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Why are my older cat's eyes cloudy and third eyelids showing?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 11 years and 7 months old

My older cat has cloudy eyes and his third eyelids are showing?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on August 12th, 2017

Common causes of cloudy eyes include corneal ulcer/abrasion, dry eye, conjunctivitis, viral infection, glaucoma, uveitis, among a few others. Common causes for increased third eyelid exposure include allergies, dehydration, eye pain or light sensitivity. If this is a sudden change, I recommend that Marshmallow be evaluated as soon as possible as a few of these eye issues can get drastically worse very quickly. It is also likely that Marshmallow is very uncomfortable and could benefit from appropriate eye medications or pain medications.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By David Darvishian

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 22nd, 2017

    Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to see that Marshmallow is having some eye problems. Eye problems can be tricky especially from pictures but it looks like both eyes have centralized opaque areas indicating that the cornea (outer surface of the eye) is irritated and has become swollen and edematous. The third eyelids are difficult again to see but if they are elevated, this can be a sign of ocular irritation or something else. Let's focus on the opacity. Many things can be causing this problem including a viral/bacterial infection of the cornea, exposure to something in the environment that has irritated both corneas, trauma, toxins, glaucoma, internal or systemic disease, among others. You should make an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible but it's probably not an emergency. Your vet will likely take a thorough history and then a physical exam. Following they will do an opthalmic exam and then advise some tests including eye tests (corneal stain looking for scratches, ulcers), tear production test, and measuring the pressure inside the eye (tonometry). Once those are performed they may advise some blood tests if indicated. Once a diagnosis is confirmed or suspected, a sound treatment plan can be put into place. I feel that the third eyelids are related to whatever is causing the corneas to become cloudy. Good luck with Marshmellow.

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