Woman Looses Eye Sight After Cat Licks Her Face

Pet owners should be aware that an innocent lick from their cats could cause blindness.
A woman has gone blind in one eye after her cat licked her face. She woke up after the lick which had penetrated her eye, to find she had lost her vision. She put down the loss of vision to anything other than the innocent lick from her pet.

For a month Janese Toledo visited doctors, who couldn’t figure out the cause of the sudden blindness in her left eye. It was only after she told doctors about the night her cat had licked her face, that they managed to solve the puzzle.
The blindness was caused by a bacterial infection that was transmitted from the cat through the fateful lick on the face.

The condition is called ‘cat scratch disease’ and is transmitted though the feline’s salvia or fur.
It could lead to blindness and/or other serious conditions. People are advised to wash their hands after playing with the furry creatures.

The Mirror reports:

Reliving her nightmare, Ms Walters, from Toledo, Ohio, told local news channel WTOL: “I woke up one day and I couldn’t see out of my left eye.

“I looked in the mirror and I thought I had pink eye or something.”

Cat scratch disease is caused by the Bartonella henselae bacteria, which is carried by roughly 40% of felines.

The majority of infected animals do not show symptoms, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Dr Kris Brickman, of the University of Toledo’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences, told the media outlet cat scratch disease can affect a person’s eyesight.

In addition, it can “cause some liver problems and can get into the spinal fluids and create meningitis.”

He urged people to wash their hands after touching a cat, adding: “Don’t let them lick any open wounds, and try not to get bit by any cat.”

Echoing his words, Ms Walters said: “It’s real important. You don’t want to lose your eyesight.

“I’m just lucky it didn’t transfer to my other eye.