Anyone here ever have a cat with corneal ulcers?

[tencats]

My little Maddie has been suffering with inflammation of both eyes since November 10th. It wasn't much of a problem when it first appeared, she had come down with a mild URI earlier and it was clearing up nicely but then it seemed to settle her eyes. We were seen by our Veterinarian Nov. 17th and have been returning to see the Dr every 5-10 days since then. It just keeps getting worse. I did consult with a Veterinary Ophthalmologist on Dec. 28th. The Dr has changed the prescription for the Ophthalmic antibiotics three times already. This past nine days I have been using Tobramycin Ophthalmic solution every 8 hrs and giving her a least 600 mg of L-Lysine daily. The one eye is looking like it could rupture yet. I wonder if once it gets this bad if the eye can ever heal. The Dr has been saying that this isn't all that bad yet but it is worrisome because it not improving. This hasn't gone down hill slowly, it was just within 48 hours on December 10-11 that it became very very bad, since then one eye is about the same and the other eye is a little worse.
Today it looks like this.

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[tencats]

1. Update: very very slowly healing.

Changed the ophthalmic antibiotic again for the 4th time. I have just recently backed off the prescribed antibiotic and have increased her intake of L-Lysine to 800 mg daily. Seeing some improvement now after near 3 months that she has had this eye problem. I believe this problem is from from her contacting a Feline Herpes Virus (FHV-1) but will never know for sure.
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[TuxedoKat]

2. That's a big improvement

I'm glad your cat is recovering -- must have been pretty worrisome until the latest antibiotic helped though.

Do you have actually have ten cats, tencats?

[tencats]

4. Antibiotic eye drops have had little effect here really.

This is almost certainly a feline herpes virus infection which is a very common infection in cats especially rescued cats like my Maddie. She is an extreme flat faced exotic short hair which further makes her more susceptible to developing this type of eye disease. With all the conjunctivitis, keratitis, and corneal ulceration she has been suffering with the Dr wants us to guard against any bacterial infection also developing in her eyes. Her immune system is most important in getting the active FHV infection into remission here. I hesitated getting her on the antiviral medications which are very costly and have instead been adding L-lysine to her food daily hopping that it can help her recover. Just this past week she is looking much better and I have new hope that her eyes can heal completely. An oral antibiotic has recently greatly helped her with is her chronic stuffy sinuses that she has suffered from most of her life. I am taking her to see the Dr tomorrow to discuss doing long term antibiotic therapy for her.

Ten cats?
I have enough that they can be hard to count at times.

Maddie here just last hour.
Notice the divot like corneal ulcer still in her right side eye although this is much improved since mid December.
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[AndyA]

3. Oh my! That looks so scary.

I'm glad to see she's improving. The second picture looks much better than the first.

Sending good thoughts your way for Maddie to have a quick and full recovery, she's beautiful. It just makes me sick to hear about little ones that aren't well. They add so much to our lives, and they're so sweet and such good company.

Please let us know how she's doing, she sure seems like she's headed in the right direction now. :)