Just one runny eye....why?

lucky83

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
28
Purraise
11
About a year ago my 8 yr old cat had one runny eye - clear liquid didn't really look infected.Took to vets and vet examined eye and said no sign of damage, would be an infection, it would spread to other eye and to put cream in both...managed to get cream on both eyes once and bad eye maybe twice ...didn't like it very much and eye was improving so decided not to traumatise her anymore ...and it got better.Now she has the same thing again - one runny eye, the same eye - has had for almost a week now and other eye not affected. Have given it the odd wipe with cooled boiled water. Eyelid looks a bit puffy - and discharge is clear. She does fight sometimes and wondering if it is a trauma thing. Or?Does anyone have any idea what this could be?Her vaccinations are up to date.(I know she should really go to the vets - and if she really has to go she can - just rather she had a bit of a break . She had a gut obstruction in the summer and a major operation. When I took her for vaccinations in November she was really freaked out. This happened before when she had an infected tail and the vet had to squeeze it - freaked out a month or so later - but didn't have to go again till her next vaccinations and she was fine - think she must have forgotten!)
 

violet

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
1,220
Purraise
30
Location
MA
These kind of eye problems can be caused by infection, injury, herpes, allergy.

For starters, a very thorough eye exam is called for to check for everything.

You need to decide whether you can trust your vet for that. If you have doubts, you can take your kitty to a veterinary ophthalmologist.

One other thing. In my experience, eye drops are easier to administer than a cream.

Also, if you need to give medication. it's extremely important not to stop before the full prescribed course is finished.
 

runekeeper

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Nov 26, 2010
Messages
299
Purraise
24
Location
USA
One of my kitties had some kind of an eye infection recently too, only his discharge was thick and brown. The vet never said what exactly it was, but prescribed some eye cream. Dosage wasn't exactly clear either - something like "Give a small amount twice a day until symptoms clear up." Well how much is enough? A drop? A big drop? I found it odd that medication for any sort of an infection was not given with the instructions of using it until it's gone. With my kitty, his eye would be all clear and normal after a day, so did that mean I stop that day? The eye gunk occurred on and off and only now seems to be gone.

Cats generally don't like things getting too close to their eyes and if they feel something actually touching their eyeball, they're going to object to it. My kitty would flail around when I'd try to administer the cream and I'd have to basically put him in a headlock. I'm not a vet, but I think if there was an infection, the discharge might not be clear. Considering the puffy eyelid, it might be a matter of trauma/irritation. Is she squinting that eye at all? It could be she accidentally nicked herself in the eye while itching her face - all my cats have done that at least once and their eyes were watery and gooey for a bit and, in some cases, there was a noticeable scratch across the eye. Nothing that caused blindness or major injury, though. Just kind of nicking the membrane on the eye. Or she could have gotten a swat in the face from fighting with another cat. Not enough to cause bleeding or major damage.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

lucky83

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
28
Purraise
11
Sorry tried to reply sooner and first it wouldn't let me and then the site wouldn't load ...don't know if a problem with my internet or the site being too busy...Anyway Thanks Think when I had the cream that what I was told - use until it looks better and if no improvement within a week (?) to go back.... if it is a trauma how long did yours take to get better? Thinking I will give it another 3 days or so and then rethink...(it doesn't seem to be bothering her ..she isn't constantly washing it or anything)Really reluctant to take in her unless I have to - last time they put drops in her eyes etc etc and she really didn't like it - ideally want her next visit to vet to be relatively pleasant and painless - so if it is going to get better anyway ...I do trust my vet - think after they couldn't see any damage it was a 'if it is an infection this will work' approach...Lucky is not an easy cat to treat - she doesn't like to be messed around. If I need to do something I can but it isn't pleasant...for something like cream in her eye I would wrap her up in an old towel with only her head sticking out - which i think makes it more traumatic for her - but I couldn't do it otherwise. she also knows I won't take any nonsense - I got lots of nasty bites and scratches getting there. ...so will let me wipe it with water -but don't think she would be so good for anyone else!After her recent operation they didn't keep her in overnight because she wouldn't settle and turned into a 'devil' cat when they went anywhere near her. They said she was a 'mummy's cat' -much better behaved when I was around. This was the vet hospital bit - so not my normal vet - who knows her - and knows it is better if I hold her for examinations rather than the assistant and also I find it easier to give her worming tablets than they do.(I think she wasn't handled much as a kitten - we got her at about 6 months old - she had been really neglected and was rescued by someone who after a week or so discovered had a cat allergy and took her to the rehoming centre we got her from)
 

violet

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
1,220
Purraise
30
Location
MA
I really don't know where to start but I hope you'll think about what I'm trying to share here.

