why does my cat seem to have a lot of eye discharge?

[pawz]

Hello,

I have tried searching for possible answers here, however, none of the symptoms seem to match my cats.

He is going on three years old, I have no knowledge of his early "kittenhood" other than he was abused by his first family. We adopted him at about six months old. He has always been very odd around people (understandable), however, lately he has been allowing us to pet him and he has even been asking for attention.

We noticed that we have to wipe his eyes about twice a day - when he allows it- because of a hard brownish-red crust that forms on the inner corners of his eyes. The left eye is much worse than the right eye. The left one will be wiped twice daily while the right eye maybe once every two days. He does sneeze daily and often will keep his left eye closed, but he does not paw at it nor is he very vocal. He has been vaccinated, however, again not sure about his early kitten life.

He has been to the vet, but not since we noticed this issue a few months ago. ( I would love to take him to the vet, but our dog just had a very expensive surgery followed by several follow-up visits, and our other cat also was in several times due to a bladder infection. I know he should be seen, but seeing as how I have spent in the last six months over three thousand dollars in vet bills I truly cannot swing it unless it is truly an issue.)

My other cat does not have any eye issues.

I am not expecting a diagnosis, and again I know he needs to see a vet, however, I am just looking to see if anyone else has experienced this with their cat, and if it was a serious problem or if I can keep his eyes clean until I am able to get him to the vet. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you in advance

 

[taxido]

Please get him tested by the vet for the corona virus. Eye discharge and sneezing are symptoms of FIP. It may be nothing major but worth checking

 

[feralvr]

Sneezing and watery eyes is a symptom of the Herpes Virus. You could try adding L-Lysine - Mix with wet food. It is readily accepted by all cats when mixed with canned food. Start with 1/4 tsp. (500 mg.) twice daily for seven to ten days then you can go to 1/8 tsp. (250 mg.) twice daily for maintenance. I have two cats on Lysine. I would suggest trying this and Lysine is very safe to use. BUT, would also suggest as the very least taking your cat to the vet because IF there is a bacterial infection going on as secondary to the HPV (which is viral) then your cat needs antibiotics as well.

 

[vball91]

I would try the lysine as well. Feline herpes is very common and in most cats very manageable with lysine.

Oh, and there is no test for FIP. The corona virus may mutate into FIP, but many cats have the corona virus without it turning into FIP.

 

[maewkaew]

 Since feline herpes virus is a common cause of this, I agree about trying the L-Lysine powder mixed into wet food.    I have a cat who has trouble with feline herpes virus and that helps him.   usually give around 250 a day, or 500 every other day as a maintenance dose .  

My vet said to give 1000 mg / day for a cat having a bad flare up  -- or even 2000 mg a day if the cat will eat it.  You can't give so much as a long term maintenance dose, though.    

 If this doesn't work it could be due to another virus,  or a bacterial infection.  

 Also I second the comment that there is no test for FIP, and the vast majority of cats who have been exposed to corona virus and test positive for antibodies to it,  never have it mutate into the deadly FIP form.      There have been  some cats who have been most likely unnecessarily euthanized due to  labs who mislabel the FeCV test as a test for FIP,  and bad advice from vets who did not know the difference.    which I hope is just a small minority of vets!  

 

[pawz]

Thank you everyone for all of your advice, I really appreciate it ( and I know Bailey does as well ).  I will be doing a little research on L-Lysine and hopefully this will help until Bailey can be seen next month.