Kitten Eye Goop

julieb

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We have a 6-week-old kitten (named Elsa, since she looks like a little lion) who was rescued from a feral colony at 1 week when her mother was trapped during a trap-neuter-release program initiated by a friend of mine. We've had her since 3 weeks old, and she's grown up so quickly, going from formula and the syringe to dry food within one week.

Anyway, she is eating, drinking and evacuating well, growing like a weed, weighs almost 2 pounds, is active, alert and happy, but something is up with her right eye.

It is not swollen at all and has no evidence of infection (like white or green pus or discharge), it just seems to be very runny. It looks like the normal cat eye goop that ends up in the corners of all my other cats' eyes as little crusties, but just lots more, and just in the one eye. She doesn't fuss with it or scratch at it, and she can see just fine on that side of her head. I had been putting antibiotic drops in several times a day for over a week, and it didn't seem to help, so I stopped, and nothing changed.

She's going to the vet in a couple of weeks - do you think this is something that can wait until then, or does it seem like more of an emergency? My feeling is that it can wait since everything else is OK and it doesn't seem infected.
 

yola

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Hi JulieB

Now I'm no expert, and there are others here more experienced than I in medical matters, but as Elsa is SO tiny, I would really get her checked out.

I understand kitties that small are very vulnerable, and although it may be nothing, it may also be the outward manifestation of something more serious.

Good luck
 

hissy

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Being that she was in a feral colony, the wise thing to do is to try and get to the vet sooner than a couple of weeks. It *could* be the start of a URI, or it could be an airborne virus, she could of scratched her eye, or it could be that the colony was just diseased, many of them are and she caught something from them. But ultimately a vet would be the one to tell you what was going on. Thank you for rescuing her, I would love it if you could show us a picture of her. Good luck!
 
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julieb

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I'm making an appointment for her now, because in my heart of hearts I know you're right. She just seems so healthy!

I'm going to try to attach a picture of her, but since I've never done it before at this site, it has a very high chance of going awry... well, the only pic I have is too big to post - any suggestions?
 

hissy

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Julie email it to me and I will post it for you. It is probably in the wrong format right now, it needs to be in jpeg format. If you can get it to that format it should post. But if not just email it to [email protected] and I will post it for you. I want to see your "little feral lion."
 

hissy

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here is Julie's little lion! What a sweetie!
 

yola

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Oh Julie - what a darling she is.

I'm sure you'll do all you can to ensure this little babe to grow into a strong and healthy kitty.
 
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julieb

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Thanks for posting the picture... she is a sweetie, isnt't she?

Well, she went to the vet today to have her eye checked. It turns out her right tear duct is blocked, so instead of her tears going down through her nose and into her throat, they overflow in her eye and that is what the goop is. The vet figured this out by putting fluorescent dye in her eye and then shining a special light up her nose to see if the dye went through. On the left eye it went through fine, but on the right (the goopy one), nothing came through. It is suspected that an eye infection, back when she was very young, left some sort of debris in there which is blocking the passage.

Since it is not infected, the vet suggested we wait until Elsa is in getting spayed to try to clear the duct. That way, she won't have to go under anasthesia twice, and not until she is older. I have antibiotic on hand in case of infection, and obviously if it gets worse it will have to be cleared, but until then we will watch it and wait a few months until spay day.

She also got some de-worming stuff and had her first shots... $$$!! I am in the process of renovating my house, so I compare the cost of everything to home improvement goodies - this vet visit today set me back by one mid-range kitchen faucet... but she's sooo cute, it's worth it. She's beautiful and sweet and lots of fun, a wonderful personality.
 
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