First and foremost, our family has never had a cat, ever, that liked to go to the vet. They always went anyway, because when our furbabies have a health problem, it must be taken care of. They may not like parts of the exam, but for their sake, that should never, ever matter. It must be done. There is no other choice unless we want to risk very serious complications that can reach the point where certain health problems can become partially or completely untreatable.

Your vet may be a wonderful vet, but how he/she and the staff handles cats, can make a tremendous difference. Patience and an extremely gentle approach are required with all kitties, but especially with those that are afraid of vet visits in the first place.

Our holistic vet (feline only) is the kindest, gentlest of all vets. Yet, when it was time for a vet visit, my Bernie would do everything he could think of not to be found when it was time to leave the house to see her. The carrier was nowhere in sight and my husband and I never talked about the appointment (we just had a written reminder for ourselves), yet he knew it anyway. (Same thing when he had to go to see our regular vet.) Anyway, both our holistic vet and our regular vet always made him forget about his fears and the visits were pleasant, leaving no scary memories.

I would like to encourage you to put whatever effort is required on your part into preventing fear of vet visits and also take a close look at whether your baby is getting the patient handling by vet and staff that will make things easier for her.

Some years ago one of my girls required several vet visits over a certain time period to deal with eye problems. So I know a kitty with such a problem must be seen without delay. (With our regular vet, because of the potential for very serious consequences, diagnosing and treating eye problems are always a top priority.)

I would like to urge you to make an appointment and have your baby seen in order to diagnose and properly treat this eye problem.

For professional behavior related advice please get these two books from feline behaviorist Pam Johnson Bennett, as soon as possible:

Twisted Whiskers

Think Like a Cat

(both are available at amazon.com)

You'll find invaluable information about fear aggression and dealing with vet visits.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

lucky83

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
28
Purraise
11
Thank you for your reply - In general Lucky has been 'fine' going to the vet in the past - just the injection time after the tail squeezing incident a few years ago now (and to be honest - that was bad - I have never heard a cat scream in pain like that before ...made me teary and I knew it was for the best -also guilt racked because I hadn't noticed it earlier) and this injection time after the operation it was similar...It is more she is distressed - scratching to get out the box and meowing pitifully the whole way there ...and if this eye gets better without intervention ( as it seemed to do last time) I would rather she didn't have to go there....I know there is a danger of her associating her feelings of fear going there with the overall experience -if that makes sense...I had my last cat, an old girl, ex-stray, put to sleep because, although the vet thought with medication and regular checks she would have a few months, I knew it was the kindest thing to do for her . She got so distressed going in her box/the car that she often soiled herself in her box. Tried lots of things to make her not so scared but nothing worked - it was just too implanted ...and guess the whole soiling itself is enough to really upset a cat . I would hate Lucky to get like that.... As it is the eye is definitely no worse - in fact (unless tempting fate!) if anything it is looking a bit better...so fingers crossed - but by the end of tomorrow if it isn't significantly better she will be seeing the vet on Friday...Will keep you posted...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

lucky83

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
28
Purraise
11
Taken her to the vet today - decided that it wasn't getting better. Good examination, including the drops for damage and no obvious sign of anything.Vet thinks rather than an eye infection (which would have spread to the other eye) - it is probably a contamination and this eye may just not be very good at clearing itself up - might be a narrow tear duct or similar. She has drops twice a day for 7-10 days and if no better take back.He did say that especially as she gets older it may occur more often. And If similar wiping with cooled boiled water is the the right thing to do and if no better in 3-4 days take back. He also said that they might be able to just give me the drops rather than take her in... Anyway the big thing was how she reacted to the visit - and I'm really really pleased to say she took it well. The whole thing was done quickly with minimum fuss and she was nervous but not too bad going in her box - a lot calmer than her last visit. When we got home I gave her a few treats as she came out of her box - but she was fine - straight to her food, purring and rubbing round me - I'm just so relieved - hopefully on her next visit (not too soon!) she will be fine again...fingers crossed.
 

vball91

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
3,853
Purraise
252
Location
CO, USA
That is great that you and Lucky had a good vet visit. Glad it wasn't more serious.
 

violet

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
1,220
Purraise
30
Location
MA
Good vet visit, good news. I really hope the eye drops will take care of whatever is wrong.
 

