Bloody Eye Discharge?

PawprintsOnMyHeart

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I have a cat that regularly has eye discharge but this morning, the discharge was red and bloody(?). She had conjunctivitis a month ago and I gave her eye drops for a week, afterwards the yellow/green discharge stopped and she stopped squinting the infected eye (which was a different eye than the eye this discharge came from). Should I take her to the vet? Should I use the eye drops again? What could cause this?
 

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Don't start the Rx drops again - that could 'mask' whatever might be going on and make a diagnosis difficult/impossible.

Regular (periodic/ongoing) eye discharge - clear discharge - would suggest to me that a low-grade herpes flare is brewing. IF that's what it is, then I would either put her on (ongoing) low-dose L-lysine - or, use it periodically as a "pulse" treatment. Your Vet should be able to advise you about this. What's on your finger, apart from the blood droplet, looks like yellowish-brown....that colour tint comes from blood cells, I think....greenish would indicate infection. (If you were to use lysine and the discharge stop, then you have a pretty good indication that it's herpes. Again, involve your Vet.)

Is there any sign of squinting now?

If it were bothering her, she may have broken the skin in that area with her paw - accounting for the blood.

What you can use safely and won't confuse a diagnosis is plain (non-medicated) ophthalmic gel - it simply lubricates the eye and that will reduce irritation for her as well as reduce the chances of further complication - it will do nothing for any type of infection, though. Here's the one I use: Bausch - Liposic Ophthalmic Gel. Your pharmacist can advise for choice.

When it comes to the eyes, it's safest to have her seen.
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PawprintsOnMyHeart

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Don't start the Rx drops again - that could 'mask' whatever might be going on and make a diagnosis difficult/impossible.

Regular (periodic/ongoing) eye discharge - clear discharge - would suggest to me that a low-grade herpes flare is brewing. IF that's what it is, then I would either put her on (ongoing) low-dose L-lysine - or, use it periodically as a "pulse" treatment. Your Vet should be able to advise you about this. What's on your finger, apart from the blood droplet, looks like yellowish-brown....that colour tint comes from blood cells, I think....greenish would indicate infection. (If you were to use lysine and the discharge stop, then you have a pretty good indication that it's herpes. Again, involve your Vet.)

Is there any sign of squinting now?

If it were bothering her, she may have broken the skin in that area with her paw - accounting for the blood.

What you can use safely and won't confuse a diagnosis is plain (non-medicated) ophthalmic gel - it simply lubricates the eye and that will reduce irritation for her as well as reduce the chances of further complication - it will do nothing for any type of infection, though. Here's the one I use: Bausch - Liposic Ophthalmic Gel. Your pharmacist can advise for choice.

When it comes to the eyes, it's safest to have her seen.
.
No, she is not squinting now. Should I take her to the vet asap or wait to see if she has more bloody discharge tomorrow?
 

neely

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My little 4 year old girl foxy has a runny eye problem, it is a reddish brown discharge but it’s not blood. It went away after awhile, but now that we’ve brought 4 new kittens into the home, with new germs and a bit of stress on her part, she’s getting a runny eye again. Vet has told me it’s normal. If a different color was coming out, then it’s not ok. More thank likely it is respiratory related, herpes virus. You can give them Llysine cat treats every day. It helps.
 
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PawprintsOnMyHeart

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Yesterday morning she had some dark/red discharge from her left eye too, though this one was hard and not wet like the other. I took her to the vet yesterday and he said he didn’t see any signs of conjunctivitis or infection, but that there was a small scab on the inner corner of her right eye that he believes caused the red discharge.
7C1ED117-5620-4DF5-BC71-FEF67D0DB251.jpeg

This is her right eye this morning. As you can see, she has some dark discharge around the bottom of her eye. The fur by the corner of her eye just looks wet because I applied some antibacterial ointment the vet gave me. The small amount of discharge along the bottom is worrying so I’ll have to keep an eye on it. The vet has a lot of experience and seemed to know what he was doing and I asked plenty of questions so I really hope it clears up and is just a scratch. He doesn’t believe it is feline herpes, which had been a concern of mine, because she hasn’t ever displayed any of the other common symptoms that he typically sees (sneezing, nasal discharge, etc.) but again, I’ll be keeping an eye out for symptoms of this as well until I’m convinced she doesn’t have it.

