Eye Discharge - Epiphora or Something Else?

Graceful-Lily

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Fayola's eyes have been running a thick mucus like substance since I captured her this July.

It's not as bad as it was when I took her in but it hasn't stopped.

When she was at the vet, she did receive a round of antibiotics but it hasn't helped with her eyes at all. The vet didn't really say anything about it either.

Her tears are a reddish brown colour. It reminds me of the tear stains my previous dog had which is normal for his breed.

Fayola is complete fine and normal otherwise. It's just that her eyes keep running and I have to wipe them constantly.

Do cats with a certain skeletal structure suffer from this? She has a very petite build and a small nose.

Any and all advice is appreciate as always.

Thank you!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I thought epiphora caused extra watering of an eye - due to anything from facial anatomy to other structural issues to insufficient drainage of the tear duct to other more serious conditions. However, I don't remember ever reading anything about it being a mucus like substance...I could be wrong.

Have you had a detailed discussion with your vet about it? If not, start there. I heard that one of the simplest tests to assess tear drainage is to place a drop of fluorescein stain in the eye, hold the cat’s head slightly downward, and watch for drainage into the nose. If the drainage system is functioning normally, the eye stain should be seen in the nose within a matter of a couple of minutes. If not, it doesn't mean a blocked duct, but it would warrant further investigation.

Perhaps you would consider asking your vet about recommending a feline ophthalmologist?
 

Mamanyt1953

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ALL of what FeebysOwner FeebysOwner said, as well as possible chronic dry eye. I can tell you from personal experience that dry eye causes copious amounts of mucus to be produced by the eyes. And it happens in cats, as well as humans. Entropion is also possible, but unlikely.
 

Mare333

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Hi, my cat Lucy sometimes has some substance running from one of her eyes. One of my friends suggested an old method to get rid of this. Brew a really strong tea, get a cotton swab and wet it in the tea you made. Then wash away the mucus around the cat's eye. Repeat this procedure about 3 times a day for a week. It helped Lucy, though her mucus was not that heavy, it was certainly not water but not pus either. Hope this helps. Let us know.
 

sivyaleah

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I think it's conjunctivitis. I forgot to call the vet but I managed to inspect the inside lining of her eyes and it's swollen.

What is the usual treatment for this condition?
Our kitten was given terramycin in a gel form, which was applied 2x a day for 10 days. It's easier if you have 2 people to administer it but I managed a few times myself when my husband wasn't around to help. Our kitten has runny eyes from a cold that kept gunking up badly every day to the point where it was forming a crust along the inner eyes every morning. The terramycin worked well. It's been a few weeks and it has not returned.
 
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Graceful-Lily

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Hi, my cat Lucy sometimes has some substance running from one of her eyes. One of my friends suggested an old method to get rid of this. Brew a really strong tea, get a cotton swab and wet it in the tea you made. Then wash away the mucus around the cat's eye. Repeat this procedure about 3 times a day for a week. It helped Lucy, though her mucus was not that heavy, it was certainly not water but not pus either. Hope this helps. Let us know.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will make a note of this and try it if the eye drops don't work. She took the eye drops well so I will try to get 1 drop in each eye twice a day for a week.

Our kitten was given terramycin in a gel form, which was applied 2x a day for 10 days. It's easier if you have 2 people to administer it but I managed a few times myself when my husband wasn't around to help. Our kitten has runny eyes from a cold that kept gunking up badly every day to the point where it was forming a crust along the inner eyes every morning. The terramycin worked well. It's been a few weeks and it has not returned.
I wanted to get a tube of terramycin gel but at the time, the rescue wouldn't give it to me. I'd have to talk to her vet and get some if the eye drops don't work. I'm glad the terramycin gel worked for you! 😊
 

sivyaleah

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Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will make a note of this and try it if the eye drops don't work. She took the eye drops well so I will try to get 1 drop in each eye twice a day for a week.


I wanted to get a tube of terramycin gel but at the time, the rescue wouldn't give it to me. I'd have to talk to her vet and get some if the eye drops don't work. I'm glad the terramycin gel worked for you! 😊
Like I mentioned it was a bit tricky because you have to apply it to the bottom inner side of the lid and let the gel kind of melt into the eye on it's own. Our Luna was not pleased and we had to resort to wrapping her a few times to get her paws out of the way of us applying it. The vet said that it was ok to use our finger to apply it even though the tube said to run the tip of it around lid (but not to get it on the eye). It was a lot easier although maybe not as much made it into her eye. Regardless, we did it consistently that way for the 10 days and it still worked so I suppose it was enough. Hopefully the vet will give you that or another similar medication which will work. Eye issues usually can be resolved fairly quickly once the right course of action is met. Good luck!
 
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Graceful-Lily

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Shorty after I dropped the solution into her eyes, her eyes started to clear up. She's opening them more now and there isn't any discharge so far. I'll continue this for a week.

I think the reason the conjunctivitis keeps coming back is because she has FIV. So, It'll probably never go away completely.
 

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Shorty after I dropped the solution into her eyes, her eyes started to clear up. She's opening them more now and there isn't any discharge so far. I'll continue this for a week.

I think the reason the conjunctivitis keeps coming back is because she has FIV. So, It'll probably never go away completely.
Good news, hope it works out.
 

sivyaleah

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Shorty after I dropped the solution into her eyes, her eyes started to clear up. She's opening them more now and there isn't any discharge so far. I'll continue this for a week.

I think the reason the conjunctivitis keeps coming back is because she has FIV. So, It'll probably never go away completely.
OH YAY! That's great. Continue with it as written, hopefully it will clear up for now. But yes, I do believe having FIV makes them more susceptible to repeated eye infections. At least if this works, you'll have a "go to" for the next time it happens.
 
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Graceful-Lily

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Update: Fayola's eyes have gotten so much better since I started dropping in the eye drops. It took a few weeks but they are no longer leaking like before.

Should I continue to drop the eye drops in her eyes or just cut back to once a week now?
 
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Graceful-Lily

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Update: Just came back from a vet appointment for Fayola. They did a test for FIV and the results came back negative. The vet told me she has herpes. They gave me antibiotics for her sick eye and some Lysine chews but she said other than that, there isn't anything they can do.

It's a bit cold outside so as soon as we got home and I released her, she ran to lay down on top of the heater! :lol: I thought that was cute. Everyone loved her at the clinic because she's so tiny -only 6lb. Everyone was calling her 'Sweetie' and I told them her nickname is 'Sweet Girl'.
 

sivyaleah

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Update: Just came back from a vet appointment for Fayola. They did a test for FIV and the results came back negative. The vet told me she has herpes. They gave me antibiotics for her sick eye and some Lysine chews but she said other than that, there isn't anything they can do.

It's a bit cold outside so as soon as we got home and I released her, she ran to lay down on top of the heater! :lol: I thought that was cute. Everyone loved her at the clinic because she's so tiny -only 6lb. Everyone was calling her 'Sweetie' and I told them her nickname is 'Sweet Girl'.
That's great news! Glad to hear that helped and that she's not FIV positive. You must be very relieved! Our girl tested negative for everything but the vet suspects that she may still be positive for herpes and that she just wasn't shedding the virus when they ran the test. I had her run a tear duct test and it actually came up that one was kind of clogged, so we're going to see a specialist early February to assess her and see where we go from here. She gave me another tube of Terramycin but I'm kind of loathe to keep using it just in case it's not bacterial. Til we go to the other doctor, I've just been keeping her eyes clean with a soft cloth and warm water daily - and picking out dried gunk gently with my finger. She's not thrilled LOL but luckily it's not affecting how she feels about me :)
 
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