bburns

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
1
Purraise
1
I have a kitten (little over a year old) who also has a runny eye, sometimes brownish colored fluid. My vet said that there are only 2 eye ailments in cats -- chlamydia & herpes. We've pretty much decided it's chlamydia, & I'm putting a little tetracycline ointment in it each day. I just put a little on my (clean) finger, put the cat on a counter with her back to me, & with my left hand I pull up the right eyelid, then put the ointment on the eye. In a recent vet visit, we found that her right tear duct is clogged. He put a stain in the eyes, & only the left stain also appeared at the left nostril. I'm online researching what might be done about this (so far it appears antibiotics might help). I'd love for this baby's eye to stop watering so much!  Some vets online say you can use oral tetracycline, but my vet's office said they can't get it. I didn't question why...will do that on Monday. Seems like they could write a scrip for human tetra. :)
 

bbydede

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
3
Purraise
1
I have an 18-19 year old Siamese snow tiger male cat who has been my buddy since the sixth grade- now I'm almost 30. Trying to illustrate how in tune we are before I make my point here. He has never liked the vet. He will go from cool lap curious cat to absolute freaking feral monster at the vet. He hates car trips and cages too. Our vet is a family friend with a good degree and lots of experience and she told me not to bring him in anymore unless he is so lethargic he needs to be put down. Why? Because he is old with weakened kidneys and the vet trips stress him out. Stress causes sickness. Occasionally his bad eye that got scratched years ago will run and so I did my own research and bought the eye wash. Also he has lived several months past the vets life expectancy and is still super active because I did my own kidney disease research and adjusted food/vitamins. Vets are good yes but we only go for emergencies because he is indoor only cat and very traumatized by the vet. I don't like it when peoples only answer is "take them to the vet". Many health problems can be diagnosed by thorough research and ordering meds online.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12

lucky83

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
28
Purraise
11
Thought I'd give a further update... so after just over a year with no problems Lucky's eye started running again. I bathed it in boiled water etc, after 3 days it wasn't looking any better, it looked a bit swollen etc, but didn't seem to be troubling her - she wasn't washing it all the time or looking in pain etc..
I couldn't have more drops without an appointment because it was more than 6 months and they had no appointments for 2 days - that evening I was going away for 4 days. The vet looked at it - didn't put drops in it or anything and said it was likely to be the same problem as before and gave me the same drops.
In the packing chaos (had to get children organised too) I managed to forget to give her the drops or to tell my partner (who was looking after her whilst we were away) to do it. When I did tell him the next day he freaked out and said he was worried about poking her in the eye etc (he isn't a cat person), every time I asked him he said he thought it was looking better (I thought he might just be being a coward) . Anyway got back and her eye was completely better - the drops still sealed!
In future I might leave it for 6-7 days before opening the drops, to see if she can fight it off herself again - which I think would be best. (Personally I don't take antibiotics unless I really need them either)
(bbydede - I hope your boy is still proving the vets wrong ...)
 

bbydede

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
3
Purraise
1
Yes thank you he is still alive 8 months past when he was supposed to be dead by and he is still chasing me around the apartment and eating great. His blood showed stage 2.5 of 5 stage kidney failure November 2012. I am so fortunate to have him sitting on my chest right now comforting me through a midnight storm lol. I give him GNC elderly cat milk for easy to digest proteins and vitamins that help his body process the proteins his old kidneys have trouble doing. Lots of fresh grass on the balcony. I mix the prescription kidney food with a little stinky regular food so he keeps eating it. If anyone needs kidney failure advice you can message me and I'll send photos of the supplements. He turns 19 this year as I turn 30 this week. Still has an occasional dirty eye in that one eye every few weeks and it clears on its own after a day so I don't use the wash too often. Hope everyone's buddies are well and take care all.
 

darioz707

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
1
Purraise
1
My black car, Pepper Nightingale, has her left eye running. It cleared up when we took her to the vet for a sprained foot after she was given an antibiotic shot. It came back. She is healthy and playful otherwise. It is probably allergy related.
 

catwoman707

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
7,689
Purraise
2,263
Location
Vallejo, CA
One runny eye as long as it is clear and not opaque yellow/green colored is most often the remaining symptoms of herpevirus at some point of the cat's life, usually as a kitten is when it's contracted.

During times of stress/vet visit/new pet/moving/away from pet on vacation/being bullied, etc. it will start becoming watery/runny again.

