had stuff in them and might have infection. Then after awhile I realized it was just him. The way he is and it is noticeable ( he too isall black ) but there is nothing wrong. Looks normal to me. 

 

[redvelvetone]

This is something new though. I've had Magnus for 10 months now and this is something that started this week (and the bald patch is from today). It just looks like he scratched or rubbed off a little bit of fur by the corner of his eye.

 

[becbec709]

It could be allergies or something did irriate his eyes.  Has he been rubbing at them or any abnormal discharge?  I mean, from the video his eyes look very clear and bright but I see where you are talking about with the hair loss.  In my opinion, when in doubt, get him checked out.  I am the same way, debate whether I should take my cat in or not, but Id rather take him in and have the vet say yes this is something or no it's not.  Give me better peace of mind.  Keep us updated!

 

[redvelvetone]

Hi Becbec, thanks for your reply

There has not been any abnormal discharge that I can see. Earlier this week I thought it looked like tear stains, but I wasn't sure if it was that or he was just rubbing his fur off. (It's hard say for sure because of his coloring). His eyes themselves look clear and normal. I did see him scratching at his head though a few times. I tried checking for fleas but didn't notice anything that could be flea dander (again, hard to see because of his coloring).

Anyway I did call the vet however and they said it was very likely it was either allergies or fleas (They told me this over the phone though, didn't see Magnus in person). They said pollen and dander has been very bad in our area lately (also we have construction going on outside our apartment and it's possible something could have been kicked up in the dust that irritated him. he does not go outside the but the windows are open and he, like most cats, loves to lounge in front of the open (screened) window. And also she said flea season was particularly bad this year. And while I don't think there are fleas in the apartment (my husband is allergic to fleas so we always know if there is a flea infestation someplace because he gets really bothered by them), he does do pet sitting and it's possible he could have brought a flea from a client's pet home with him.... The person I spoke to at the vet's told me both her long haired cats were having issues as well with the allergies and the flea season..

So I got Magnus a dose of Revolution and we also washed down his fur with distilled water (in case he has some sort of dust or allergin on him) and wiped out his eyes with warm water. I shut the windows near where the construction is going on too.

So we'll see if that helps.... If it does not I'll call the vet again and bring him in.

 

[orientalslave]

The way to see if a cat has fleas is to use a fine tooth comb (flea comb) over white paper.  If you comb little black bits out, wet them.  If they are flea faeces they will stain pink.  If you actually find fleas on the cat you have a real problem, as they are never on a cat for long.

 

[redvelvetone]

I'll try that. I did use a fine tooth comb on him and when I pulled the fur that I combed out of him off the combI looked through it carefully looking for black bits, but did not see any. Also I checked around his ears where i know when I have had cats with fleas in the past, the fleas liked to go in the ears.

But I can try the white paper thing.

 

[redvelvetone]

I got a photo of the bald patch

It does look like there are some black hairs on it now, so maybe the fur is growing back (if he scratched it off)?

I'm monitoring him to see if it gets any worse or not.

Anybody else ever have this happen?

eye.jpg

• redvelvetone
• Sep 25, 2012

Here is how his eyes should look 

092512-018.jpg

• redvelvetone
• Sep 25, 2012

 

[cstanley]

As a kitty owner with a girl who has allergies, I recommend you take her to the vet...and check any/all plants that your kitty has access to make sure they are all non-toxic to your kitty....even if she does eat the plants at all she may scratch on them then groom....getting around the eyes.  I have found that in the event of hair loss it can go from very little to a ton of fur missing practically overnight!

Christy

 

[redvelvetone]

Thanks for your response cstanley

There are no plants that he has access to.

I looked at his eyes again and there is a light down of new hair growing in on the bald patch by his eye so whatever happened, it looks like the hair is growing back. I'll keep it monitored.

 

[mitttens]

Hello Redvelvetone,

Did you eventually find out what were those patches? I've found identical ones in the same areas on my cat today and I'm worried!

 

[redvelvetone]

Hi Mittens

They eventually grew back in. We think he just scratched or rubbed the fur off in that area.

 

[mitttens]

Hi redvelvetone,

Thanks for the reply :-)

We recently moved to where we are and all of a sudden Mittens, my cat, gets those strange bold patches just outside her eyes. 

A couple of days ago I spoke about this issue to one of my neighbors, a cat owner too. He said that it's a reaction to a chemical! I was surprised as

Mittens doesn't have any access to chemicals around our house. My neighbor says that she must have been wondering around other people's yards and got exposed to bug spray or something like that.

Knowing Mittens, who loves exploring new places, I wouldn't be surprised if she went to my next door neighbors' backyard. 

Well, she is fine and those the hair is growing back in. I'm glad Magnus is all better too :-)

Cheers!

 

[12cynamin0709]

My got I just got last Sept and just turned 4 n Dec, has had tear stain type things n both eyes on/off (more in the right) since I've had him. That can be common in some cats and generally doesn't mean anything; however, my cat I was told got scratched by another cat as a kitten, which can lead to (in his case did) feline herpes virus (for my cat it isn't as bad as it sounds but I can be, my sister had 2 cats of hers that had severe cases of it (older stray and her kitten, which are more prone to the infection).    My cat however, has (from the virus) a chronic upper respirator issue that is best treated with ointment in the eye lids (melts into the eye).  When he has flare ups his eyes get puffy/swollen lids and redness. 

The vet recommended to things to me but can't recall which on does which  to help stop growth of the virus that causes flare ups (usually during stress or sensitivity to the eyes such as dust (my cat likes sniffing the radiators.).  Vet says Chew is a one time thing but have to buy whole bag and cats often do not care for the taste then there is a daily pump you spray on food  (think that is done prior to stressful event which for me is hard to know what is causing that, if  it is stress). Both are expensive.  

My Kitty just at the end of his recent break out of this issue, he had it (not the swollen eyes) when got him but I've treated it @ least 1 other time but thing 2 so not counting the initial visit that is 3 time  in less than 5 months.  He's still otherwise himself