So Many Eye Problems!

[catzlaff]

I have had steady eye problems with my 8 year old cat for about 5 years now. I have taken him to an eye specialist a dozen times in the past couple years and they have determined that he gets 'outbreaks' from feline herpes and from outdoor allergies.  If we open the windows at all in the spring/summer/fall, he will almost immediately start rubbing his eye until it begins to swell out of socket.  Usually, I put the e-collar on him and within a couple days he will return to normal.  With the herpes, it's just a giant bag of worms.  He will rub his eye within an inch of its life, put his cone on, and then we're off to the vet for a $100 donation.  He has had ulcers scraped off, infections, and just plain inflammation.  Always within a day or two, I can remove the cone and he won't touch the eye because it's not bothering him.  However, last Thursday he rubbed the heck out of it, I put the cone on, and had him in the vet Friday afternoon.  The vet who was not an eye specialist, looked in the eye and said there were no ulcers and that it looked to be an infection.  She told me to give him 2 drops of Tobramycin (we've given him this many times before) and should be able to take the cone off by Saturday.  Well, it's Monday evening and each time I take it off to test him, he goes straight for it and won't leave it alone.  And now paws at the other eye as well.  Is an infection the wrong diagnosis?  This is the longest he's ever had to be coned up before and he's miserable.  I'm going to up it to 3 drops a day and see if it improves but I welcome any suggestions.  

 

[detmut]

do you give him lysine? is there a reason you didn't take him to the eye vet? 

 

[catzlaff]

Yes, he's on the max dosage of Lysine a day.  I didn't take him to the specialist because I just moved out of state and this is the first outbreak he's had since the move.  The vet I did take him to did give me some info to a specialist but he's an hour away and $200 a visit.

 

[detmut]

i understand. i assume you also have used terramycin many times. 

 

[betsygee]

Have you tried lactoferrin?  I had good success giving it to one of my cats for herpes.  

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267703/stubborn-herpes-infection-add-lactoferrin-in-addition-to-lysine

 

[catzlaff]

No, I don't think my old vet or specialist have ever given me that.  I think just Tobramycin, Ketorolac, and.. something that I believe started with an N that had to be refrigerated. 

 

[betsygee]

Well, you may want to check out that thread, then.  

  There's some good information about using lactoferrin in conjunction with lysine or on its own.

 

[detmut]

have you used/are you using antihistamines? 

 

[catzlaff]

I will definitely check that out, thank you!

 

[catzlaff]

Yep, I give him half of a Chlorpheniramine Maleate antihistamine.  So he only gets 2 mg at a time, but weighs 18 lbs, not sure if I should give him the whole tab. 

 

[detmut]

 
Yep, I give him half of a Chlorpheniramine Maleate antihistamine.  So he only gets 2 mg at a time, but weighs 18 lbs, not sure if I should give him the whole tab. 

the standard dosage is 0.1 to 0.2 mg/lb twice a day 

 

[catzlaff]

Also-could anyone tell me why the Tobramycin seems to be irritating his eyes?  It never has before, but now when I put it in, he squints hard and brings his paws up to the cone and tries to rub through the cone. 

 

[detmut]

 
Also-could anyone tell me why the Tobramycin seems to be irritating his eyes?  It never has before, but now when I put it in, he squints hard and brings his paws up to the cone and tries to rub through the cone. 

have you tried doing it in a darker room? 

 

[greencateyes]

 
Also-could anyone tell me why the Tobramycin seems to be irritating his eyes?  It never has before, but now when I put it in, he squints hard and brings his paws up to the cone and tries to rub through the cone. 

I have a furbaby, Dandy, who suffers from FHV, at least that was my vet's diagnosis based on her one leaky eye.  That was in November, 2014, and her only "symptom" was her eyes, which either had clear fluid, or white mucous dripping from her eyes.  It was not 24/7 constant, but I would clean her eyes twice a day, and could not go a couple of days without cleaning them.  I took her back to the vet in January when she had white mucous discharge.  I gave her terramycin eye ointment for 10 days (she hates it).  Her eyes cleared up after a few days and only stayed clear for a week after I finished treatment. 

I then started to research FHV, to find out as much information as I could.  I discovered quite a few interesting facts;  cats who have FHV generally do not respond to antibiotic treatment because FHV is a virus. Also, there are various strains of FHV and vets need to swab cats to test them so they know what medication to prescribe, as different medications work for different strains. I recently added Lactoferrin in addition to L-lysine, and Dandy is doing much better.  You might want to consider that.  I hope your baby feels better soon.

 

[catzlaff]

I heard so many good things about Lactoferrin that I ordered some and it arrived today.  Now I just have to figure out how much to give him.

 

[betsygee]

@LDG  said in the first post of that thread I mentioned before:

I am giving my cats 250mg daily, split into two doses, 125mg in the morning and 125mg in the evening. The Jarrow lactoferrin comes in 250mg capsules: easy to open and sprinkle on half a capsule and mix into food.

I'm pretty sure that's the dose I used, too, though it was a year ago and I honestly don't remember for sure.

 

[catzlaff]

Well. he went almost a whole week out of his cone.  He's been on the Lactoferrin about a week now.  I also had to add the anti-histamine as well, which helped a LOT yesterday, but today he's been having a ton of black discharge and is now refusing to open either eye.  I don't have a clue what to do for him, and the eye specialist can't give him any steroids for the allergies because it will trigger the herpes.  I'm at my wit's end here.