# Kitten with eye infection



## flutemandolin (Aug 13, 2003)

We have a mother cat and three week old kitten living in our tool shed. For the past few days I've noticed one of the kitten's eyes is stuck closed; occasionally the mother will lick it and it will open for a while then get stuck again. I suspect an eye infection. Is there anything I can do for it, or will the mama cat's grooming help it naturally? I've heard for conjunctivitis in humans, breast milk applied to the eye helps...maybe I should grab the mama cat and squeeze its teat in the kitten's face! :haha: Sounds like a good way to get scratched! :no:


----------



## OUVickie (Mar 8, 2003)

I had that happen to two kittens. I used buffered eye solution and washed their eyes daily for about a week. It worked great and was cheaper than running them to the Vet.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

See if you can get mama to eat some good groceries with extra vitamins. I've noticed cats (especially kittens) will get conjunctivitis when their nutrition is poor. If that doesn't work you can try catching them and flushing the eyes, but you'll prob never catch them again.


----------



## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

A damp wash rag ,use warm water and gently wipe the eye this helps but will need to be repeated for a while.


----------



## Guest (Jun 8, 2004)

If you have LA 200 around the farm just draw some out into a syringe, and using the end of the syringe, ( minus the needle) squirt some right into the eye.
Excellent for pinkeye in cows too.


----------



## Gayle in LA (Sep 6, 2002)

<<<<<<<Cat vet here, so I don't know anything and you should probably ignore me...........You need to clean that eye up and get the eyelid open so the (likely) pus under the eyelid can drain. This kitten is at high risk for permanent eye damage or even loss of the eye. If you can't get to a vet, try to get ahold of some Tetracycline or Erythromycin eye ointment and put some in 3 times a day after cleaning. Good luck!


----------



## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Gayle, I always use a warm tea bag compress. It's always worked for me, is this a reasonable approach or is it just an old wives tale?


----------



## HarleysMom (Apr 20, 2004)

I have used neosporin on my animal's eye infections.


----------



## babetteq (Jun 7, 2004)

wr said:


> Gayle, I always use a warm tea bag compress. It's always worked for me, is this a reasonable approach or is it just an old wives tale?


Nope, teabags are great. Black tea (like red rose or other orange pekoe blends) warm and wet. you cna use them as a 'sponge' to clean away the infected area, and then, for about 15 minutes, four times a day press a warm tea bag to the infected area. Often you can avoid the use of antibiotics using teabags and sometimes they work where antibiotics fail in my experience. My dentist also suggests people use them on mouth infections.... and he's got doctor schoolin'...


----------



## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

my kittens always get that... i keep a tupe of eye ointment the vet sold me on hand, it clears it up in a week at most. leave it for mom to fix and youll have blind kittens.


----------



## fin29 (Jun 4, 2003)

I think the erythromycin eye ointment is a great thing to have around. I keep people-strength (just ask your doc-they'll write a prescription or better yet, give you a sample  ) around, and if I need it for an animal, I just wash my hands very well, squeeze the amount on a Q-tip to prevent contamination of the product, and apply it with my finger or the Q-tip.


----------



## flutemandolin (Aug 13, 2003)

Thanks for the advice! I'll try a combination of the ideas and let you know how it works. Mama cat is eating some of the best cat food around but I think she was undernourished during her pregnancy. I've also heard chamomile tea is good for an eye wash. 

What would I do without the helpful folks here? :worship:


----------



## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

babetteq, that's exactly how I use them


----------



## Sandra Nelson (Oct 12, 2002)

At the same time you treat those kittens in the eye, worm them and treat them and their mother for coccidia (a teaspoon of deccox granules in a six ounce can of kitty food works great for one shot treatment of coccidia). I've noticed that farm cats and kittens often have a parasite load and that can add to the weepy eye, sickly kitten routine.


----------



## Sherri C (Jun 21, 2002)

I have 3 kittens who had the same problem. Two of them had one eye stuck shut and the other had both eyes stuck shut. I bought some eyewash solution from the petstore and put a couple of drops on each eye to soften up the gunk, then I cleaned it away with a q-tip (fresh q-tip for each eye). I've been doing that 2-3 times a day. It's been a little over a week and all the eyes are now open and staying that way. I also gave them a good dose of probiotics.


----------



## flutemandolin (Aug 13, 2003)

Sherri C- what form of probiotics do you use? How do you give it to them? 

An update- last night I talked to the neighbors across the road and it turns out they've been wondering where the mother cat was-she's the woman's favorite cat! So she came over to see the cat and kitten while I was away doing an errand, and when I came back she had cleaned the kitten's eye and it looked fine. I could tell she had been missing her cat and I felt kind of bad that I had kept it so long without telling them! I've just been too busy to stop by there and chat. They're kind hearted people but a bit slow. So when the kitten weans we will return the mama cat but maybe keep the kitten.


