Eye disease in cats causes significant discomfort and can lead to vision loss if not promptly and appropriately managed.
Eye disease causes significant welfare compromise in cats. Conjunctivitis causes discomfort evidenced by squinting, pawing at the eye, and ocular discharge. Corneal ulcers are acutely painful, and cats with corneal ulcers often keep the eye closed and show obvious pain behaviours. Glaucoma causes elevated intraocular pressure that produces severe pain, and acute glaucoma is a veterinary emergency requiring immediate treatment. Chronic painful eye conditions that cannot be managed medically may be most humanely treated by enucleation, which removes the source of pain permanently. Cats that have had one eye removed adapt remarkably well, demonstrating that welfare is better served by enucleation than by maintaining a chronically painful eye.