Uveitis in Cats: Causes, Diagnosis & Treatment
- Uveitis is inflammation inside the eye. It is painful and can threaten vision if treatment is delayed.
- Common signs include squinting, tearing, a red eye, a cloudy or blue-looking eye, a small pupil, and light sensitivity.
- In cats, uveitis may be linked to infections such as FeLV, FIV, FIP, toxoplasmosis, or fungal disease, but some cases are idiopathic.
- Diagnosis usually includes an eye exam, fluorescein stain, and eye pressure testing. Your vet may also recommend bloodwork or infectious disease testing.
- Treatment focuses on controlling inflammation and pain while looking for the underlying cause. Follow-up visits matter because glaucoma, synechiae, and retinal damage can develop.
What Is Uveitis?
Uveitis means inflammation of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye that includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. In many cats, the front part of the eye is affected most, so your vet may call it anterior uveitis. This condition is more than surface irritation. It happens inside the eye and can be painful.
Because the eye is delicate, inflammation here can quickly interfere with vision. Cats with uveitis may develop a cloudy eye, a small pupil, redness, tearing, or squinting. Some cats act quiet rather than obviously painful, which can make the problem easy to miss.
Uveitis is also important because it is often a sign of another disease process, not a final diagnosis by itself. In some cats the trigger is infection, cancer, trauma, high blood pressure, or immune-mediated inflammation. In others, no clear cause is found even after testing.
See your vet immediately if your cat has a suddenly painful, cloudy, red, or partly closed eye. Fast care can improve comfort and may help protect vision.
Symptoms of Uveitis
- Squinting or holding the eye closed
- Redness around the eye
- Cloudy, hazy, or blue-looking eye
- Small pupil
- Tearing or watery discharge
- Third eyelid showing
- Eye color change or blood inside the eye
- Vision changes or bumping into things
Some cats with uveitis show obvious eye pain. Others are more subtle and may hide, sleep more, avoid bright rooms, or resist face handling. Even mild-looking signs can represent significant inflammation inside the eye.
See your vet immediately if your cat has a cloudy eye, blood in the eye, sudden vision changes, severe squinting, or an enlarged eye. These signs can overlap with glaucoma, trauma, corneal ulceration, and other urgent eye problems.
What Causes Uveitis?
Uveitis in cats has many possible causes. Infectious disease is a major category, especially feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), toxoplasmosis, and some fungal infections such as cryptococcosis or blastomycosis. In some regions, your vet may tailor testing based on local disease patterns.
Noninfectious causes also matter. Trauma to the eye, cancer, lens-related inflammation, corneal disease, and systemic illness can all trigger uveitis. High blood pressure and retinal disease may not directly cause every case, but they can create overlapping eye changes that your vet needs to sort out.
Some cats are diagnosed with idiopathic uveitis, which means no clear underlying cause is found despite a reasonable workup. That can be frustrating for pet parents, but it is common in feline eye disease.
Because the treatment plan depends on the cause, your vet may recommend anything from a focused eye exam to broader testing for infectious disease or internal illness. The goal is not only to calm the eye, but also to identify what may be driving the inflammation.
How Is Uveitis Diagnosed?
Diagnosis starts with a full history and physical exam, followed by a careful eye exam. Your vet will look for signs such as a small pupil, aqueous flare, corneal edema, keratic precipitates, hyphema, or changes in the iris. They may use an ophthalmoscope or slit-lamp style magnification to examine the front and back of the eye.
Two common in-clinic tests are fluorescein stain and tonometry. Fluorescein helps check for a corneal ulcer, which matters because some anti-inflammatory eye medications are not appropriate if an ulcer is present. Tonometry measures intraocular pressure. Cats with uveitis often have low eye pressure early on, but pressure can later rise if secondary glaucoma develops.
If your vet suspects a deeper cause, they may recommend bloodwork, blood pressure measurement, FeLV/FIV testing, toxoplasmosis testing, fungal testing, or imaging. In recurrent, severe, or unusual cases, referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist may be the next step.
Follow-up is a big part of diagnosis too. Eye disease can change quickly, so rechecks help your vet monitor pressure, comfort, response to treatment, and complications such as synechiae, cataracts, retinal detachment, or glaucoma.
Treatment Options for Uveitis
Spectrum of Care means you have options. Here are treatment tiers at different price points.
Budget-Conscious Care
- Office exam and basic eye exam
- Fluorescein stain to rule out a corneal ulcer
- Tonometry if available in general practice
- Topical anti-inflammatory eye medication if appropriate
- Pupil-dilating pain relief medication such as atropine when indicated
- Short-interval recheck
Recommended Standard Treatment
- Comprehensive eye exam with fluorescein stain and tonometry
- Topical anti-inflammatory treatment and pain-control support as appropriate
- Targeted infectious disease screening such as FeLV/FIV testing
- Basic bloodwork and blood pressure check
- Follow-up visits to monitor eye pressure and inflammation
- Medication adjustments based on response
Advanced / Critical Care
- Veterinary ophthalmology referral
- Detailed anterior and posterior segment exam
- Expanded infectious disease testing and systemic workup
- Ocular ultrasound or advanced imaging when the back of the eye cannot be visualized
- Management of complications such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, or severe hyphema
- Hospital-based care or surgery in select cases
Cost estimates as of 2026-03. Actual costs vary by location, clinic, and individual case.
Questions to Ask Your Vet About Uveitis
Bring these questions to your vet appointment to get the most out of your visit.
- Does my cat have anterior uveitis only, or is the back of the eye involved too?
- What did the eye pressure test show, and are you worried about glaucoma?
- Is there any sign of a corneal ulcer that would change which eye medications are safe?
- Which underlying causes are most likely for my cat based on age, history, and exam findings?
- Which tests are most useful to do now, and which could wait if I need a more conservative plan?
- What changes at home would mean I should bring my cat back sooner than the scheduled recheck?
- Could this affect vision long term, and what is the outlook for this eye?
- Would referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist help in my cat’s case?
How to Prevent Uveitis
Not every case of uveitis can be prevented, because some cats develop it from immune-mediated disease, cancer, or causes that remain unknown. Still, there are practical steps that may lower risk or help your vet catch problems earlier.
Keep your cat current on wellness visits and discuss vaccination based on lifestyle and risk. Routine preventive care can reduce exposure to some infectious diseases and helps your vet identify broader health problems that may affect the eyes. If your cat spends time outdoors or lives with other cats, ask your vet whether FeLV testing, vaccination planning, and parasite control should be updated.
Reducing trauma also matters. Indoor living, supervised outdoor time, and prompt care after fights or facial injuries can help protect the eyes. If your cat has chronic viral eye disease, systemic illness, or prior eye inflammation, regular rechecks are especially important.
Call your vet promptly for any new squinting, cloudiness, redness, or vision change. Early treatment is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of complications such as glaucoma, synechiae, cataracts, or permanent vision loss.