----------



## humminbird (Jun 2, 2004)

Buy a bottle of boric acid at Walmart...mom always treated us and the farm animals with a solution of boric acid in warm water and it clears it right up. The directions on are the bottle and I always used a cotton ball saturated to wipe the eyes three times a day...works and its cheap!

Humminbird

[


----------



## Gayle in LA (Sep 6, 2002)

I can't imagine what earthly good a teabag on the eyelid would do to help in an abvious infection like this sounds like. Erythromycin ointment, Terramycin ointment, or in a real pinch Neosporin (but the neomycin can cause some inflammation) are your best bet, and get to a VET ASAP.


----------



## humminbird (Jun 2, 2004)

Gayle in LA said:


> I can't imagine what earthly good a teabag on the eyelid would do to help in an abvious infection like this sounds like. Erythromycin ointment, Terramycin ointment, or in a real pinch Neosporin (but the neomycin can cause some inflammation) are your best bet, and get to a VET ASAP.


The tea contains tannin...natural "drawing" agent and anti-inflammatory...what aspirin contains!


----------



## Q_Links (Jun 11, 2002)

I've got kittens going through this now and I've had some in the past with it. Make absolutely sure the antibiotic ointment does NOT contain a steroid. I've used an ointment from the vet and one from Rural King with equally good results. I've also had 2 kitties who have lost an eye from infection, so it's nothing to play around with. The cost of meds is maybe $10 to $30 if you go to a vet. The cost of the kitten losing an eye is about $180 to $200. Susan


----------



## Gayle in LA (Sep 6, 2002)

The tea contains tannin...natural "drawing" agent and anti-inflammatory...what aspirin contains!


A "natural drawing agent" (whatever THAT is) on the eyelid will not do any good for an infection of the eye itself. And FYI, aspirin is a toxin in cats so something like aspirin is not necessarily a good thing.

As I said, I am only a cat veterinarian with 22 years in practice, so I must admit I am by definition completely ignorant of all things medical and must defer to folks promoting home remedies.


----------



## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Gayle, your imput is nice and always welcome but do you really think that the snarky tone associated with it will help your cause. I respect your cause and I have a lot of respect for your occupation but when you start using that high handed tone you are only going to put more people off using vets. Who wants to go to a clinic and be told that they are morons. My teabag remedy was recomended by my vet, and lord knows he's only been practicing for 25 years, so it's not like he'd really know anything. He encourages home treatment (after discussion with him) on minor situations because he feels that most folks will only spend so much a year on vet care and he'd rather see an animal treated under vet supervision, as quickly as possible rather than defering treatment till payday.


----------



## evilbunny (Apr 18, 2004)

Gayle

I go to my vet nearly monthly. The clinic here employes several vets. Its not a small podunk place that would promote remedies that would not work. 

A few things that you have forgotten in your upset mood, 

1. Over use of antibiotics leads to immunity to those antibiotics. Meaning when that kitten really needs the anitbiotics...they probably wont work as well.

2. There are many "natural" "herbal" antibodies available and tea has some of them. 

3. There is more than ONE way to heal things.

4. A varied approach is often better than a closed minded one. 

5. Some of these "home remedies" have been around for more years than your vet medicines have been. If you look into the current/recent findings, many of them are being proven to be more effective than the drugs being promoted by the drug companies.

6. Your attitude really puts people off. I hope you are this abrasive in your practice when someone doesnt embrace your recommendations. I sure would be finding a new vet if you were that way.

Look into the new findings. Open your mind a bit. 

The reference to "like aspirin" was meant as that ... the key word is LIKE ... not IS...

Attacking posts just chap my hide, so what if you've had _ _ years of schooling, you are not any better than anyone else here and the closed mind thing really lowers you in my eyes... but then I'm just a no one with no vet school, only grew up raising animals all my life, worked with pets, livestock and poultry..... none of us would know any better than you. Should we bow or is a curtsy ok? Get over yourself.


----------



## countrygrrrl (Aug 4, 2003)

evilbunny said:


> Gayle
> 
> Attacking posts just chap my hide, so what if you've had _ _ years of schooling, you are not any better than anyone else here and the closed mind thing really lowers you in my eyes... but then I'm just a no one with no vet school, only grew up raising animals all my life, worked with pets, livestock and poultry..... none of us would know any better than you. Should we bow or is a curtsy ok? Get over yourself.


Huh????? :no: 

I really respect Gayle in LA. She's offered invaluable advice on these forums to lots of people, including me. So she's a vet and her approach isn't your thing --- so what? 

