Understanding uveitis in the canine and feline eye*

Understanding uveitis in the canine and feline eye

Inflammation within the eye can be a difficult condition to diagnose and treat. It often presents as a red eye and the key differential here is glaucoma, needing diametrically opposed treatment. The causes of feline uveitis are often infectious with viral diseases giving ocular infl ammation, while in the dog idiopathic immune-mediated disease, lens induced uveitis or conditions such as Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada-like syndrome are more commonly seen. Treatment involves anti-infl ammatory medication – topical or systemic, and pupil dilation with atropine which also reduces pain by countering ciliary muscle spasm.