Vet Diagnoses and Treatment Costs Come With Too Many Unknowns

“Photos here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CATHELP/s/fOYwBAYX1D My 3 year old neutered male cat has struggled with a mysterious eye/nose issue since I adopted him at 6 months old. When I got him, the humane society told me that he was found alone in a parking garage with his eyes essentially crusted shut with discharge as a very young kitten. They treated him with antibiotics until he was ready for adoption. (That’s a very long story short, he came with pages and pages on medical records from his rec”

“My 13 year old cat has glaucoma in his left eye. It has been going on for about a year. His pressure in the eye has not been controlled with medications yet. He was on a combination of a drop to lower pressure and one for inflammation and his pressures are still in the 50s. I talked to the vet today about options and they said we could either try an additional drop or think about removal. We are leaning toward removal and trying the additional drop in the meantime. Is that the right decision? &#”

“My 5-year-old cat, who has never been outside the house, had an appointment today to be neutered. He gets extremely stressed and anxious anytime he is outside of his home or in an unfamiliar environment. I’m currently at work, and after dropping him off this morning, everything seemed completely fine. Then I received a call from the vet saying that after they administered the anesthesia, his heart stopped beating. They performed CPR and were able to get his heartbeat back. I am an absolute mess”

“Hiii, I went to the vet today and they recommended my girl get enucleation surgery, after she scratched and ended up with too big of an ulcer. And then I have a vet tech friend who works at an emergency vet talk to her doctor and they said to keep using the eyedrops that were prescribed today and see back in a week, I’m really anxious about it. I’m not sure what to do… I just don’t want my girl in pain :( submitted by /u/ghostboba- [link] [comments]”

7 year old male cat submitted by /u/russiandoll2001 [link] [comments]

“Hi everyone! My cat, Salsa, is a year and 2 months old. A little backstory - I rescued her from my grandparents’ farm when she was 2 months. When she was little, her eye was extremely swollen, red and gunky. My mom, having animals with similar issues, gave her terramycin prior to her initial vet visit which made her eye heal and (almost) go back to normal. Ever since then, she has dealt with a watery, light sensitive eye that she squints and gets a little red and swollen sometimes. Two different”

“Hi everyone. My 7 yo female cat was recently diagnosed with mammary carcinoma, stage I, without lymph nodes involvement but with high mitotic activity. She had the lump removed and she's been doing great. I had an oncology consult and the oncologist recommended chain mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. I'm wondering if this is the standard of care and if this is the best course of action for my cat? I.e, how would her quality of life be after the second surgery and chemo? Looking for sh”

“My kittie's eye issues could potentially turn out to be FIP related. The thing is, here in Norway, we need to rule out other potential causes before we can order a treatment so this week we will get answer to his toxiplasmosis tests and if those are negative, only then can we order the treatment to be delivered. I'm really worried that it will be too late as best case scenario we will get a treatment next week. Cat itself is showing no signs of worsening and his eyes are staying the same”

“Of course this would happen on the weekend when my vet is closed. My 8 year old (indoor) cat is keeping one eye shut, and it's watering a bit. He is just lazing around which is usual behaviour for morning, but he might be quieter than usual? I'm not sure that this is an emergency vet situation. What should I do? His eye was fine last night, and so I'm not sure what happened when, but it was within the last 12 hours​. Species: cat Age: 8 Sex/Neuter status: neutered Breed: burmese Body”

“This is my first cat so I’m still learning. But my cats pupils are almost always blown. Not just in low light or when she’s playing. There are times when they aren’t but 90% of the time they are. I’ve taken to Google and I’ve gotten mixed answers. She doesn’t show any symptoms of health issues but I’m also not sure of her vet history. She’s a very cuddly and happy cat and doesn’t show any signs of stress either. So my question is, is this normal or is this a sign of a health issue? Required info”

“Hey vets, I’d be so grateful to hear your thoughts on my situation. August (12th?): We noticed our cats (~13M) left eye pupil was bigger than the other and drifting to the side. We were really concerned and took him to the vet only to be told it was anisocoria and basically “just because of age”. During this process we were between moves and were dealing with a very stressful situation. We moved to our current place in mid August. Within about two weeks we noticed he was being more picky about h”

