Discloration at the Corners of the Eyes

[thegreystalker]

A possible companion for my kitten has gotten my attention.  He is a male British Shorthair presently at a local rescue shelter.  I have viewed only his photographs thus far but I would like advice before I decide whether or not to make the trip to visit him (my own cat was sheltered at another rescue operation when I adopted her).

The close-up of the British Shorthair's face reveals a dark spot in each inner corner of his eyes.  One appears to be a bit larger and darker than the other.  The narrative accompanying the photograph doesn't say anything about the eyes.  Could this be some kind of infection of the tear ducts or eyes?  The dark spots (actually, not very dark) are my only health concern right now.  This 7 month old fellow has tested negative for FIV-FELV.

Any thoughts?

 

[kirathecat]

Hi 

I don't think you can know for sure what it is until you take him to a vet and ask about that issue and maybe do some tests. It could be many many things besides eye infection, like allergies to the food, litter, something environmental or seasonal allergies or something else. Also since he is a british shorthair, excessive tearing could be due to the facial structure. 

When i brought my cat home from the shelter he had pretty bad eye discharge which almost cleared up in 1-2 weeks on its own. Later he had an upper respiratory infection and it caused his eyes to tear up more than usual, once that was treated his eyes became normal again but he still has about 1 mm tear stained fur in the inner corners probably due to allergies which i still try to pinpoint. But he never acted distressed about his eyes. All i do is clean the fur in the corners of his eyes with a cotton round and contact lenses solution. 

If you go visit the kitty look if he paws at his face or eyes. That might require veterinary help.

 

[thegreystalker]

I got a call from the foster home.  They said that the frequent discharge from the eyes has been there for months.  The cat has been examined by a vet but no infection other other malady was discovered.  The foster parent applies some sort of cream or ointment to the eyes but the poor guy still has visible stains in the corners of his eyes.  The vet gave him an otherwise clean bill of health.

 

[kirathecat]

I would say it's an allergy, but to what - is no easy task to determine 

First, what litter does the kitty use and what food do they feed him? Did the foster home try to switch those for him to see if it helps?

Litter could be dusty or scented and irritate his eyes and since he is using litter box every day it won't go away unless the litter is switched. He could have an allergy to grains in the food or a protein in the food - chicken, beef, fish, eggs and or preservatives they use. Or maybe it is something environmental - cleaning solutions, fragrances, disinfectants.

Maybe they should stop using the cream/ointment and see if it gets better on its own. The stains could still be there simply because they were never cleaned out (the protein buildup that is responsible for staining is hard to remove).

Since everything else is ok, I wouldn't care about the stains, people get Persian cats who almost always have tear stains and just clean their eyes daily and everybody is happy