What's really going on here?


----------



## Desert Drifter (Feb 5, 2003)

Hope it is safe for an old man to step in here with my .02.Don't want to get scratched or clawed.Anyway i have several barn cats and everytime there are kittens born i have the same problem.After they get older the problem goes away.I went to the vet. and told her the problem and she gave me a small tube of perscription salve with the name on the tube"Vedco".It isn't cheap though at seven dollars but really works.First you have to clean their eyes good and get the scabs off the eyelids and the pus out of their eyes.After about three days of treatment morning and evening they are pretty much better.The paper that comes with the medicine says"neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates and bacitracin zinc ophthalmic ointment".From all the above posts you have quite a few remidies to try,this is just one more suggestion.


----------



## Guest (Jun 13, 2004)

Cheers to gayle and countrygrrl - 
I'm grateful for well informed posts.
I also can completely understand gayle hedging her advice, what with all the advise that flies around here in complete disregard for (let's face it) actual information.
Do you know there is a post about whether folks on these sites are liars?
Most folks are really great, and helpful, but I would be grateful for as much sound advise as possible. Trying something once and not having anything die is not sound advise.


----------



## Manny (Dec 26, 2003)

If you do a "google" search for "Fishmox" you will find a source of "Amoxicillin" which works wonders for a number of cat ailments. We have used it to clear up the bacterial sinus infections in kittens that cause these eye problems, sometimes in just a matter of hours. If you have multiple cats you will have multiple fights and skin abscesses are the usual result-----Fishmox will clear them up too.


----------



## humminbird (Jun 2, 2004)

Hey! didn't mean to start WW3 here. I'm new to the forum and sorry, Gayle but I didn't realise you were a vet, although I have to tell you that here in MO our vets have and do recommend boric acid water for eye troubles. Its not a "home remedy"...its sold in the "drug" isle at Walmart and it really does work, on kittens AND kids!! Guess you wouldn't recommend my homemade salve though for removing cysts from goats, huh? 

I certainly won't knock the vet practice...if I could afford them I might use one more often, but around here we had to learn how to survive and save and vet bills is one area, much like the doctor's office, we've tried to avoid if at all possible. We have an excellant vet in our area, who knows and appreciates the fact that not all folks can afford high dollar treatments for their animals. He also knows which "home remedies" work and which ones don't and saves a lot of folks the extra cost by suggesting those if its practical...makes him real popular too! 
He also doesn't hesitate to research someone's remedy if they're using it and it works...open mindedness is an asset in rural areas. 

It wasn't my intention to offend, it appeared to me you didn't understand the concept of the tea bag and I offered to explain why it might be a usable product. It also appears you didn't understand "drawing agent, whatever that means"...perhaps the spelling is wrong on the word draw...maybe its drough, forgive my hillbilly usage, (around here we say draw!) but I simply meant it pulls the infection to the "surface" and draws/droughs it out! I didn't think I wrote it in a nasty tone, or implied you were stupid and unknowledgable of practical things. Considering the way you came back at ME though, it must of came across that way, so I guess I owe you an apology.


----------



## MoonShine (Mar 17, 2003)

I usually put cow's milk on the kittens eyes,The mother will then happily clean them 
If that doesn't clear them up after a few days,then I use a salve I bought from the vet.

Just my two cents though.


----------



## Sherri C (Jun 21, 2002)

flutemandolin said:


> Sherri C- what form of probiotics do you use? How do you give it to them?


It's called Bene-Bac and I got it at the pet store, it was next to the feline milk replacement and bottles. It comes in little tubes, you just snip off the end and then squirt it into the kittens's mouth. It was a little bit of a fight, but I managed to get most of it down. :haha: 

Is it possible to buy an antibiotic ointment suitable for feline use over the counter? The local vet charges an arm and a leg for a visit, and since I now have 12 cats that need to be spayed/neutered in the next few weeks I need to save my pennies.


----------



## leaping leon (Jun 10, 2004)

We rescued an adorable part Siamese about four years ago, a delightful cat. He was only abou three weeks old when we took him in, and had a bad eye infection. We took him to our vet, but it spred to two or three of our other cats, and after the second or third round of antibiotic for two or three cats the vet told us it was chlamydia!!! He sold me a much stronger antibiotic and we finally had it cured. No regrets, we named him Baby and he is one of the most gentle cats I have ever met. He even adopted a litter of three kittens a couple of years ago, even let them nurse a little! (But he's not gay.)

Point is, please, please, please wash your hands thoroughly every time you handle this kitten. And if the methods our fellow subcribers suggest don't work in a reasonable amount of time, take it to the vet.