“My cat is 12 and I noticed her eye looked cloudy and her pupil was not constricting a few months ago. Saw vet then ophthalmologist - turns out she is blind in that eye and labs came back positive for histoplasmosis. Will see vet again tomorrow to start treatment and I know it can take months to get rid of it, but wanting some realistic expectations - is there hope that she will recover without losing vision in her other eye or other organs being affected? She is eating and drinking normally and”

“I’m trying to decide whether I should have cataract surgery done for my cat, and I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through this with their cat. My main concerns are: The risks of surgery I know cataract surgery can come with complications such as glaucoma, inflammation, etc. Her affected eye hasn’t really affected her daily life over the past year. At home she is still very active, playful, and behaves completely normally. Because of that, I’m not sure whether surgery is rea”

“One of my recently adopted kittens had an enucleation on Monday before coming home. Does his wound appear to be healing normally? Photos/Video: https://imgur.com/a/G1ZVdGE I noticed yesterday that the sutures maybe looked a little looser. Today, I feel like there is a small gap in the wound on the top half. Will this heal correctly or do I need to bring him to get the sutures placed again? They did not give/advise a cone, and they told me to not let the area get wet. He is on amoxi and clav as w”

“2 year old cat has a small brown dot on his eye. Our current vet checked it and says it is likely hyperpigmentation. It’s flat and the eye pressure seems normal. It is growing in size very slowly. Should I get a second opinion? submitted by /u/yoszyslak [link] [comments]”

“My cat, who i've only had for about a year and a half, is about 8 years old (estimated), female, and is spayed. We adopted her because she was living on the street with no one taking care of her. She has had what I figure are allergies every since I got her, since she has sneezing and watery eyes pretty often. It's come to a head recently as I've noticed her lose some of her playfulness over the last couple of weeks. She's still eating and drinking and using the litterbox just fi”

“hi everyone. my sweet boris has had a cloudy eye for years and the vet has seen it a few times. they weren’t sure what it could be. at his check ups he was able to see, had no drainage, and different seem to be painful. he still doesn’t have drainage and it doesn’t seem to be painful either. however, the cloudiness has gotten worse and i’m worried that it’s swollen. i don’t have a ton of money to go to the vet. of course i’ll take him if i need to. but i wanted to get another opinion first. brie”

“Hey guys I’m here for advice on what to do with my 2 year old tabby, Ritz. She’s a perfectly healthy cat for as far as I have seen, she’s all caught up on vaccinations and the such. At the most, she might be slightly overdue for getting flea medicine on her. This morning she started closing her right eye more than usual as if it was irritated and now it has the little third eyelid in the bottom corner covering it. I haven’t seen any weird reaction to light in her pupils or anything, but i can ha”

“My cat only has one eye (he lost the other when a dental surgery accidentally pierced the eye with a needle a few years ago). We don’t know exactly how old he is since he was an adult stray when we adopted him in 2021. A week or two ago, we noticed that the remaining eye looked very, very slightly hazy but he seemed to see just fine and could navigate big jumps onto counters and everything no problem. A few days ago, he started reaching to grab the bed and pull himself up instead of jumping, and”

“Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice and shared experiences as this is my first time dealing with something like this. My cat is an 11-month-old Maine Coon mix. Just yesterday, I noticed something wrong with one of her eyes and took her straight to the vet. After examining her, the vet said he suspects FIP. He noted a fever during the exam, but other than the eye issue, my cat was acting completely normal just the day before. The vet prescribed a 10-day medication plan, and I already gave he”

“* Species: cat * Age: 4 yrs * Sex/Neuter status: male/ neutered * Breed: i think Persian * Body weight: 4.4 kg * History: vaccinated, no chronic diseases * Clinical signs: eye closure, redness, Lethargy * Duration: now around 1 month * Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: My cat used to scratch his right eye, keep it closed, and had noticeable redness. At our first visit, the vet diagnosed him with conjunctivitis and prescribed combination eye drops (streptomycin +”