My most favorite med to use when this happens, aside from supplementing with l-lysine, is Idoxuridine drops.

They are the only anti-viral eye drops I know of that exist, and work beautifully.

I will also use terramycin ointment along with the Idox drops and clears the eye (s) up fast and perfectly.

Many vets don't carry this but if you request it, they can order it for you.

It doesn't have to be in both eyes, one is better than both, but same diff, same reason.
 

ruby thursday

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Sep 13, 2015
Messages
1
Purraise
1
hi there ,

very interesting reading thank you.

my 17 year old ruby has one weepy eye - a brownish thickish liquid. i have attempted to wipe away with saline but has returned for a week now. is it just old age or an allergy as the vet nurse suggested?

She also has renal failure that was diagnosed 3 years ago but is doing really well on Fortakol ( sends blood to kidneys) and metacam for pain relief. she also has arthritis in her back hips.

she is on a special renal cat biscuit diet but has fresh and tin food as well. she licks gravy and juice but eats very little and is down to just over 3 kgs. Any ideas on how to entice with food and treat  the weepy eye?

thank you

ruby thursday
 

catwoman707

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
7,689
Purraise
2,263
Location
Vallejo, CA
I would use terramycin antibacterial eye ointment on her eye.

The brown discharge is from herpesvirus she had at some point, likely during kittenhood.

She is getting old and with her arthritis and renal failure is feeling her age, which is enough to cause the virus to surface in a small way, which is her eye running.

I would switch her canned gravy/chunks food for fancy feast pates. (called classics)

They tend to go for those pretty well, and will eat more than just licking the gravy in the chunkys.

Which means more calories.

I'd also give her anything she wants basically, think calorie-wise.

They eat such a low amt of cals anyway, even giving her a jar of warmed up chicken baby food a day will add 60 cals a day.

Anything to help her maintain some body mass and muscle.
 

shopping1986

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Mar 20, 2016
Messages
1
Purraise
1
my cat Juliette had the same problem with her eye. Actually she has the same problem again. The vet last time gave her eye drops. They took a while to work but they did the job. She of course didn't like it, but it was easy to administer.
 

harhardf

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Messages
76
Purraise
42
I have had a similar experience and I would recommend you include L-Lysine in the cat's daily diet.   Since the day I found my kitten (over 2 years ago) she has had runny eye(s).   After receiving her initial Leukemia vaccination two years back, her runny eye became swollen, red, and her third eyelid popped out (= very painful), and the baby blue eye turned brown  (she had developed uveitis in a matter of 1-2 days).  We took her to an emergency opthamologist.  They gave her steroid drops to reduce swelling and steroid ointment.  After months and months of it reocurring, and months and months of tests (ultrasounds of the eyeball, fecal matter tests, biometric tests, bloodwork, etc), the doc gave us two possible diagnoses, of which the tests are notoriously unreliable.

(1) Herpes

(2) Bartonella (cat scratch fever bacteria)

The opthamologists said they spent a Friday afternoon reviewing her file and the recent literature and felt it had to be one of the two.  There is an emerging school of thought that Bartonella manifests in eye issues for cats.  Other thing could just be a viscious case of herpes.    They gave her a round of antibiotics to kill the Bartonella if there was any, and also a regimen of L-Lysine powder in her food for the herpes.  

Its hard to say what worked and what did what.  Her eyes have been amazing since that visit, although they still leak some liquid, they are not runny at all.   We still give her a dusting of lysine in every meal and that has worked better at controlling "flare-ups" than prescription anti-virals that we bought.   Once after a lot of big changes (moved houses, adopted new kitten, took 3 week vacation) her eye began to ooze more and the lids swole up a little.  We ran back to the opthamologist and they said it appeared viral due to stress.  We doubled the Lysine and she was clear in a week.  

I would try Lysine if you have not.  It cannot harm them, and your kitten may be fighting herpes (and something else).  Even our second kitten gets lysine now, despite any eye issues (it became too hard to separate their food dishes bc they like to swap every few bites).  The vet said its harmless and not to worry at all.

We use human L-Lysine in powder form (brand: NOW) and mix a fine dusting into their wet food.   They do make lysine chewies, but my cat loves wet/dry mix and cant taste the difference.  When the eye is REALLY runny, give her around 1000mg a day.   A tip though, it makes the food taste saltier to them, so dont mix with a bunch of tuna thinking she will inhale it, because its too salty for them that way. 
 
Top