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uneven pupils?

ssummers

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All of the sudden, one of Coraline's pupils is smaller than the other. I'm planning to take her to the vet tomorrow to get it checked out, but I just wondered if anyone else had ever seen this or knows what might be causing it?
 

Mews2much

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How old is the cat?
My old cat has had that happen but it was from her high bp.
There are alot of things that can cause it.
Did she hit her head or anything?
 

heather

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That sounds strange. Does it react to light at all? If you shine (not too too bright) light in her eyes do they both react? I would be concerned if it did not react to light at all.
 
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heather

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How old is the cat?
My old cat has had that happen but it was from her high bp.
There are alot of things that can cause it.
Did she hit her head or anything?

yeah it looks like there can definitely be many reasons. I would definitely try to get to the vet tomorrow.
 

ssummers

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She's 7 mos old. I didn't see her hit her head, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen! I wouldn't be surprised the way she runs and jumps around. Both of her pupils react to light, but they still are unequal when they do.
 

heather

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She's 7 mos old. I didn't see her hit her head, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen! I wouldn't be surprised the way she runs and jumps around. Both of her pupils react to light, but they still are unequal when they do.

From what M2M said and poking around online- it seems there can be many different reasons for this in cats. Best to have the vet figure it out and like you said get her checked tomorrow.

I do hope she is ok. Sounds like she's acting normal so at least that is an ok sign in the meantime.
 

Brooke

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She's 7 mos old. I didn't see her hit her head, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen! I wouldn't be surprised the way she runs and jumps around. Both of her pupils react to light, but they still are unequal when they do.

Definitely want to get her to the vet ASAP. There are a number of things that can cause uneven pupils, inflammation in the eye, or worse- Feline Leukemia, and the smaller pupil could be the only symptom.

If it were caused by an injury, like bumping her head, her third eyelid would most likely be visible, too. Is it?
 

PitRottMommy

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The medical condition of uneven pupils is called Anisocoria. There's more information available here: http://www.petplace.com/cats/anisocoria-in-cats/page1.aspx

It can be caused by many things including, some of which have been mentioned, trauma, disease and and eye-related problems.

One of my main concerns, as blood pressure was mentioned, is that sphynx are predisposed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and anisocoria can be a symptom secondary to the changing pressures involved with heart disease. If you haven't had her scanned, regardless of whether or not your vet hears a murmur, I would HIGHLY recommend doing so--just to be on the safe side and to catch anything that may be an underlying problem now. It's always easier to prevent than to treat.
 

ilovemysphynx

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I hope all is well with this. I just went and checked both of our cats eyes, not sure if I would notice that, but they look fine!
 

ssummers

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Thanks for your concern and advice, everyone! I took Coraline to the vet today. By the time we had out appointment, her eye was cloudy and obviously infected.

She has something called Anterior uveitis. Often this is a symptom of another disease, so I worried forever while they tested her blood. She doesn't have any problems that would show up on a blood chemistry, so that's definitely good. The vet gave us steroids and antibiotics.

If it goes away, it probably means it was caused by trauma. (Which wouldn't be surprising knowing sphynx cat antics!) If it's not better when we go back Monday, we have to go to a feline opthamologist. This would be driving at least 3 hours and would cost quite a bit, so I hope that's not the case!

It still could be FIP, but the vet said there's no reliable test for that. A feline opthamologist would be able to recognize FIP lesions on her eye, however.

So, keep your fingers crossed that she just hit her eye jumping around the house and that there's nothing worse going on!
 

heather

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Fingers crossed for Coraline. Good thing you noticed it and got her looked at straight away.

I hope her eye clears up.
 

ssummers

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Thanks, everyone! You guys are the greatest. I'll let you know what happens after our follow up appointment on Monday.
 

susi794

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Thanks for your concern and advice, everyone! I took Coraline to the vet today. By the time we had out appointment, her eye was cloudy and obviously infected.

She has something called Anterior uveitis. Often this is a symptom of another disease, so I worried forever while they tested her blood. She doesn't have any problems that would show up on a blood chemistry, so that's definitely good. The vet gave us steroids and antibiotics.

If it goes away, it probably means it was caused by trauma. (Which wouldn't be surprising knowing sphynx cat antics!) If it's not better when we go back Monday, we have to go to a feline opthamologist. This would be driving at least 3 hours and would cost quite a bit, so I hope that's not the case!

It still could be FIP, but the vet said there's no reliable test for that. A feline opthamologist would be able to recognize FIP lesions on her eye, however.

So, keep your fingers crossed that she just hit her eye jumping around the house and that there's nothing worse going on![/QUOTE

Nothing frightens me more than losing one of my sweet sphynxies to some horrible disease like FIP that comes like a thief in the night to steal part of my heart. I will pray that Coraline responds well to her meds and that there is no FIP or even a need to go to the feline opthamologist. {{{{{Hugs to you and Coraline}}}}}}
 

ssummers

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Update: Coraline and I went back to the vet today, and her eye looks good! No more infection! The vet said unless the symptoms return as we take her off of antibiotics, it was most likely trauma. She also said that, looking at her full blood work, it's unlikely that it was FIP due to her protein levels.

So, all good news so far! We recheck with the vet one more time next week. Thanks for all your warm wishes!
 
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