“My sweet 6 year old female indoor only cat has just been diagnosed with “large cell lymphoma” Important details: Bilateral enucleation needed as a kitten due to severe unknown infection FIV/FeLV negative Lifelong chronic URI/bilateral ear infections 7 months ago she began experiencing chronic rhinitis with reverse sneezing that she could not fully kick. finally doxycycline drastically improved her symptoms this past june. Lymph Node Timeline 6/9 small movable lump (2cm) found under right mandibl”

“Hello After 12 months of eye issues due to cat flu and her eye getting very high in pressure and losing vision and not being able to be stabilised with drops, the decision has been made to remove my little friend’s eye. She’s just over one. The poor thing has been dealing with this her whole life and is now on 3-4 drops a days and HATES THEM. She gets so stressed. In a couple weeks we will have her eye removed. We have been told that if everything goes smoothly she’ll have the eye removed in the”

“Need a little peace of mind before my cat's first appointment with surgeon next week... My cat is 9 years old, 15lbs, over all a healthy fella minus the fact that he has a lipoma in his chest (mediastinal) which caused some pleural effusion over a month ago. He had a thoracentesis done and about 70mL of fluid was retrieved. An ultrasound and labs confirmed the mass was just a lipoma and could potentially be surgically removed. Unfortunately we had to wait 5 weeks until we can see a surgeon s”

“First thanks in advance. Second, I feel kind of ridiculous asking the internet when I do trust our vet but here goes. We have an almost 17 year old neutered male domestic short hair who has a history of asthma (takes flovent twice daily) which was diagnosed 12 months ago. He has been losing weight (now weighs 9 lbs, 11 lbs is probably his ideal weight). The only other thing going on is some eye irritation with crusty patches on eyelids and hair loss around that area - received covenia and short”

“Cat's eyes photos! I adopted this little dude about 3 weeks ago and on the day I brought him home i noticed his pupils being two different sizes, after a quick google search if this was okay or not i of course I made a vet visit for the next morning. I have not owned cats before and hardly had him in my care for a day before seeing the vet. The results of the visit were that she believes that he might have sustained some trauma after his ear cleaning ( happened a few weeks prior to adoption)”

“Our 13y cat was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago. He had four scabby masses pop up around his head and neck in rapid succession. Our vet suspected allergies and did a FNA and it came back as inflammation which seemed to confirm her suspicion. She wanted to start a steroid or cyclosporine. We wondered if it might be a reaction to his monthly Solensia injections. We decided to remove the masses and send them out to the lab because we didn’t want to treat with such strong drugs if it wasn’t”

“My sweet 6 year old female indoor only cat has just been diagnosed with “large cell lymphoma” Important details: Bilateral enucleation needed as a kitten due to severe unknown infection FIV/FeLV negative Lifelong chronic URI/bilateral ear infections 7 months ago she began experiencing chronic rhinitis with reverse sneezing that she could not fully kick. finally doxycycline drastically improved her symptoms this past june. Timeline 6/9 small movable lump (2cm) found under right mandible 6/12 FNA”

“Hi folks. Thanks in advance for your help. This post ended up being pretty long-winded and emotional, so I’ll summarize it in advance: TL;DR Last month, my cat started abdominal breathing and was diagnosed with a ruptured diaphragmatic hernia, which seems to have collapsed his right lung and displaced the majority of his organs into the lung cavity. The vet referred me to a specialist for more advanced imagining, but advised that it’s a pretty grim prognosis and I may have to consider putting hi”

“my dog was diagnosed with glaucoma at 2 years old, and is about 7-8 now. hes already blind from a genetic issue so really ive been giving him eye drops just to prevent his pressures from getting worse. finally bit the bullet now that its been a couple years since he was officially deemed blind, so im finally going through with enucleation at the specific vet opthalmologist. they provide prosthesis so the eye socket doesnt sink in, but it doesnt really provide anything medically for him so i was”

