Uneven pupils.

[Guest]

Hey. I have this cat, and the other day I noticed one eye looked like it was bothering her...like she had something in it. It's half-way to all the way shut most of the time...but when she looks up at me you can see that the pupils are greatly uneven.

I don't have alot of money at the moment and can't just run off to the vet..so I was wondering if anyone knows how serious it could be. I'm really worried.

Thanks.

[davet]

this could be very serious like a problem with the optic nerve or it could be a local allergic or other irritation...i can;t think of any home treatment you might use or safely attempt..it should be looked at if ever possible....but again with out knowing the cause no one can reccomend home treatment...good luck

[Guest]

I recently had the same experience with my cat- except it was just his pupils were uneven ... but didnt seem to bother him and the eye wasnt inflammed or anything.. he didnt scratch at it. Looked normal other than the pupils being uneven. After a few days they started to get back to normal and after a week they were totally back to normal. I never got around to taking him to the vet for it so no idea what caused it but he's been fine ever since.

[Traci]

Get your kitty to your vet...uneven pupil size is not normal. In addition to Davet's advice, I would also strongly encourage testing for FELV/FIV...and if your kitty is older than 6 years of age, get bloodwork done and evaluate blood pressure, etc to rule out hypertension, which can be a very serious condition.

[Arthur's Mom]

I have had some eye problems in two of my cats. It started out with the cat keeping it's eye closed and then the eye got a little weepy. The vet first thought it was an irritation or an allergy. We tried putting a warm dampened cloth on the eye first. then we tried eye ointment for inflamation, not sure what kind it was now. Nothing seemed to work and eventually one of my cats developed a turn and a twitch in one of her eyes. There was akind of cloudy spot that developed on the surface of the eyeball.

After consulting with a veterinary opthalmologist several onths later I found out that the cat had actually developed an ulcer on the eye. This was due to Herpes which was most likely passed on from the cat's mother according to the vet. It had to be cleared up with special viral eyes drops and the cat is finally okay.

So you may want to consider blood work for Herpes as well.

Cheryl

[Guest]

Thanks for your input guys. Now her pupils seem to be evening out...but the one eye still seems to be bothering her. Now that the pupils are starting to get back to normal I'm a little less worried cause this has happened before minus the uneven pupils..that's why I was so worried. This cat was really a wild cat that I've pratically adopted and I'm the only human she trusts or will even be around so it'd be hard to get her to the vet. I'm gonna give it a couple more days to see if it gets any better, and if not I'll start calling some vets. Thanks again.

[Traci]

Please don't wait to see if it gets better. Uneven pupil sizes are NOT normal, this could be anything from a nerve problem to corneal abrasion to something even more serious, wouldn't you want peace of mind to know what the problem is, if it can be treated effectively, and that it won't occur again??

[Sara]

I have also heard that can mean they are in pain or distress. I would have a vet look at it right away.

[Guest]

Well, her eyes are fine now. Pupils are even, eyes are wide and clear as usual, and she's acting fine.

You guys don't know my situation and don't understand that I just don't have the money right now to run off to the vet. So unless I see a big problem w/ her or her pupils go aloof again, then I'm just gonna have to hope that she's fine.

Thanks again for your input and everything but she really does seem fine now.

[HarryandNorton]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, uneven pupils in themselves aren't always an abnormality, but sudden onset uneven pupils should warrent a trip to the vet's. One of my family's cats, Cleo, has naturally occuring uneven pupils. She has been checked out, and she is as healthy as a horse, but has uneven pupils. They aren't very dramatically different, but noticable.