A cat owner from Dallas has revealed how he spent hundreds of dollars at the vet with his cat to get a startling diagnosis: too many treats.
Trey Yates noticed a change in his 6-year-old cat Niles’ eyes and rushed him to the emergency veterinarian.
“I was prompted to take him to the vet because this past Sunday, I noticed his eyes starting to get a little hazy,” Yates told Newsweek. “He’s been sick for the past two weeks with some mystery infection and fever. I also read stories from Reddit about how if your cat’s eyes go gray all of a sudden, you need to get them to the vet ASAP. So at 8:30 p.m., when his eyes got cloudier and even more gray, I rushed him to the emergency room.”
At the emergency vet, Niles was diagnosed with uveitis, an inflammation of the eye, and was prescribed steroid eye drops. However, by the next morning, Niles’ condition appeared even worse.
“His eyes had reached peak cloudiness and were extremely gray, to the point where I thought he was for sure blind,” said Yates.
Concerned, Yates took Niles to his regular vet, who conducted further tests. The blood work revealed the presence of a cloudy substance, which the vet determined was linked to the cat’s eye condition.
“That cloudy substance is just a bunch of fat and blood cells,” Yates recounted.
“Since Niles has been sick, I was for sure expecting something lethal, not something that was going to call him a big fatty,” Yates said.
Having spent $700, Yates was stunned and decided to share his story on TikTok (@tr8ss) in a video that has since garnered over 3 million views.
“I’ve never heard that treats can do something like that to a cat,” Yates said. “I know they’re bad for cats, but the tales of too many treats I’ve heard ended with fat cats or bad blood pressure. Never cloudy eyes.”
Fatty deposits that cause cloudy eyes in cats are often associated with a condition called “corneal lipid dystrophy.” This condition affects the cornea—the clear front surface of the eye—creating a milky or blurred look.
Thankfully, it is not typically life-threatening. But left untreated, it can lead to vision impairment and affect the quality of life of the cat. Dietary management is usually the fastest way to reduce lipid deposits, and in some cases, medications can be used to manage the condition.