Tag Archives: eye infection

Chris’s First Vet Visit

Since we adopted Chris in November of 2009, he has never been to the vet for a health related issue until yesterday. He did go to the vet for a mandatory vaccination late in 2010 when we moved back to Florida, and when he was a kitten he was fixed and vaccinated, but that was all. He has been a pretty healthy cat, despite his weight gain these last couple of years.

That changed when we adopted Floki a few months ago and illness spread through our house like wildfire. Everyone was sneezing but the eye infections were the worst. Frankie had to go to the vet because one of he eyes was very bad. We treated him with the medication they gave us but then noticed his eye became very dilated (see here).

Frankie’s eye got better after a few days but then we noticed Chris had the same problem in one of his eyes. We were giving him Frankie’s eye medication but he got worse so we decided it was time to bring him to the vet.

We have two vets. Vet number 1 is about a ten or twelve-minute drive and vet number 2 is about two minutes away. Vet 2 is where we brought Frankie. Vet 1, called The Animal and Bird Medical Center, is harder to get an appointment with but I like them better because they are less likely to shoot your pet up with steroids and antibiotics on the first visit. In other words, they usually try to take a natural approach, but not always.

Rose brought Chris to Vet 1 yesterday morning and was nice enough to take pictures for me.

Rose said Chris did a lot of crying on the way to the vet but once there, he was good.

The doc said that the dilation in his eyes was caused but the eye medication we were giving him. Imagine that. We were causing the problem by the very thing we were using to treat the problem.

The vet also said that Chris has some kind of growth in his ears. I don’t think those were his exact words but that was the second-hand information that I received. He gave Rose some drops to put in Chris’s ears and a different eye medication. No shots or pills and it only cost us about $115. Not cheap, but better than expected, and I am happy to know that Chris does not have a serious health condition.

Chris was also very quiet on the way home. I guess somehow he knew the worst was over and he was going home.

To Catch a Cat

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Frankie escaped three times last weekend by using a trick that Chris figured out years ago; He no longer hesitates when the door opens. As soon as the door cracks open, out he goes. Once out, he is nearly impossible to catch. I have to wait until he wears himself out before I can catch him.

The following video was compiled from two separate escapes, Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

It is very similar to what Chris used to do four years ago.

In other news, we could not get Chris a vet appointment until late Tuesday. I am concerned because when we got home today I noticed that both of his eyes are compleatly dilated. I called the vet back but they had closed by then. I did leave a message that I was concerned and asked if they could squeeze him in on Monday. I will be at work so Rose will have to bring him.

The Cycle of Sickness

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Our cats have been sick since we introduced Floki to the group. He didn’t show signs of being sick when we got him but I guess that is one lesson we learned the hard way.

I can’t blame Floki for everything though. There are two separate illnesses going around. One is an eye infection, which I think is Pink Eye. That is probably from Floki, but the other is sneezing, which Frankie had before we met Floki.

It started with Frankie getting an eye infection while Floki caught the sneezes. The eye trouble then spread to Puck who had it in both eyes but was spared the sneezing. Chris then had a slight case of the sniffles but he never got very sick.

Chris, dispute his weight, has never been very sick. In fact, unlike Puck and Frankie, he has never been given steroids or antibiotics, which all vets love to dish out like candy. I guess that is because Chris has never been to the vet for anything except vaccinations. Maybe that is why he doesn’t normally get sick.

Puck got better and is fine now. Frankie got a little better but then the eye infection and sneezing came back. Now it’s Chris turn. He is not only sneezing but he has the eye infection too.

Saturday, My wife was sitting on the bet with her laptop while Chris was lying next to he. Suddenly, Chris sneezed an abundance of snot her way. It got all over her and her laptop. All I heard was a lot of yelling and Rose running to the bathroom to take an “emergency” shower.

The most concerning thing happened Sunday morning. Frankie was on top of the refrigerator while I was in the kitchen doing chores. Rose came out and noticed one of Frankie’s eyes was very dilated. That was not normal and very concerning.

The first thought was to bring him to the vet but it was Sunday so that wasn’t an option. I did a little research and there are many different causes of that. We decided to give him a day to see if it got any better.

This morning it is slightly better, perhaps ten percent. Not much but it means there is hope. We will continue to monitor Frankie’s eye very closely and if it does not continue to improve, we will have to bring him to the vet.

Frankie Update

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Frankie does not seem to have improved much, if any, since his vet visit on Friday morning. He started sneezing blood after that visit and that continues. His eye also doesn’t seem much better. In addition, Puck is now having problems with his right eye. We have been putting Frankie’s drops in Puck’s eye too but if it is a viral infection the antibiotic drops won’t do him any good.

Frankie this morning.

Rose is going to try to get him back to the vet on Wednesday, a day she works from home, instead of his scheduled visit on Friday, if he does not improve by this afternoon. If that happens, she will use the Friday appointment to bring Floki in for the remainder of his shots.

Cats sure can be expensive sometimes.