Glaucoma in cats: causes, symptoms, treatment

Glaucoma is a dangerous eye disease that can strike both humans and cats. It happens when there is an increase in intraocular pressure, which can harm the optic nerve and cause blindness if left untreated. It is essential for pet owners to comprehend feline glaucoma in order to guarantee early detection and efficient treatment.

In cats, glaucoma can develop as a result of various factors. It may be secondary, arising from an eye injury or other ailment, or primary, occurring on its own without any other underlying problems. Tumors, inflammation, and anomalies in the drainage system of the eye are common causes.

Timely intervention for glaucoma requires an understanding of its symptoms. Squinting, redness, and a foggy appearance in one or both eyes are among the symptoms that cats may display. Additionally, they may feel pain or discomfort, which may show up as behavioral abnormalities or vision problems.

It’s critical to speak with a veterinarian right away if you observe any of these signs. Managing glaucoma and averting serious complications requires early diagnosis and treatment. For the purpose of maintaining your cat’s comfort and vision, your veterinarian can suggest suitable course of action.

The structure of the visual apparatus of a cat

• move;
• contact people and other animals;
• evade obstacles;
• Find food and t.p.

• cornea;
• lens;
• front camera;
• pupil.

The composition of the cat’s ocular apparatus

• obtaining information by refracting light rays;
• send neurosignals to the brain center.

• sticks;
• Knockworms.

These photoreceptors are only in charge of converting light into nerve impulses through refraction.

The nerve cells that make up the photoreceptors on sticks and cones look like this.

Note that although cats have a 25/1 ratio, people also have these special nerve cells in their visual organs, with a 4/1 ratio.

• night vision of domestic predators;
• glow of the eyes, which many owners are afraid of in the dark.

Fascinating fact: cats, unlike humans, primarily perceive color by differentiating between thousands of various shades of gray. Cats do not recognize the color spectrum that humans do; they will never be able to tell red from blue, no matter how hard they try. Because of this, you shouldn’t consider an object’s color when selecting toys for your pet, for example, as your pet doesn’t care about the current moment at all.

Cats see in the dark in this way.

See our portal’s special article for more information about the anatomy of cat eyes.

Cat glaucoma is a dangerous condition where elevated intraocular pressure in the eye can cause pain and loss of vision. For early detection, it is essential to comprehend its causes, which can include genetics, eye trauma, or side effects from other illnesses. Any symptoms such as redness, squinting, or cloudy eyes should be seen by a veterinarian right away. It’s critical to address the problem as soon as possible and seek professional care because effective treatment options, like medication or surgery, can help manage the condition and preserve your cat’s vision.

Eye diseases: classification

• conjunctivitis;
• keratitis;
• glaucoma;
• cataracts;
• corneal inflammation;
• inversion of the upper eyelid;
• blepharitis, etc..

Contrary to popular belief, human and feline eyes have a lot more in common.

• Siamese;
• Persian;
• Burmese etc..

On our website, you can find out more about the signs, causes, and therapies of cat eye conditions.

Glaucoma in cats: what the owner needs to know?

Prior to delving into the treatment plan and phases for an animal suffering from glaucoma, it is important to examine the underlying mechanism of the condition. It is therefore directly linked to the disruption of fluid drainage from the internal structures of the visual organs in cats. Inside the eye, leftover fluid builds up and stretches it like a balloon. Nevertheless, cats’ visual organs will eventually lose their ability to withstand fluid pressure and will still be destroyed, even with their plasticity.

Cat glaucoma is characterized by enlargement of the eyeball.

• cornea;
• iris.

The pressure inside the eye increases with the amount of fluid present. The optic nerve atrophies, stops functioning, and stops acting as a conductor of impulses to the brain when the body of the eyeball starts to destroy it.

When the optic nerve is destroyed, information stops reaching the central nervous system, which causes the cat to become partially or totally blind.

Causes of glaucoma in cats

Unfortunately, a large number of cats who appear to be in good health may be at risk for developing the disease of interest to us.

Older cats may develop glaucoma.

• age-related changes occurring in all body systems, including the visual system;
• long-term treatment for any disease with anti-inflammatory or hormonal drugs;
• chronic diseases of the ocular apparatus;
• diabetes;
• arterial hypertension;
• excess weight and obesity in a pet;
• dislocation of the lens of the visual organ;
• tumors in the eye;
• improperly selected diet;
• low-quality food or natural food;
• any eye injuries;
• poor heredity of the animal.

How frequently do cats get diabetes?

Therefore, uveitis—a condition in which inflammation affects the anterior portion of the eyeball and eventually results in lens clouding—often develops in cats and eventually results in glaucoma.

This animal has the illness in both of its eyes.

Types of glaucoma

The current medical classification divides glaucoma in cats into multiple types. The table shows you how they vary from one another.

Cat glaucoma types in tabular form

Type of disease	Causes and clinical manifestations
Genetic glaucoma	This disease develops due to the initial predisposition of the animal to the appearance of this disease. The predisposition is, as it were, recorded in the genetic code of the animal, so most often it immediately affects both eyes of the cat, and its treatment is very difficult.

Nine years of age and older adult cats are in danger.

Many cats must develop glaucoma between the ages of 8 and 9 years. However, the disease’s only distinguishing feature is its increased frequency of occurrence; given enough unfavorable circumstances, it may even manifest much earlier.

Symptoms of glaucoma in animals

• can tolerate unbearable pain without showing it;
• have excellent spatial orientation even if their visual apparatus is not working properly.

There are stories about how our pets can put up with any amount of discomfort—even extreme ones. Even with injuries that would undoubtedly send a person into pain shock, they occasionally act composed. These animals have also been endowed by nature with a multitude of diverse adaptations for spatial orientation. For this reason, cats have whiskers and ears in addition to eyes. For this reason, tracking a disease in a cat whose health has not changed significantly can be challenging.

A cat with partial or total blindness can use its whiskers and ears to navigate in space.

• swelling of the eyeball;
• redness of the white of the eye;
• incomplete contact of the eyelids when closing the eyes;
• constant dilation of the pupil;
• clouding of the cornea;
• changes in the general condition of the animal, for example, aggression, apathy, excessive reaction to an attempt to examine the eye, lack of appetite;
• lacrimation, discharge of purulent secretion from the eye;
• fear of light, etc.p.

One of the signs of glaucoma is eye lacrimal flow.

The size of the affected eyeball increases as the disease worsens. Furthermore, it grows to such an extent that it appears to stick out, as though it were planted on a stalk. Simultaneously, there is a significant increase in the size of the blood vessels that pass through the eye, causing severe redness. Owing to the enlargement of the eye, it becomes incapable of shutting entirely, resulting in desiccation and the development of ulcers.

The animal’s eye ceases to close and eventually dries out, developing ulcers all over it.

• vomiting;
• apathy and pronounced weakness of the animal;
• insensitivity to humans, food, water;
• other manifestations.

You must see a doctor right away if the clinic you are seeing is similar to this one and the animal’s eye is inflamed in addition to everything else. You will only be able to preserve the animal’s health and possibly its life in this situation.

Only the most devoted owner will likely be able to recognize the symptoms of a sick cat or one that is developing glaucoma due to the way they behave. However, there are certain behavioral indicators of the animal that you should pay attention to right away. Contrary to popular belief, you should focus on them rather than the fact that the eye’s color, shape, or presence of clouding has changed.

A cat with glaucoma stays out of the sun.

• becomes too fearful;
• looks for secluded dark places to hide there;
• avoids loud sounds;
• stops choosing cabinets, shelves and other elevated places as a place to rest;
• the animal"s movements become even more careful, sometimes it seems that it moves its paws, as if walking through a minefield.

Diagnosing glaucoma in cats

You can independently check the animal for glaucoma before scheduling a visit with a veterinarian if you think it may be the case.