I want to trust his diagnosis and I want it to be right, but I don’t know. She definitely has a small scratch/scab, but I’m not sure if this is a “red herring” kind of thing, because I don’t see the scratch in the picture I took two days ago when the discharge was there? Maybe I’m being paranoid...
86F0586B-EA51-4E4E-AEC2-7AA2C5C7F2C5.jpeg

(picture from 2 days ago)
 

Azazel

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I honestly don't know. If you're having doubts you can always take her to a different vet for a second opinion. Try to see if you have a cats only vet in your area.
 

neely

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I guess what I’m asking is, does this sound like an accurate diagnosis to you guys? Srwheeler Srwheeler neely neely white shadow white shadow A Azazel
I honestly wish we could help by giving you a definitive answer but we are not vets and don't have the compulsory medical expertise. You mentioned your vet has a lot of experience and knows what he's doing so if you trust him and have confidence in his abilities then keep him updated about your concerns. However, if you don't see any improvement by all means feel free to get a second opinion whether from another vet or a veterinary ophthalmology specialist.

Please keep us posted, best of luck! :alright:
 

CatLover49

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I have a cat that regularly has eye discharge but this morning, the discharge was red and bloody(?). She had conjunctivitis a month ago and I gave her eye drops for a week, afterwards the yellow/green discharge stopped and she stopped squinting the infected eye (which was a different eye than the eye this discharge came from). Should I take her to the vet? Should I use the eye drops again? What could cause this?
Take her to the vet
..Absolutely
 

CatLover49

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I guess what I’m asking is, does this sound like an accurate diagnosis to you guys?
Srwheeler Srwheeler neely neely white shadow white shadow A Azazel
I guess what I’m asking is, does this sound like an accurate diagnosis to you guys?
Srwheeler Srwheeler neely neely white shadow white shadow A Azazel
It doesn't seem accurate to me
..Anytime you question whether the VET found whats really wrong and you are concerned about ure kitty...I would definitely get a second opinion and some test...Thats exactly what I did awhile back with my boy...He was having discharge from one eye only...Did bloodwork...Skin scraping....And the Second VET diagnosed him (clinically)with feline herpes...But to this day...Dont know for sure thats really what it was....Hes better..knock on wood...Thank the Lord...And when I gave him Lysine it made it worse...So stopped it..Ure cat may tolerate lysine though..my boy is 11yrs..hes a senior...So that makes a difference I believe
..Good luck with ure kitty..and please let us know what happens
 
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PawprintsOnMyHeart

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It doesn't seem accurate to me
..Anytime you question whether the VET found whats really wrong and you are concerned about ure kitty...I would definitely get a second opinion and some test...Thats exactly what I did awhile back with my boy...He was having discharge from one eye only...Did bloodwork...Skin scraping....And the Second VET diagnosed him (clinically)with feline herpes...But to this day...Dont know for sure thats really what it was....Hes better..knock on wood...Thank the Lord...And when I gave him Lysine it made it worse...So stopped it..Ure cat may tolerate lysine though..my boy is 11yrs..hes a senior...So that makes a difference I believe
..Good luck with ure kitty..and please let us know what happens
As far as the feline herpes goes, this vet visit was the second opinion. The first vet we took her to a month ago treated her for conjunctivitis and said this was possibly a case of feline herpes but that she wasn't sure. She was a young vet, so this time I went to an older vet to see what he had to say. I figured he has probably seen plenty of cases of feline herpes in his career, and he had good reviews online. As far as him saying he did not believe she had feline herpes, I would be inclined to trust his opinion if I weren't less than 100% convinced that this current eye discharge issue may have been wrongly diagnosed. My thinking is that if this cut didn't cause the red discharge, which I'm not certain it did because I'm not convinced she even had this cut two days ago when the discharge appeared AND the same discharge came from the left eye the next morning and he didn't se see a cut on the left eye, then what is causing it?

I wish so badly that they could just definitively say whether or not she has feline herpes. I've heard the only test they have is expensive and unreliable.
 

CatLover49

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As far as the feline herpes goes, this vet visit was the second opinion. The first vet we took her to a month ago treated her for conjunctivitis and said this was possibly a case of feline herpes but that she wasn't sure. She was a young vet, so this time I went to an older vet to see what he had to say. I figured he has probably seen plenty of cases of feline herpes in his career, and he had good reviews online. As far as him saying he did not believe she had feline herpes, I would be inclined to trust his opinion if I weren't less than 100% convinced that this current eye discharge issue may have been wrongly diagnosed. My thinking is that if this cut didn't cause the red discharge, which I'm not certain it did because I'm not convinced she even had this cut two days ago when the discharge appeared AND the same discharge came from the left eye the next morning and he didn't se see a cut on the left eye, then what is causing it?

I wish so badly that they could just definitively say whether or not she has feline herpes. I've heard the only test they have is expensive and unreliable.
Exactly..This is the same issue I had with my VET..was the test wasnt reliable...So what HAVE I done is finished up the antibiotic ..which was a compounded at the pharmacy...Which mind you was months ago...Not sure think it was Famciviclor...And kept stress levels down...And hes gotten better..So I do understand ure frustration of NOT KNOWING...Whats causing it or what it is...Snowball was clinically diagnosed..not tested
..Cause VET said the test wasnt reliable...which makes no sense..
 
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