My cats eyes

[BruceJeffriBentley]

Hi,
I joined this to look for help with my cats eyes. Bentley is 5.5 months old, and has cones in his eyes. Its like the black part of the eye is poking out into the front of the eye. It makes him look very cross eyed. The cones are on the outsides of his eye, on the edges of the black part. I cannot find anything online to help me figure it out. We took him to the vet to make sure he could see, and he can. But the vet said eye problems are a sign of FIP, and too many URI's. I looked up all the eye problems associated with FIP and his eyes just don't look like that. Not to mention, he is overweight for his age, he is 7 pounds.
Obviously, we are looking for something .. besides FIP. Especially because of our other two cats Bruce and Jeffri. Please does anyone have nay idea what I'm talking about?
Please help me. We actually had one cat 2 yrs ago who had to be put down from FIP, so I am looking for anything ....

[Karen]

I would get a second opinion. Eye problems can be caused by many issues, not just FIP. Is it just a coloration thing? Has it always been that way, or has it developed recently? Can you get a picture of it?

[Lizzie]

I can't quite understand what you are seeing in Bentley's eyes so a photo, as Karen suggested, would be helpful. Are the cone shapes of what appears to come from the pupil "invading" the iris or the cornea? Your vet might have seen changes at the back of the eye, in the retina. What did you find online that showed changes to the eye? I thought the changes a vet would see to indicate FIP can only be seen with an ophthalmoscope.

When did you notice the cone shapes? Did Bentley have a URI a few weeks before you notice the change? As you now, FIP comes from the coronavirus but if you had the other two cats at the same time as your cat who died from FIP, they could carry FIP and shed it.

I do empathise with you. I lost three foster kittens from a litter of nine to FIP right after they went out for adoption. They were bounding with health, got colds at the adoption center and then developed FIP. It's a truly horrible disease.

[BruceJeffriBentley]

He has been that way since we knew him. I tried getting pictures, to take to my friend who runs a shelter, but its pretty much impossible because his eyes are so tiny, and the cones can only be seen from the side view.
The colors are even and normal in his eyes, its just these cones that stick out.

[BruceJeffriBentley]

Are the cone shapes of what appears to come from the pupil "invading" the iris or the cornea?



Yes! Thats what it looks like. Bentley had been diagnosed with 6 URI's while he was at the shelter.

He has no discharge coming out of his eyes. The vet always mention yellowing of his eyes, third eye, and those are white and healthy looking.
On my own research, I found that FIP can make the eyes have smeared lines of color? I guess thats how to describe it, or brown lines in them.

The two older cats, 1yr 8months, and 2 yrs, 6months, came to us about 2 months after the first cat passed away. We did the disinfecting and everything it suggested before adopting again.

I guess I should also mention, Bentley's weight showed him being very healthy for his age, so the vet suggested not getting the FIP test now. And monitor his behavior, eating, etc.

[Lizzie]

I didn't notice any changes in the eyes of Fiorella, the foster kitten I took back into care from the adoption center when I saw she wasn't recovering from her cold. She had the dry version of FIP.

It doesn't sound like your Bentley has FIP. Perhaps he had it but has thrown it off, in which case he will test positive to the antibodies. Repeat URI's seem to affect the eyes though only in terms of occasional discharge which you say Bentley doesn't have.

Some bolstering of his immune system - Lysine on his food, vit.B complex, that sort of thing might help him since getting through 6 URI's in ?about 3-4 months is a lot.

It can be a bit nerve wracking to be told to observe because the vet doesn't quite know what is going on. I rushed Challenge to the vet this morning because he had a major blood and blood clots poop late last night but the vet said it was probably a temporary irritation from stress, getting into a different food, etc. and he wasn't really concerned. I felt a combination of relief and frustration because I'd rather get a definitive answer.