• if the jump happened as naturally as possible, without losing balance or coordination, then everything is fine with the animal;
• if the cat was confused, meowed, and asked you for help, and eventually jumped extremely awkwardly, then most likely it simply did not see where and how to move, which means glaucoma (or another visual disorder) is taking place.

Everything is OK if the cat did not lose its balance while making the jump.

Giving your pet a laser pointer to play with is the second test you can do to identify this illness in it. Should your pet show no reaction to the laser, it is likely suffering from general health issues as well as vision issues, which can also be signs of glaucoma.

If the cat isn’t playing with the laser, it probably has vision issues.

Self-diagnosis is helpful, of course, but only a veterinarian can accurately diagnose your pet and, moreover, provide a medication that will effectively treat the illness. An expert in the ailments of our younger siblings will assess the animal, recommend an ophthalmologist’s examination, or carry out the examination themselves. Consequently, the following is done in order to determine the disease’s early stages:

• examination using a slit lamp;
• measurement of the pressure inside the animal"s eye;
• ophthalmoscopy.

A veterinary can only provide an accurate and trustworthy glaucoma diagnosis.

The normal pressure indicators—roughly 15–25 millimeters of mercury for each visual system organ in a healthy animal—will be the doctor’s primary focus when taking measurements. If there is a discrepancy of at least 10 millimeters between the indicators, the animal most likely has glaucoma.

• areas of the retina located along the periphery;
• the anterior part of the organ;
• ciliary body.

The animal is given preliminary local anesthesia to keep it from feeling uncomfortable.

• tumors;
• detached retina;
• other diseases.

• keratitis;
• dystrophy of the eye elements;
• conjunctivitis;
• uveitis, etc..

You must rule out other conditions that present with similar symptoms in order to determine that your cat has glaucoma.

The veterinarian can only determine whether or not the animal has glaucoma and recommend the necessary course of treatment after doing a thorough examination.

Please take note that although we have taught you how to perform a few basic tests to determine whether your cat has glaucoma, we strongly advise against self-diagnosing and giving your pet random treatment recommendations. The truth is that drugs intended to treat one illness can actually hasten and exacerbate the progression of another. By accepting this kind of responsibility, you run the risk of making your pet suffer.

• they increase;
• seriously redden, etc..

Restoration of the affected organ is no longer possible, but blindness can be prevented and symptoms can be controlled if the disease is identified early.

If glaucoma is a result of any illness, the primary cause can be promptly removed to cure the condition.

Furthermore, glaucoma can be completely prevented from developing if it starts as a secondary illness and the underlying cause is removed.

Treatment of the disease

As we have already indicated, the principles according to which the animal will be treated will differ depending on the type of illness it has. Therefore, the animal needs to be taken to the veterinarian right away if she discovered an open-angle variation of this disease, which progresses quickly and acutely; otherwise, a fatal outcome is also possible.

If the illness is still in its early stages, medication will be the sole form of treatment. In the event that the stage is running, surgery might be necessary.

Sometimes surgery is necessary.

Conservative treatment

• elimination of disease symptoms;
• improvement of the condition of the affected organ of the visual system.

Glaucoma treatment that is complex

• starting or enhancing drainage of fluid accumulated in the eye;
• reducing the production of "water" in the eye;
• constricting the pupil;
• diuretic;
• anti-inflammatory (usually hormones);
• painkiller;
• improving nerve conductivity, etc..

Therefore, the following list presents the most widely used methods in veterinary medicine to treat glaucoma.

• constricts the pupil of the eye;
• relieves pain caused by the disease;
• slows the progression of the disease.

This remedy is available in drop form and is administered once daily. When the disease progresses slowly, each eye of the animal—including the healthy ones—must receive an injection once a day; when it progresses quickly, the medication is administered every hour.

"Pilocarpine" narrows the pupils of cats.

