Squinty Eyes???

[farscapekitties]

Hey everyone, I have an issue I was hoping someone could help me with. My orange boy, Crichton, is around 7-8 months old, and is having some issues. On Halloween, he started showing some disturbing health signs. His eyes were starting to become squinty and sort of sink into his head, and his third eyelid was very exposed. He also was having completely liquid poop. He stayed at the vet for four days, had a complete blood panel (which came back fine), a fecal (again, normal), and for preventative measures was dewormed. The vet had no idea what was wrong, and sent him home as soon as he was having semi-formed poop.
And now...he's at it again, though his poop is more cow-patty like (to be fair, his poop has never become fully solid, and when I mentioned it to the vet two weeks ago they didn't seem concerned). But his eyes are starting to squint again, they look sort of red, and are sinking in. He is eating well, not gaining weight nor losing it. He is still very active with his brother D'Argo. I was just wondering if anyone had had anything similar happen to their furbaby? I just want my little guy to be okay! If it matters, he does tend to eat weird things; a week ago he puked up a ball of string, and tried to eat some floss. Even though he is still a healthy looking chunker, could he have an obstruction? His belly isn't tender when I feel it.
Hope someone can help! Thank you all!

 

[abyeb]

A common cause for the sunken eyeball is dehydration, so you need to be sure he’s drinking plenty of water. You could also make him an electrolyte solution: Cats and Dogs Naturally: Electrolyte Solution Recipe

Regarding the squinting, perhaps an eye injury, like a small scratch, could be the culprit. Have you taken him back to the vet after his symptoms flared up this time? You could always take him to another vet, to get a second opinion.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hey everyone, I have an issue I was hoping someone could help me with. My orange boy, Crichton, is around 7-8 months old, and is having some issues. ... If it matters, he does tend to eat weird things; a week ago he puked up a ball of string, and tried to eat some floss. Even though he is still a healthy looking chunker, could he have an obstruction? His belly isn't tender when I feel it.
Hope someone can help! Thank you all!

If his eating string is a recent thing (within the last week), I don't think it could hurt at all to go back to the vet and make sure he doesn't have any obstruction issues! You really have to be careful with kittens especially; they like to eat and chew on a lot of things. You have to "think like a cat", get down on their level and look around your house, removing any possible kitten hazards... you don't want them eating stuff that you could have easily put away, could have kept them from eating by removing it.

These are good links to read....
Cats And Hidden Dangers In The Home

and this long thread is actually really enlightening and helpful,
101 Things That Can Harm Your Cat

 

[farscapekitties]

Thank you for the replies. I don't think it's an eye injury, as it's simultaneously both eyes that the third eyelid partially covers sometimes.
As for the eating things, when he was a kitten he would nurse on a wool bed. I think I will take him to another vet - my current one just seems a bit too uninterested for me, because I dis mention it to them a week ago when I went to pay my bill. They didn't seem concerned or really interested at all.

 

[Blakeney Green]

The description of the squinting makes me wonder if your cat has entropion eyelids?

Entropion In Cats: An Odd Eye Deformation

If that is the case, it requires veterinary treatment.

 

[carebare]

Seems like it can be a lot of things. I would be monitoring him for dehydration. If there is not eye discharges, maybe he is showing his discomfort from colititis.

I am not sure if this will help, but maybe an allergy or food intolerance(?). My cat had conjunctivitis in both eyes along with bad diarrhea, and the vet wasn't sure what it was after running tests and some antibiotic (which did not really help). They prescribed food in case is was an allergy. You could see his pain in his eyes and posture. After I found the right diet, the diarrhea resolved pretty quickly, and his eyes are clearing up. He did have diarrhea today--but I inspected his poop, and see evidence that he ate some plants.

 

[farscapekitties]

His posture doesn't any pain- I mean he doesn't sit hunched with his head down. He's not dehydrated, I check him daily and be drinks a lot of water. His poop is soft, but his fecal came back fine. He has no discharge from his eyes or nose but he sneezes like crazy! His energy levels are fine, runs around like a maniac with his brother. Just those darn eyes.....

 

[carebare]

That's good that you are observant and ruling out possible causes. It's hard to know with cats. Sometimes it feels like I have to keep monitoring for clues to try to figure it out. With a lot of sneezing and squinty eyes, maybe something is irritating his sinus/eyes or he has a minor cold. It could be a lot of things. Do you use an unscented kitty litter?

 

[farscapekitties]

I use Arm & Hammer fragrance free. It works for my multiple cats. I thought of the litter, but even after I changed it he is still sneezy. Not wheezy though, so that's good. I just want to give up sometimes lol. Very frustrating.

 

[Ashley23]

Definitely try another vet that will actually do a proper eye exam, and if that doesn’t work see if they can refer you to an opthamologist , eye problems are very concerning and should be looked at ASAP