have you ever heard of a cat having a torn inner eyelid?

Question

my friend takes care of a couple of stray cats around his apartment and last night he was telling me about one of them with a seemingly torn inner eyelid. he said he was able to hold the cat down long enough to see that's what it was but now the cat is terrified of him and he doubts he'll have the chance to grab him again to take him to the vet. i haven't seen the cat myself so i have to assume he's right in his diagnosis. any ideas what it might be or what could cause it?

Answer 1

Most likely it was an injury from a fight, pretty common with strays. Eye problems should be addressed right away, as they usually get worse on there own instead of better. The animal tends to want to rub at the eye, which can cause more damage to the original injury or cause an injury to the eye ball itself. If he doesnt think he can catch the cat, tell him to consider using a live trap, or contacting his local animal control.

Answer 2

It's actually not an uncommon injury in toms. Toms do end up fighting a lot with other unneutered males and injures to the face, eyes and ears are not all that unusual. Damage to the inner eyelid can be very painful for the cat, and depending on how bad the tear is, could result in vision damage for the cat.

The cat really should be seen by a vet to check if this is an injury that can heal satisfactorally on it's own or if some sort of medical repair is necessary. If there is no way for your friend to coax him back into reach, he might think about getting a humane trap that is used by animal control officers to round up strays. Or he might try to contact his local animal control to alert them to an injured stray. They might be able to help.