20 cats! That is a LOT of eye wiping!
We have frequent conjunctiva around here, so I make my own herbal eyewash using distilled water, pure sea salt (no iodine), and liquid goldenseal extract. You could also make the basic saline wash without the goldenseal, although goldenseal has mild antibiotic properties. Recipe is based on the one in Anitra Frazier's The Natural Cat). Both my regular vet and my vet opthalmologist are fine with it. Very easy to make, and affordable (cheap, even!) Here it is:
Basic Saline Eyewash
--Boil 1/2 Cup distilled water
--Stir in 1/8 teaspoon sea salt until dissolved.
Herbal Eyewash
Add 1 drop goldenseal per Tablespoon of basic saline solution
Some natural healing books say not to add the goldenseal immediately, but wait until the basic solution has cooled. That makes sense to me. Same set of books all advise to store solution in fridge, but differ on how long it will keep (3 days to 1 week -- I go with the 1 week and have had no problems). I put my basic saline solution in an old baby formula container that holds exactly 5 TBSP, add the 5 goldenseal drops, shake well, and store the herbal eyewash in the fridge. When it's time to flush eyes, I transfer some eyewash to a small plastic squeeze bottle with a nozzle top (the kind the vets use for liquid meds). The small squeeze bottle is much easier to manipulate and is less scary-looking to the kitties. Oh--after I transfer the cold eyewash to the small squeeze bottle, I let the squeeze bottle sit in a jar of warm water to bring it to room temp. or very slightly warmer.
After much trial & error, the best thing I've found for actual wiping are cut-up strips of paper towel, folded to whatever shape/angle I need at the moment.
I also put GenTeal gel lubricant in their eyes as needed. It's not heavy/stiff like the petroleum-based ointment, and it lasts much longer than drops.
good luck!
One last thing: Frazier says that if you choose to buy saline solution (the kind people use for contact lenses) make sure that the label says "unbuffered" and "unpreserved." Often other chemicals are added to commercial saline that would not be desirable for our cats.
We have frequent conjunctiva around here, so I make my own herbal eyewash using distilled water, pure sea salt (no iodine), and liquid goldenseal extract. You could also make the basic saline wash without the goldenseal, although goldenseal has mild antibiotic properties. Recipe is based on the one in Anitra Frazier's The Natural Cat). Both my regular vet and my vet opthalmologist are fine with it. Very easy to make, and affordable (cheap, even!) Here it is:
Basic Saline Eyewash
--Boil 1/2 Cup distilled water
--Stir in 1/8 teaspoon sea salt until dissolved.
Herbal Eyewash
Add 1 drop goldenseal per Tablespoon of basic saline solution
Some natural healing books say not to add the goldenseal immediately, but wait until the basic solution has cooled. That makes sense to me. Same set of books all advise to store solution in fridge, but differ on how long it will keep (3 days to 1 week -- I go with the 1 week and have had no problems). I put my basic saline solution in an old baby formula container that holds exactly 5 TBSP, add the 5 goldenseal drops, shake well, and store the herbal eyewash in the fridge. When it's time to flush eyes, I transfer some eyewash to a small plastic squeeze bottle with a nozzle top (the kind the vets use for liquid meds). The small squeeze bottle is much easier to manipulate and is less scary-looking to the kitties. Oh--after I transfer the cold eyewash to the small squeeze bottle, I let the squeeze bottle sit in a jar of warm water to bring it to room temp. or very slightly warmer.
After much trial & error, the best thing I've found for actual wiping are cut-up strips of paper towel, folded to whatever shape/angle I need at the moment.
I also put GenTeal gel lubricant in their eyes as needed. It's not heavy/stiff like the petroleum-based ointment, and it lasts much longer than drops.
good luck!
One last thing: Frazier says that if you choose to buy saline solution (the kind people use for contact lenses) make sure that the label says "unbuffered" and "unpreserved." Often other chemicals are added to commercial saline that would not be desirable for our cats.