Evie was referred to see Jess because of her painful right eye.
Evie, a 10 year old, female, neutered domestic short haired cat presented with a corneal sequestrum and lower lid entropion affecting her right eye. Lower lid entropion is quite common in older feline patients due to loss of the fat pad behind the eye and consequently the globe retracts, leading to eyelid collapse. In a lot of these cases the entropion tends to be chronic and therefore not always noted by the owner. This chronic trauma leads to the formation of a corneal sequestrum. However, this condition is also linked to Feline Herpes Virus and the pain of the sequestrum can lead to a secondary spastic entropion so in these cases it is sometimes difficult to work out which came first!
Key signs to look out for:
- Painful eye
- Blepharospasm
- Epiphora
- A brown/ dark plaque or ‘tea staining’ of the cornea
- Corneal neovascularisation
- Corneal ulceration
Evie had corrective lid surgery using a combination of a wedge resection to remove excess lid length and then a Hotz-Celsus to further correct the entropion. Removal of extra lid length can help stabilise the lid and prevent re-occurrence of the entropion and is often appropriate in many entropion cases. The corneal sequestrum was then excised by performing a superficial keratectomy using our operating microscope. In some cases, the sequestrum is deeper than initially thought and a corneal graft is sometimes required. In Evie’s case, the sequestrum was superficial so did not require a graft.