“Species: Cat/Feline Age: 10 Sex/Neuter status: Female, spayed at one years old Breed: British Longhair Body weight: 3.8 KG History: cystisis (non recurring), chronic constipation, benign heart murmur (in the last year) Clinical signs: sleep restlessness, constant licking swallowing motion, belly weight increase, bunny hoping hinds, pupils do not constrict to full slits under direct sun light and is usually always big (does react to light and stimulus) Duration: 6 months to a year (varying across”

“My cat has a mild entropion that I have been able to manage with Remend eye drops. Recently I ran out and everywhere online was out of stock. So I booked her an appointment and while waiting, her right eye got quite bad. I saw the vet on the 21st and they reported some discharge and said it could be infected. They didn't prescribe antibiotics, but instead gave more Remend and Meloxidyl. I rang on the 28th because it hadn't improved, and they prescribed antibiotics. Her eye has now cleare”

“My cat, Athena, has quite the medical history, and so I'll preface this as concisely as possible below. I don't want to leave anything out, as anything could be related. There will be a little line break when I split from medical history to her current issue. Breed: Domestic Shorthair Age: 7yr 1mo (06/18/2019) Weight: 11.5lbs Diet: Hills to Home z/d Hypoallergenic Cat Food - Switched in November 2025 due to issues with other cat in home, easier to give to both. Nov. 26, 2024 - Brought to”

“This started today, she is a mixed breed stray (weighs around 1.5kg) we took in 2 weeks ago; we are yet to take her to the vet (though we will take her as soon as we can.) Ive only just noticed this today, but when she’s looking at me she tends to close her left eye. I’ve gently pried open her eye and checked incase there was anything in her eyelid or anything weird, but it looked normal. Not sure if this may be related but I have noticed she walks a bit funny on her left back leg. I took it as”

“Hello everyone, I was told to ask here from r/CATHELP . Here's my post there that has images of her eyes. CATHELP original post I'd like to preface this by saying I've already taken Ash (my cat) to the vet and have scheduled a surgery to fix her eye next week. I'm just asking this because I want to make sure this is the cause behind this. Her left eye keeps getting teary in the inner corner throughout the whole day. I've already tried giving her 2 different eye drops which di”

“she's been squinting all day and when I checked it was like red and leaking. she's less than a year old and this has never happened before. is there anything I can do to help her or do I need to go to the vet? (not sure how to add pictures but I saw someone else use this) https://imgur.com/a/ZdSzCfg submitted by /u/AdventurousSell7668 [link] [comments]”

“My 2 year old spayed indoor cat has these tiny bald spots near her eye, they were simply bald but they are beginning to look redder, she also has FIV and her diet consists of Hills sensitive skin and stomach dry food and Delectables https://imgur.com/gallery/cat-eye-spots-s2vPWfR First 4 images are from 7/28 and last image is from 7/25 submitted by /u/bmofcanada [link] [comments]”

“My 2 year old spayed indoor cat has these tiny bald spots near her eye, they were simply bald but they are beginning to look redder, she also has FIV and her diet consists of Hills sensitive skin and stomach dry food and Delectables https://imgur.com/gallery/cat-eye-spots-s2vPWfR First 4 images are from 7/28 and last image is from 7/25 submitted by /u/bmofcanada [link] [comments]”

“Hello! My senior cat (17yo male, spayed) is a rescue, and I've been trying to resolve some of his health issues for the past months. Since rescuing him, I've seen his mood and condition getting better gradually. But there are still three major issues: His dandruff/dry skin, the regular throwing up, and the discharge in his eyes. Even the vet is a bit clueless about what to try now. He is an old guy who can't groom himself properly anymore and has arthritis. He's doing good consid”

“I took my cat to the vet last week in Thursday and they determine he had an ulcer in his eye. At that time his pupil was still partially visible. The vet gave us oral and drop antibiotics and told us to Come back on Monday. We have been giving him his drop and oral meds exactly as prescribed and he has been wearing a come to keep him from rubbing it. On Friday his entire eye was white and has looked melted, the way I now know melting corneal ulcers look but, it did not look like this when he was”

