The Cat's Meow Rescue
Stay in touch!
  • Home
  • Available for Adoption
  • ADOPTED!
  • Special Needs Cats
  • Blog: Feline Friends
  • Contact
  • More Information
    • FAQ
    • Barn Cats
    • Finding your kitty a new home
    • Caring for Abandoned Kittens
    • Important to Spay & Neuter
    • Introducing a new cat to your home
    • Declawing - If you care, be AWARE
    • Litter Box Issues
    • What is Feline Leukemia?
    • What is FIV?
    • Kitty-Proof Your Home
    • Help Us Help Them
    • LINKS
    • Media Kit
    • EVENTS

Anisocoria in Cats

8/1/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
by Nomi Berger

Cats’ eyes, so large and so lovely, can also signal injury or illness.
 
Consider the condition called Anisocoria, where the pupil of one eye is larger than the pupil of the other eye. Odd sized pupils occur for a number of reasons and may or may not be accompanied by other symptoms, depending on the underlying cause.
 
An immediate visit to your vet is a MUST if you also notice: a change in the color of kitty’s eye, redness or cloudiness; a change in the position of the eye in its socket; any abnormal eye movement; a drooping eyelid; head tilting; pawing at the eye as if it hurts; obvious loss of vision, or confusion.
 
Anisocoria may be neurological or ocular and can result from any of the following:
 
Glaucoma: increased fluid pressure within the eyeball.
 
Anterior uveitis: inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye.
 
Corneal ulcers: open sores on the cornea.
 
Spastic pupil syndrome: a symptom of FeLV (feline leukemia virus) that may alternate between eyes.
 
Oculomotor nerve paralysis: caused by a head injury, tumor or aneurysm or by such systemic diseases as diabetes and hypertension.
 
Tumors: brain, eye or optic nerve tumors.
 
Horner’s syndrome: a condition that causes drooping of the upper eyelid and constriction of the pupil.
 
Stroke: a rupture or blockage of a blood vessel in the brain causing a loss of blood supply to that area of the brain.
 
Head trauma: it may cause bleeding inside the brain that produces increased pressure within the skull.
 
Iris atrophy: most often seen in senior cats, the thinning of these colored cells can lead to a change in pupil size in the affected eye.
 
Medications like atropine that causes the pupil to dilate.
 
Your vet will begin with a complete physical followed by a thorough examination of kitty’s affected eye. This includes tests to measure the intra-ocular pressure inside her eye as well as her tear production. He’ll search for evidence of any injury to her cornea by instilling an eye drop that stains her cornea with a fluorescent dye and by taking scrapings from the surface of her eye. He may order a complete blood count, biochemical profile and urinalysis to evaluate her overall health. He will also need to determine if the cause is ocular or neurological. In some cases, where the cause can’t be easily determined, he will refer you to a veterinary ophthalmologist for more highly specialized diagnostic work and a firm diagnosis.
 
Once you receive a diagnosis, you will also receive a treatment plan. Depending on the cause of kitty’s condition, her recovery may be partial or complete. But at least the question as to the reason for her Anisocoria will have been answered.

4 Comments
Tanya Y Wilson-Duckstad
9/5/2020 11:57:05 pm

Can Terramycin help your kitties eyes if they have anisocoria?

Reply
TCMR
9/6/2020 02:18:20 pm

Tanya, if your kitty has anisocoria, have her examined and evaluated by your veterinarian to determine the underlying cause. Terramycin is used to treat “superficial ocular infections, such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, pink eye, corneal ulcer, blepharitis and bacterial inflammatory conditions that may occur secondary to other infectious diseases.” While corneal ulcers can be a cause of anisocoria, it is not the only thing that can cause it, therefore consulting with your vet and making sure you are getting to the root of the problem and providing the right treatment is best.

Reply
Kimberly link
9/22/2020 05:37:44 pm

I noticed my cat Gracie’s right pupil was larger then her left & it was also responding slower (contracting slower to light) so I rushed her to the vet and he recommended us to a veterinary ophthalmologist. However first he did a geriatric blood panel & a Felv/FIV snap test on her. So the Ophthalmologist examined her & ran a fluoroscein Stan & a tonometry on her and he told me her eyes looked perfect!!!!! He saw nothing wrong and he couldn’t see any scratches or ulcers & the Anisocoria it’s self might just go away on it own one day. He said that Anisocoria’s will just appear out of nowhere and then disappear out of nowhere in some cats. My first question is is this true????
Because what worries me is when I told my vet that this is what the veterinary ophthalmologist that he sent us to told me & after he read the report from the Ophthalmologist, he suggested to me that I get a second opinion from a different ophthalmologist!!!!! Oh and Gracies blood work and Felv/FIV tests all came back clean. My vet said she looked good and healthy on paper. Please help!!!!!

Reply
TCMR
9/22/2020 07:14:16 pm

Kimberly,

This is a tough one. We are not veterinarians so the best we can do is offer you advice and insight from our own experiences with anisocoria.

Although there are some instances where anisocoria can resolve on its own (such as if your kitty has Horner’s syndrome), anisocoria is usually a sign that something else is wrong. Getting a second opinion might be best, if not from a specialist then from another general veterinarian that has more experience with anisocoria.

Did Gracie‘s senior blood panel include a chem 17? Anisocoria can also occur when a cat develops FIP. In the dry form, there may not be any immediate signs or symptoms that would otherwise indicate FIP (though drastic weight loss usually occurs pretty quickly once they contract FIP) but there are some levels on a chem 17 (High TP, Globulins, low albumin and a/g ratio) that could point towards the possibility of FIP, so revisiting her blood work with your vet might help to rule this out.

I know it is frustrating to not have any answers as to why Gracie developed anisocoria and what it could mean, but in general if she is eating well, using her litter box, her energy level, behavior and routine are all normal, then these are good signs that she is feeling well. If you choose to hold off on getting a second opinion, just keep a close eye on her and if anything changes in her habits, behavior, or physically, bringing that to the attention of your vet might help with determining if there is something else going on.

I’m not sure how likely it might be, but there could be a possibility that she suffered some mild head trauma, if she ran into something or fell off the counter and landed funny, which may have resulted in a minor concussion which could be the cause of her anisocoria. But because there are so many things that can cause anisocoria, you might feel better getting a second opinion just to be sure all bases have been covered. Hopefully she will be just fine, but if you are still concerned, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Hopefully this feedback has been helpful. Wishing the very best for you and Gracie.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author
    Blog articles for TCMR are written by Nomi Berger, an established author and journalist of 40 years, living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who graciously volunteers her time and talent to help further our rescue efforts.


    AWARDS

    Picture

    Picture
    Cat Rescue Blogs

    Picture

    Picture
    Animal Rescue Blogs

    Picture
    Awarded by Best1x.com
    Best for Pets

    Picture

    Picture
    2017 Top 35 Cat Blogs awarded by "We're All About the Cats"

    Picture
    Awarded by "Feedspot.com"

    Picture
    Awarded by "10Greatest.com"

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    Categories

    All
    Cat Facts
    Cat Safety
    Community Awareness
    Fun Facts
    Health And Behavior
    How You Can Help

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly