1. Elizabeth collar can be used on cats. Corneal ulcer is irritating. If cats scratch their eyes with claws, or rub them on carpets and furniture, it will cause more serious damage to their eyes.
2. Bacteria are often associated with the deterioration of corneal ulcers, especially deeper ulcers. Therefore, preventing secondary infection is one of the important means to treat corneal ulcer. This includes applying topical eye ointment or eye drops to the eyes until the ulcer heals. A more commonly used preparation is a combination of three antibiotics-neomycin, polymyxin, bacitracin or gramycin.
For more severe ulcers, antibiotics can be selected through the results of culture analysis and sensitivity analysis. When corneal ulcer occurs, it is very important to avoid using any drugs containing glucocorticoid.
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3. Antibiotics are ineffective for FHV-1. If your cat has ulcers after being infected with FHV- 1, it is recommended to use antiviral drugs frequently, such as idoxuridine, viroptical _ or arabinoside _ (ira-A_).
If the ulcer is deep when it is first found, or develops rapidly even after proper treatment, surgery may be needed to save the eyes and vision. This may need to be referred to a veterinary ophthalmologist.
5. For deep corneal ulcer or ulcer with perforation risk, the most common operation is conjunctival transplantation under general anesthesia. A small piece of conjunctiva near the cornea was sutured to the ulcer. This will bring healthy blood supply to the area and provide mechanical support for the diseased cornea. Transplantation can reduce the chance of perforation, increase eye comfort and accelerate healing, which is similar to the effect of skin transplantation in treating severe burns.
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6. For superficial ulcers, the bandage procedure may be sufficient to promote healing. Sometimes soft contact lenses are worn on the eyes. The lens covers the ulcer and protects it. If there is no contact lens, you can temporarily sew the third eyelid on the upper eyelid to cover the cornea. Although suturing the third eyelid can also protect the cornea, it is impossible to observe whether the ulcer is getting better or worse because the cornea is hidden. This animal can see through contact lenses, but when its third eyelid is stitched, it can't see.
7. Another kind of protective surgery is partial eyelid margin suture, which temporarily sutures the outer eyelids together. The eyelids can be partially closed to protect the cornea, but ulcers can still be observed and treated frequently.
8. For the treatment of dry eye, it may be necessary to remove redundant or wrong eyelashes and correct entropion through surgery. These steps also limit the chance of corneal ulcer in the future.
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Family nursing care of cat corneal ulcer
Follow-up care of corneal ulcer is very important. First of all, be sure to use any prescription drugs according to the instructions. If you encounter problems in treating your cat, be sure to inform your veterinarian. The best veterinary follow-up care includes:
1. Because simple ulcers usually heal within 7 days, all ulcers should be reexamined during this time. More severe ulcers or any ulcers that worsen during treatment should be examined more quickly and frequently. At the time of reexamination, the outline of ulcer was outlined with fluorescein staining again. Remember, for any ulcer deterioration, even after proper treatment, further examination is needed, and sometimes it may be necessary to refer it to a veterinary ophthalmologist.
2. Re-examination can also monitor the cause of any irritation, such as the regeneration of eyelashes, the recovery of normal blink response, the change of tear production, and whether the eyelid position is appropriate after eyelid inversion surgery.
3. Cat herpesvirus is a chronic recurrent disease in some cats, which may be complicated with other corneal diseases, such as corneal detachment, chronic keratitis and chronic intermittent conjunctivitis.