“around my cats eye specifically the bone running along the underside of his eye looks slightly puffy with his third eye lid starting to show on the 3rd day,he had a previous cornea scratch in the same eye as to why i may be paranoid,advice pls submitted by /u/Dry_Run_7331 [link] [comments]”

“My 5 year old cat, Solnyshka, was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma of the face and is on end of life pain management. It started behind her left eye, which eventually resulted in it being removed, and has spread down the left side of her face and into her mouth. She can no longer close her mouth and her tongue sticks out all the time, which I know sounds bad, but her attitude hasn’t changed at all. She can still eat (though I’ve noticed her struggling to eat and drink within the last day), she”

“My kitten is 3 month old had him for a week. Been to the vets and everything is good. Just notice he has some goop in is eyes white colour. He doesn’t have any other issues, no rubbing his eye or keeping them shut. I was removing them but now he won’t let me today as he is in too much of a playful mood. Is this something to worry about? Or should I just keep an eye on it? submitted by /u/More-Bar-2091 [link] [comments]”

“https://imgur.com/a/xdQSKlv My 7 year old female cat has been experiencing visible third eyelids as pictured for the last 2 weeks. The photo linked above is the most extreme it has looked, it is often more mild. I did have a vet visit and they diagnosed her with FHV-1 flare up due to stress (we recently introduced a new kitten) and prescribed terramycin stating to stop use if I saw improvement. I saw some improvement and stopped as instructed but shortly after it has returned to the same state.”

“As said, the third eyelid is showing more than usual. She is acting normal, eating normal, poop normal but noticed a few weeks ago she got a hard bump above her eye. As of a few days ago the third eyelid started covering her eye more and there’s a pink discharge. Looking for some guidance until we can get her to a vet. She’s a DSH silver tabby, almost 11, about 12 pounds, may have some seasonal allergies as she tends to get build up in her ears so they are cleaned regularly. Otherwise healthy an”

“Our dog has had her 3rd eyelids showing for a few days, and her mouth is hanging slightly open. Vet did X-ray of her stomach and eye stain, didn’t see anything. Her eyes are less obvious when she’s active, and vet also didn’t think bloodwork is necessary yet. She did whack her head on a doorframe a few nights before we noticed her eyes, otherwise we cannot explain this at all. Any other reasons for the 3rd eyelid to be showing? She’s acting totally fine, maybe breathing a little heavily. Eating”

“So my cat doesn't seem to be in pain or otherwise impaired by this. But his right eye's inner eyelid is not completely closing. Does he just have some dust in his eye, or should I be concerned enough to take him to the vet? Species: Cat Age: 10 Sex/Neuter status: Female, spayed Breed: Maine coone Body weight: 14 lbs History: None Clinical signs: Inner eyelid not closing all the way Duration: 4-5 hours Your general location: Illinois, US Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc.”

“Hello, Looking for advice/insight. I’m thinking about adopting a a kitten with glaucoma. It is not congenital and is currently being managed with eye drops and currently has vision. She is a complete sweetheart I guess I’m looking to get a sense of what vet costs would be to manage her care and if it’s ultimately a good idea. My family is very anti. I have a one floor apt with an older dog, if that helps. She would obviously be an indoor cat. Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/OldInt”

“My cat was diagnosed with early stage ocular melanoma. I was given some options by the ophthalmologist but wondering if we should just get the enucleation done and over with. Here are the details: -10 y/o male cat, otherwise in perfect health based on bloodwork and check up earlier this summer. -Thickening of iris -Slight change in pupil shape -NO free floating particles/"exfoliation" -normal eye pressure (18) -the ophthalmologist stated that my cat currently has good vision and is not”

“hi! so my cat is an orange tabby i believe, she's around about 5-6 years old. she's fixed, at a normal weight, and doesn't have any physical symptoms such as vomiting, bleeding, etc. we believe she might have some sort of anxiety issue, but she's never seen a vet for it as it's never been anything serious. she's just very skittish, licks herself a lot, and is scared of certain items. i live in the usa. she usually meows whenever i go up to pet her or when she gets excited”