PS I hope this vet didn't lie to me about it being chlamydia...I haven't read about this disease affecting cats...it sure did scare me, I have three children and I sure don't want any of us to lose any of our sight


----------



## Gayle in LA (Sep 6, 2002)

I don't know how to paste comments in here to reply to so I will do my best not to confuse.

Regarding teabags as a drawing agent.........I am familiar with the concept, which is an excellent one if you were, say, trying to treat an abscessed bite wound in a cat and get it to break open to drain. But something like this is of no help with neonatal conjunctivitis which is probably what is going on with the kitten in question. An eyelid infection is not an eye infection. And always remember that you DO NOT get second chances with eye problems. If you don't treat certain eye problems (such as corneal ulcers or lacerations) aggressively and promptly with appropriate medications you can lose the eye PDQ. Medical fact here, not internet rumor or old wive's tale.

Regarding use of antibiotics and resistance (NOT CALLED IMMUNITY)............bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics, so we try not to misuse them. An eye problem often requires antibiotics to resolve it either due to a primary infection, or in the case of trauma, a secondary infection. This does not constitute misuse. Use of ophthalmic antibiotics in pet cats is not where our worldwide danger of antibiotic-resistant bacteria comes from........you have excessive and indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock feed and third-world misuse in humans to blame for that. Topical antibiotics as used in the eye are not going to get into the gastrointestinal tract in quantities sufficient to make the animal's GI bacteria resistant to that antibiotic. The animal itself is NOT GOING TO "become immune to the antibiotic"!!!!!! The animal is already "immune" to the antibiotic and that's why only the bacteria die, and not the animal in question. Resistance is the proper term anyway.

You all can take this for what it's worth. I have a DVM with 22 years experience and before that I got a BS in Microbiology. So I do know what I am talking about. Oh, and for those of you who took my facetiousness for nastiness............I am not going to dignify YOUR nastiness with a response. This sort of BS is why I don't often offer advice. And either I get called an evil greedy vet for telling it like it is, or I get called ignorant by those with NO medical education. Sheesh. Vet school is not the place where they suck your brains dry for 4 years..............though at times that's what it felt like.


----------



## Gayle in LA (Sep 6, 2002)

Leon: Relax, your family is not going to go blind because your kitten has Chlamydia. The proper name is now Chlamydophila, to distinguish it from the human STD and bird respiratory chlamydias that are so nasty. I can speak from experience..........this bug is a minor human pathogen. I caught an eye infection from my kitten 23 years ago........he had "Chlamydia" and when my eye problem didn't resolve on antibiotic #1 I told my doctor about the kitten, he changed my antibiotic, and end of problem. I think I got it from the kitten but am not 100% sure. The point being, see a physician promptly for any eye problems. And WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water anytime you handle animals, sick or well.


----------



## Q_Links (Jun 11, 2002)

Try checking a farmers Co-op for the eye ointment. I buy one from Rural King called Teramyicin. It's about $9 a tube, but cheaper than going to a vet if you can't afford it. Susan


----------



## Sherri C (Jun 21, 2002)

thank you Susan. Everyone's eyes are clear now but I'd like to get a tube to keep on hand just in case.

Litter #1 is only 6 weeks old and momma cat has gone into heat again! What a little floozy! I'm going to have to keep her shut up in the basement because the Neuter Scooter (low-cost mobile cat clinic) won't be in my area for another month.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Desert Drifter said:


> The paper that comes with the medicine says"neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates and bacitracin zinc ophthalmic ointment".From all the above posts you have quite a few remidies to try,this is just one more suggestion.


I agree with the neosporin crowd.Just put a little dab on the eye in the area next to the nose,and the cat will get enough in his eye to make it work.From what I know,the only difference between the eye stuff(prescription) and wound stuff you can get anywhere,is the wound brand has a petroleum base.I use the clear neosporin,not the white type.My Doc told me no problem with treating animals eyes with it,Ive done it and if its the best you can afford,it does seem to work for me.
BooBoo


----------



## leaping leon (Jun 10, 2004)

Has anyone heard of cats getting a chlamydia infection in their eyes? We took in an abandoned kitten about four years ago with a bad eye infection, and after two rounds of antibiotic from the vet, and the infection spreading to two or three of our other cats, the vet said it was chlamydia...which I know can cause blindness in people...and I had three children (one is at college now) so I was really scared...even now I insist we wash our hands after petting cats that don't live inside...by the way, probably all of you know this, and I am NOT a clean freak, but be sure to wash your hands after treating a sick cats eyes...it can spread to other cats if nothing worse...but we did get it cleared up finally, and the kitten is such a sweet cat, I sometimes wonder if he knows what we did for him...


----------

