Cat's pupils two different sizes... could it be related to diabetes, dental issues, or what?

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Finn & Murray

Finn & Murray

Member Since 2017
So, kind of an odd question to post in here... if it's not the place or anything like that, totally let me know. But, all of the information I found through googling wasn't all that helpful, and my vet's reaction to this whole thing was less than helpful.

As far as I know, this is unrelated to my cat Murray's diabetes, but... it's one of those things I'm not really sure where to look for answers. When I had brought Murray in to the vet when he was diagnosed with diabetes, the original reason for taking him in was due to a rather severe, sudden case of anisocoria/one pupil being larger than the other. Link to a picture from the day can be found here. Obviously, seeing that had completely freaked me out, and by the end of day I'd ditched work early to be able to bring Murray in to get checked out. Of course, that's when the diabetes diagnosis happened, so that was getting quite a bit of attention. However, of course, the vet did do her best to help with the eye issues, suggesting that it was caused by either an ear infection they had noticed, or possibly due to polyps in his ears. I was sent home with ear drops to give to him for two weeks, and his eyes seemed to be relatively back to normal.

Now, I'm starting to see it happen again every once in a while. Never quite as bad as in that picture, but enough of a difference for me to notice right away and worry a little. Part of me says I should take him in to the vet to get looked at again, but I really don't know if they'll be able to do much more than what they did last time, you know? So... has this ever happened to anyone else before? Could Murray's dental problems (he has a few teeth that really need to be pulled soon) be causing this as well? Or, even, his diabetes? That was something the vet had sort of alluded to being possible... that his diabetes could cause certain things to not work the way they should, or something along those lines? Is this something I should be really worried about, or was the vet right about not worrying?

Again, if this isn't the place, please let me know. It's just all so confusing :oops:
 
Finn & Murray said:
So, kind of an odd question to post in here... if it's not the place or anything like that, totally let me know. But, all of the information I found through googling wasn't all that helpful, and my vet's reaction to this whole thing was less than helpful.

As far as I know, this is unrelated to my cat Murray's diabetes, but... it's one of those things I'm not really sure where to look for answers. When I had brought Murray in to the vet when he was diagnosed with diabetes, the original reason for taking him in was due to a rather severe, sudden case of anisocoria/one pupil being larger than the other. Link to a picture from the day can be found here. Obviously, seeing that had completely freaked me out, and by the end of day I'd ditched work early to be able to bring Murray in to get checked out. Of course, that's when the diabetes diagnosis happened, so that was getting quite a bit of attention. However, of course, the vet did do her best to help with the eye issues, suggesting that it was caused by either an ear infection they had noticed, or possibly due to polyps in his ears. I was sent home with ear drops to give to him for two weeks, and his eyes seemed to be relatively back to normal.

Now, I'm starting to see it happen again every once in a while. Never quite as bad as in that picture, but enough of a difference for me to notice right away and worry a little. Part of me says I should take him in to the vet to get looked at again, but I really don't know if they'll be able to do much more than what they did last time, you know? So... has this ever happened to anyone else before? Could Murray's dental problems (he has a few teeth that really need to be pulled soon) be causing this as well? Or, even, his diabetes? That was something the vet had sort of alluded to being possible... that his diabetes could cause certain things to not work the way they should, or something along those lines? Is this something I should be really worried about, or was the vet right about not worrying?

Again, if this isn't the place, please let me know. It's just all so confusing :oops:
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My cat had that before. It's Horner's syndrome caused by ear infection. Once the ear infection clears, her eyes are back to normal. It took us 3 months after visiting 3 vets! The first 2 thought it was normal eye infection and gave us eye drops. Only the last one said it's definitely Horner's syndrome and gave ear drops. But she said it can happen again anytime but it will go away just as suddenly. I just make sure I clean her ears often now. It has Sth to do with the nerves but vet assured us it's not painful nor affect her vision.
 
That's how her eyes look like.
 

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Scoobs had it 4-6 months before he joined the spirit world. But it was only for a day. I watched for reoccurence, and it never happened. His intestines died (from poison or cancer), and I still miss him.

At the time I read a lot about it. Maybe it will clear up. Lots of underlying issues can cause it.
 
JeffJ said:
Scoobs had it 4-6 months before he joined the spirit world. But it was only for a day. I watched for reoccurence, and it never happened. His intestines died (from poison or cancer), and I still miss him.