Second, "Amlodipine" is a medication that aids in removing moisture buildup in the eye, significantly enhancing the sick animal’s condition. The recommended dosage for this medication is one time per day for the pet, or roughly 0.6 milligrams. A crucial detail: taking the medication at the same time as eating should be done.

"Amlodipine" clears the eye of extra fluid.

"Mannitol," the third medication, has shown efficacy in the early phases of the illness. The medication is injected into a vein in the animal to enter its body. One gram of medication for every kilogram of live weight is how the dosage is determined.

"Mannitol" aids in the early treatment of glaucoma

Fourth, a medication called "Betoxolol" aids in restoring normal intraocular pressure. Every twelve hours, the medication is dripped straight into the animal’s eye.

Normalize intraocular pressure with "Betoxolol."

An additional requirement of the drug treatment program will be a limited drinking schedule for the pet. Additionally, the pet is given vitaminized complex preparations that improve its general condition and is kept off food containing various preservatives and additives for the duration of the therapy (by the way, this food waste is not suitable for feeding even a healthy animal).

The proper amounts of vitamins are necessary for any living thing.

Please take note of this crucial information: there are several contraindications for every medication on the above list. You cannot administer it to your pet on your own because only a veterinarian is qualified to determine any possible adverse effects.

• a diuretic is prohibited if the cat has a history of urolithiasis;
• some eye drops can aggravate retinal detachment. You can read about the side effects of Tsiprovet eye drops in our article.

Surgical intervention

• the progress of the disease;
• at what stage is the disease;
• has the animal retained vision in the eye affected by the disease.

The animal will require surgery if the medications are ineffective.

• not every veterinary clinic has such expensive equipment;
• the operation costs a lot of money, although a loving owner will not consider this circumstance an obstacle to treating pets.

• cauterization of the ciliary body at low temperatures;
• implantation of the Ahmed valve;
• cyclodialysis.

Certain veterinary clinics provide a laser-based solution to the issue.

• postoperative complications;
• recurrent development of the disease.

In the event that the illness returns, the animal will require additional surgery. This is the reason you should, if at all possible, get in touch with a glaucoma clinic that uses laser therapy. As a result, you’ll spare money on subsequent surgery in addition to curing your pet.

Surgical intervention will be used to remove disease symptoms and their effects, restore the organ, and maintain the cat’s appearance if atrophy of the optic nerve has occurred and it is not possible to restore its functioning.

The animal has its eyeball removed or is fitted with a prosthesis.

Methods for preventing glaucoma in cats

• injuries;
• mechanical damage;
• burns, etc..

• excess weight;
• diabetes;
• other diseases that can potentially provoke pathology.

Preventive care involves keeping the cat’s health at an optimal level.

• feeding high-quality food or natural food, also the food should be sufficiently fortified with vitamins;
• living conditions that meet the requirements for temperature, humidity level and other nuances.

Aspect	Details
Causes	Glaucoma in cats can be caused by various factors, including eye injury, inflammation, tumors, or genetic predisposition. It can also result from other eye conditions that increase eye pressure.
Symptoms	Symptoms may include redness in the eye, excessive tearing, squinting, cloudiness or swelling of the cornea, and a dilated pupil that does not respond to light.
Treatment	Treatment options for glaucoma in cats typically involve medication to reduce eye pressure and inflammation. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to alleviate pressure and prevent further damage.

Although glaucoma in cats can be a dangerous condition, it can be effectively managed and treated if its causes and symptoms are understood. Frequent veterinary examinations are essential for detecting this illness early on because it frequently starts out with no outward symptoms.

Many cats with glaucoma can have comfortable lives if they receive prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. There are several ways to treat eye pressure, ranging from drugs to surgery in more serious situations. Your veterinarian will help you determine which strategy is best for your cat’s individual requirements.

Always keep a close eye on your cat’s eye health and notify your veterinarian of any changes. You can guarantee that your feline friend gets the best care possible and maintain their quality of life despite this difficult condition by being proactive and informed.

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