Cold, Eye Infection and Corneal Opacity in Cats

Cheetah, Stage I Infection, Conjunctivitis
Cheetah, Stage I Infection

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]old is a common problem with kitties. The usual signs are as in humans: running nose, sniffles, watery eyes and sometimes but not always, sneezing. After a while the nose will be stuffed and with no sense of smell, the kitty will stop eating even though she is hungry. The disease must not be taken lightly especially if the eyes are affected as well.

Cheetah’s eyes were cured by topical application of Chloromycetin Aplicaps. Bagheera continued to grow worse. They were both suffering from congestion and had trouble breathing. Nostrils blocked, eyes watery, they were a pathetic sight alright.

 I did not delay in taking them to Moitri after making sure Dr. Sourav Banerjee would be there. He prescribed Azithral (Azithromycin) for Cheetah, whose chest condition was worse than Bagheera’s, 0.5 ml once daily for seven days.

Bagheera was given Sporidex (Cefalexin), five drops, thrice daily for, seven days. His eyes were worse than his chest.

Both patients were prescribed Milflox (moxifloxacin hydrochloride) ophthalmic solution, one drop in each eye four times daily for ten days. Bagheera was given Predmet (prednisolone acetate) ophthalmic suspension in addition, for thirty days in progressively reducing dosage (one drop in each eye four times daily for the first ten days, then thrice daily and then just once per day until the regimen was brought to an end).

Bagheera-Conjunctivitis_BeforeBagheera-Conjunctivitis_After

Bagheera, before and after 13 days of medication

We were to report after seven days. Unfortunately, because of a rally called by a leading political party which blocked all traffic in our route for hours, that could not be done. We contacted the doctor over phone, and the next visit was postponed for a week. The check up is due tomorrow (September 08, 2008).

And one more thing, if you find them unable to breathe through their nostrils, which you will, do administer one or two drops of saline nasal drop from time to time.
[hr]Bagheera’s condition was special, since he also had Corneal Opacity, possibly from some kind of injury. The only visible sign is often a whitish spot in the eye. Predmet helps in eliminating the problem over time. As in the case of seizures the treatment is too complex for non medical persons. Suffice it to say that if your cat shows watery eyes with a white spot – however small that might be – it is best to rush him to a doctor immediately.

Cheetah and Bagheera were about two months old when the medication described above was prescribed; they weighed 600 gm and 650 gm respectively.[hr]
[pullquote-right]The good doctor nearly broke his arm patting his own back at the successful surgery…which traumatized my fur-baby and and left him with a dead eye[/pullquote-right]

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]ncidentally, another one of our kitties (before we got to know about Dr. Sourav Banerjee) was treated for eye infection by Dr. Subir Bhattacharya. He had cured many of our cats of various diseases previously. We had no reason to not trust his advice that the affected eye need only be cleaned with cotton swabs dipped in saline water and Chloromycetin Aplicaps be applied to it.

The infection worsened and the eye looked like it would pop out of the socket. Dr. Bhattacharya performed a complicated operation where he basically sewed in a net to push the eye back into the socket while the infection subsided.

The good doctor nearly broke his arm patting his own back at the successful surgery and wished he had filmed the procedure since it had been one of a kind. My little fur baby had to endure the side effects of the successful procedure, dressing of the affected eye daily for a month until he was completely cured with a completely blind eye.

The entire invasive procedure which traumatized him and and left him with a dead eye cost me around 5000 INR back in 2006, as far as I remember. Bagheera’s eyes were cured by medicines which cost around 115 INR with no other irritation to him than having to endure a few drops of medicine in the eye for a while. I have since successfully treated a large number of cats and kittens with Milflox. I have successfully treated a large number of cats and kittens with eye infections using Milflox. Click To Tweet

How I wish we had known about Dr. Banerjee earlier.

_______________________
Originally published sometime in 2008 on kapush.net
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