Please Help. Eye Infection

[Craiginasia]

I have a 11 month mixed Persian kitten. He has had eye problems for at least 6 weeks. He has had small amounts of discharge until the last week now it has got worse and he does not want to open his eyes unless he needs to. We live on a small island in Indonesia and have no access to a vet. The one so called vet on the island keeps saying it's normal and told us to use hydrocortisone which seems to make it worse. We have been cleaning his eyes with local sirih leaves water which is a antiseptic. Please does anyone have some advice on what we can do. We are desperate.

 

[Anne]

Oh no. This doesn't sound good at all. This could be any number of things, including a viral infection, a bacterial infection or an issue with eyelashes or eyelids not developing properly and scratching the eye.

Unfortunately, no one here can diagnose your cat or suggest medical help. Is your vet an actual qualified vet? Did he or she even check the kitten's eyes? Can you somehow get the cat to a better vet on the mainland? This needs to be treated asap as there may be a simple solution that can save your cat's eyes.

The only other option I can think of - and it's far inferior to any qualified vet actually examining the eyes - is to contact an eye expert overseas and ask if they can work with good photos. Maybe they'll agree to an online consultation. Again, not very likely with eyes, but worth a shot. Start with 1-2 good quality photos and see how they react. Here are a couple I found by Googling, I'm sure there are dozens more out there -
Veterinary Eye Specialists - TheEyeVet.com
Animal Eye Care Specialist Clinic - San Francisco & San Carlos - Veterinary Vision

 

[maggiedemi]

What kind of hydrocortisone did you use? Some of those creams/ointments have a lot of extra ingredients that might not be safe for cats. I wouldn't use anything unless it says it is safe for cats. We can't give medical advice, but I used Terramycin on Demi's eyes. It's the only cat eye ointment that I know of that is available over the counter. He had runny eyes that dried to a brownish crust. I agree you should see a vet though, it could be something worse than Demi had.

 

[centerfire]

Has your baby had its kitten vaccinations? Eye infections could be start of certain cat diseases,if not up to date on shots.

 

[stephanietx]

Do you have access to green tea? You can steep a green tea bag and then allow the tea bag to cool. Apply to eye, if he'll let you leave it on. Otherwise, you can use the tea on a cloth to clean his eye.

 

[Craiginasia]

Thank you all for your advice. The vets and doctors alike in Indonesia are really not too reliable. For our own medical issues we prefer Dr. Google if it is a simple illness. The vet here works for the government but that means nothing here. She has never really examined the cats eyes which is why I reached out on here. I will try the terramycin if I can find it, for a few days and if no improvement I will see a vet on the mainland. We haven't pursued this option yet as it involves flying or a 2 day ferry. When we get there, there is no guarantee the vet will be any better. As far as we know her vaccines are up to date but I will check now to make sure as these were administered by the dodgy vet. Thanks for all your advice. We are Craig and Uchi the cat is Nonok. We are living in Belitung a small island between Sumatra and Borneo. Thanks guys.