Eye discharge?

[Krienze]

I'm so sorry. I feel like lately I have one emergency after another with my cats and they usually clear up right away, so I tried to wait about posting this one because it didn't feel emergent but I'm starting to worry.

For the past few days, Sammy's had some discharge in his right eye. He's been squinting it a bit, every so often it looks like MAYBE its doing better, but then doesn't. I looked at it and to the best of my knowledge, I don't SEE any wounds (first thought was maybe Jasper got him while playing)

It's leaking watery stuff, no real gunk, or if there is it's been minimal.

Any suggestions? I'm hesitant to call my vet because I know they are swamped right now =(

He's eating & drinking, and if I bust out the laser he'll play. He'll also romp around with Jasper, so I'm not sure if it impacts anything with him.

 

[di and bob]

It most likely is feline herpes which causes eye discharge. But it also could be allergies or a small scratch. No matter what it is as long as the discharge is clear it is viral or an injury. If it turns yellow or white and gets worse it has turned into a bacterial infection and would need an eye ointment from the vet. if you call the vet and they cannot see you, see if you can E-mail them pictures or if they will give you a prescription so you can order it online from a site like foster and smith or petmeds. For now, I would gently wipe the eye with a warm, wet piece of cloth that you can wash and bleach, I cut up an old tea towel, to get him used to you messing with his eye. do it several times a day and he will quickly learn it is a soothing thing. To apply an ointment, gently pull down on the lower eyelid to form a 'pocket' and apply a thin ribbon of ointment in there. his blinking will spread it. On kittens that would not stand for that, I just applied some across the junction of the closed lids and even that helped. Good Luck.......

 

[MissClouseau]

Eye Discharge in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost - I will leave this here.

If there is no sneezing and no discharge from the nose, and the discharge is watery, I would say it's unlikely that would be a URI but more likely to be the other options like an object like dust in the eye, pink eye, or allergies. You could try eye drops for cats if you can find one.

 

[stephanietx]

If the drainage is clear, it's nothing to be too concerned about unless he is rubbing it with his paw or it's constantly wet around the eye. Also, if he continues to squint, that's cause for concern. If the discharge is discolored and yellow or green or white, then he needs to get to the vet.

 

[Krienze]

He seems to be leaving it alone for the most part.

It looked gunky but when I wiped it, it was clear (his fur is black around his eyes for the most part so I misjudged the color, it's DEF clear)

His eye seems a little better today (because I swear they know when I finally get stressed out and go ask the internet for help) but he's still squinting it. He doesn't really hold still long enough for me to get a good -good- look though =(

 

[stephanietx]

It could very well be seasonal allergies. It's that time of the year in Texas when the great pollenation happens and my kitties usually respond with watery eyes, sneezing, and maybe even a flare of asthma.

 

[Krienze]

So as soon as his eye starts to clear up, we get hit with another situation that I'm really not sure what to do with.

Because of the pandemic, it's not possible to take him to the vet and I'm so stressed out about that.

He's been moody, never attacking (he's not a mean cat by any means) but he hissed at my mother when she scratched at the base of his tail. Now, he's never liked his tail/near his butt rubbed. He's never liked his stomach rubbed for that matter either. But I'm starting to wonder if he's in pain? I rubbed his stomach when he was standing, jostled his belly and applied pressure and he's not hard and gave no meow cries, so I doubt it's UTI related. He's eating, drinking water, walking, and his gums look nice and pink. But if I touch one of his back paws or the base of his tail, he meows and pulls away. He's laying down a lot, but he's always kind of done that. He was just running around with Jasper last night so I don't think he's being lethargic.

Ever since CiCi passed I haven't trusted my judgement. I can't tell what is okay and what I should worry about, if I should worry or if i'm just being paranoid (as i'm sure ya'll have noticed by my OCD worried posts x.x)

Is it possible he just hurt himself?

I had a cat die of a brain aneurysm so behavior changes terrify me. But I guess if he hurt himself it would explain why he's so moody about his back tail and legs being touched =(

thoughts?