At the time I read a lot about it. Maybe it will clear up. Lots of underlying issues can cause it.
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Sorry about Scoobs. My cat had it around July last year. So far no reoccurence.
 
Waheeda, thank you so much! I know it could be any number of things, really... googling "my cat has two different sized pupils" gives you results that vary from "ear infection" to "your cat has a tumour and they're going to die right now", so I tried to avoid doing that... But, the fact that he was treated for an ear infection with ear drops and that the vet seemed to think that was the cause makes me think what your cat had is similar to whatever is affecting Murray. As I said, it seemed to get better when he was getting the ear drops, and it's never been as bad as it was that first day, but it's still there ever so slightly, so... I think getting into the habit of cleaning his ears a little more often might just be necessary. As if I wasn't already putting him through enough, the poor dude :P Also, talk about an adorable cat!

JeffJ said:
Scoobs had it 4-6 months before he joined the spirit world. But it was only for a day. I watched for reoccurence, and it never happened. His intestines died (from poison or cancer), and I still miss him.

At the time I read a lot about it. Maybe it will clear up. Lots of underlying issues can cause it.
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I'm so sorry to hear about Scoobs :( That's why I've been keeping a close eye on Murray's eyes... the last thing I would want is for it to be a sign of something worse going on...
 
If your vet can check it, have a BP check done. That is one worrisome thing I immediately think of when it comes to eye issues. Not saying that's what's going on with your kitty, I'm not even certain that's a symptom of high BP, but I DO know it can cause anomalies with kitties eyes.
 
Finn & Murray said:
Waheeda, thank you so much! I know it could be any number of things, really... googling "my cat has two different sized pupils" gives you results that vary from "ear infection" to "your cat has a tumour and they're going to die right now", so I tried to avoid doing that... But, the fact that he was treated for an ear infection with ear drops and that the vet seemed to think that was the cause makes me think what your cat had is similar to whatever is affecting Murray. As I said, it seemed to get better when he was getting the ear drops, and it's never been as bad as it was that first day, but it's still there ever so slightly, so... I think getting into the habit of cleaning his ears a little more often might just be necessary. As if I wasn't already putting him through enough, the poor dude :p Also, talk about an adorable cat!



I'm so sorry to hear about Scoobs :( That's why I've been keeping a close eye on Murray's eyes... the last thing I would want is for it to be a sign of something worse going on...
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Most welcome! It's great to be on this forum to share stuff about our cats. Not just diabetes but on any other stuff. I was so worried last year when my cat had it and I had no one to ask except the vet. Most were clueless too and just prescribed eye drops.
 
Squalliesmom said:
If your vet can check it, have a BP check done. That is one worrisome thing I immediately think of when it comes to eye issues. Not saying that's what's going on with your kitty, I'm not even certain that's a symptom of high BP, but I DO know it can cause anomalies with kitties eyes.
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How do they check BP on a cat? I don't thk any vet has done this on my cats.
 
My cat Zimmy had it, took him to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong. After a few months or went away. It happened again a few years later and he had high blood pressure. Couldn't hurt to ask to have your cats bp taken.
 
Waheeda said:
How do they check BP on a cat? I don't thk any vet has done this on my cats.
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Our clinic had a portable machine to boost the sound and they use a human baby type "cuff". Maury did not like the cold gel on his shaved down paw :smuggrin:. First time I'd seen BP taken on a kitty!
 
Yong said:
Our clinic had a portable machine to boost the sound and they use a human baby type "cuff". Maury did not like the cold gel on his shaved down paw :smuggrin:. First time I'd seen BP taken on a kitty!
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I requested for it today on jebat. The cuff is so tiny. He has normal bp. But can't believe that I had to pay us$20 just for this. On top of the us65 consultation. :eek:
 
Waheeda said:
Oh wow! How come it's not a standard check as part of consultation like for us human? It's way cheaper for me to see my GP than taking them to the vet.
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It should be.

My vet is more expensive then most. I trust them though
 
JanetNJ said:
It should be.

My vet is more expensive then most. I trust them though
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I finally found this vet that I feel good with. She's a specialist in internal medicine, we don't have many here. She's calm and tell me the short n long term plans for jebat's medical conditions. And what I should be monitoring at home. I feel assured that he's in good hands with his multiple problems. But she's expensive.
 
I think our was in the $40 range,but they spent about 20 minutes. This was for our civvie Homer, who had heart and BP issues, and we were evaluating his meds so they really took their time. They shaved a spot on his tail and put a tiny cuff on it. It was funny :D
 
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