Ocular Abnormalities in 127 Cats Presented for Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER) Examination in the United States and Canada.

STUDY

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence and clinical appearance of ocular abnormalities in a US and Canadian population of cats registered with the Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER) between 2013 and 2023.

METHODS

All complete (131) feline CAER exam forms from 2013 to 2023 in the OFA database, were reviewed. Available pedigrees of cats included in this study were also investigated. The central tendencies and dispersion data were reported.

RESULTS

The population consisted of 113 Bengal, six British Shorthair, two each Maine Coon, and Norwegian Forest, and one each Domestic Shorthair, Ragamuffin, Siberian, and Sphynx cats. Four cats had serial CAER examinations performed. Twenty-two (20%) Bengal cats had normal ophthalmic exams, and 91 (80%) had abnormalities noted. Eighty-one (72%) of the Bengal cats had cataract(s) noted, of which the characteristics varied widely.

DISCUSSION: Suggestive of a possible hereditary basis, there was a high prevalence of young Bengal cats presented for CAER examinations between 2013 and 20233 that had functionally incidental cataracts that were expected to be essentially nonprogressive. Most of the noted feline cataracts were bilateral, symmetric, punctate or incipient, and nuclear or posterior. Very minimal pedigree information received supported a possible hereditary basis of cataracts among the British Shorthair cats, but was insufficient to confirm this or apply to the entire study population.