“(Cross-posted from r/catadvice ) Long post with lots of context so hopefully it doesn’t get taken down. My cat, Chester (orange male, ~4yo, neutered almost 2 years ago, acquired 2 years ago), occasionally pees outside the litter box. It started a little less than a year ago when he peed in my closet on all my shoes. My partner and I were understandably annoyed, but we brushed it off because we had just spent time at my cousin’s house around her cats. We thought he was just jealous. A few weeks l”

“I just adopted a dog yesterday and I noticed sometimes he does quick small head shakes. It’s not like when a dog shakes their head to get an ear itch or something. It’s a very quick movement and they go left to right in a no motion. I’ve noticed them a couple times when I hold out a treat for him and he is about to take it, a few times when he has yawned and then every now and then when he is like sniffing something. It doesn’t look normal to me but my fiancé thinks it’s an excited thing but the”

“Pug, male, neutered, 9 years old, 24 lbs. location: Midwest No major illness other than history of bladder crystals so he is on Royal Canin urinary s/o diet. Nasal opening expanded to allow better breathing. He did have mass on front paw near due claw and it was removed surgically and is benign per pathology, this was 4 months ago. He is very calm in nature but lives with a very active and at times domineering pug who seems to assert dominance by mounting him. Our pug also dislikes neighboring d”

“Hi all my boy got neutered 14 days ago. This morning I woke up and found tufts of cat hair as if it had been shed, I looked at my boy and they came from him. He usually has a very thick tail but lots of hair just fell out suddenly only from his tail. Its thin now and was wondering is this normal after neutering? Do maine coons shed their coats during summer and could this be it? I dont know if I should be worried or not. I also bought a different type of kibble - still the same brand and just a”

“One of the doors in my house is a glass door with a metal frame, and that door is so light that it opens rlly quick. My dog accidently got hit by that door quite rlly hard. I feel so terrible and so worried about possible injuries. She seemed okay right after she got hit and is still acting normal/taking some rest. Since emergency vet is not available in the place I live, I'll have to wait until next morning or so to visit the vet. Is this an emergency? Or should I just watch for symptoms??”

“Due to some miscommunication and confusion our dog had both oral and topical flea and tick / heartworm meds within a 24 hour period. I really appreciate any guidance overnight and will consult my vet tomorrow as necessary. She’s a mix and breeds are unknown but likely a mix of heeler and cattle dog. Shes roughly 33lbs and 1.5 years old. She was given Simparica Trio for dogs 22-44lbs first. Later on without knowledge of the first treatment, she was given K9Advantix II Medium Dog topically. Her be”

“Hello everyone, We have 2 dogs: one 6 year old male standard parti poodle and one 3.5 year old female small poodle mix of some sort. Small poodle mix has been having some issues with anxiety, so we started her on a food additive recommended by our vet. Almost a month into the treatment, she has developed bald spots and hair loss on her back. From what we have noticed, her skin beneath the hair darkens and then the hair within that area falls out. It’s only on her back. She has been known to have”

“Hello when we came home yesterday, my 11-year-old female maltipoo seem to have developed cherry eye. She was perfectly fine before we left for work. Took her to the vet today and the doctor diagnosed it officially as cherry eye. The doctor gave my dog antibiotics because it got infected, to take for 7 days. The vet said that after 7 days, if the cherry eye still there then we will have to do surgery.. I just wanted to ask the vets here if that is a proper route of procedure or if surgery should”

“My 6 y/o American shorthair cat has some weird symptoms and we’re not sure what to do. Her vulva is suddenly more visible; I never noticed it but now when she stretches to get smackies you can see it. There is no pus, discharge, or redness or anything. She is spayed, 8 lbs 6 y/o and healthy other than digestive issues (maybe ulcerative colitis, they don’t know but she’s on sensitive tummy food and that has helped a lot). The other day she was straining/vocalizing in the litter box and going in a”