Eye Infection

Hello,
I have a kitten that has an eye infection. I have an ointment from the vet and also an antibiotic to give him twice a day. His eye has been watery and pink for about 6 weeks now. I've gone through two tubes of ointment and on the second bottle of antibiotic. Don't understand why it won't clear up. Anyone else have this problem? It did have distemper so it may just take longer to clear it up. I don't know. It's only one eye having the problem. Thanks,
Cathy

Hi Cathy,

I am moving this to the health forum where it will hopefully be answered for you. Good luck with your kitty.

Hi Cathy,
I just went through some sort of eye infection with my cat, Spike. One morning when I woke up, I noticed his eye was a bit puffy, and he was keeping it partially closed. I took him to the vet that evening and she prescribed a sort of ointment for his eye, which I had to get *in* his eye twice a day for 7-10 days. Well, his eye looked better on and off the entire time, and it's five days since I've stopped medicating him, and it seems to be back to normal.. (although, it did look fine some days, and then got worse the next day while I was medicating him), so I'm hoping for the best. I am surprised that after two tubes of the ointment, it hasn't gotten better. Have you taken your little furball back to the vet for a re-checkup for it?

Anyway, when I get home from work, I can check to see what kind of ointment they gave me for Spike and post it later this evening or tomorrow.

Hi,
Thanks for writing. The eye ointment I'm using starts with a T, something like terrimycin. It's at home so I'm not sure of the spelling. The eye does look better and then worst right after the ointment. It's still runny though and that's what worries me. It runs clear. If not better after this round of antibiotics we'll go back to the vet. Thanks again.
Cathy

Hi =)
Okay, I checked what was prescribed for Spike.. it's called: Vetropolycin HC. The box says: Neomycin w/dex eye ointment, and the description on the tube says: bacitracin-neomycin-polymyxin with hydrocortisone acetate 1% veterinary ophthalmic ointment.. sterile - antibacterial.

The vet never really said what she thought the problem was... I'm guessing just an infection since no scratches showed up on his eye.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I hope your kitten's eye is better soon.

Hey,
Thanks for the information. I'll ask my vet about it. I've just about used all the antibiotics and ointment. He acts like he feels good and eats like a little pig so I'm proud of that. He's come a long way. Had lost his will to live at one point and I had to force feed him. Now he just jumps and bounces all over the place. Nothing better than watching kittens play.
Cathy

6 weeks seems overly long for an eye infection to clear up. There are different kinds of bacteria that respond to different types of ointments. Your vet can get a sample of the cat's eye mucous and have it tested to determine exactly what is the infectious agent and then can know better which medication to use. I had that done for one of my cats who had a persistant eye infection, mostly also in just one eye. The first two kinds of ointment did not work, but after the vet found out the exact bacteria causing the infection, he was able to select the correct ointment that did work, instead of constant trial and error.

In addition, when the vet was getting the mucous sample, he checked the tear duct in that eye and found that my cat has an abnormally formed tear duct. His eye cannot drain tears, so bacteria built up. Have your vet check the tear duct in your cat's eye. Your cat might have a normal tear duct that is blocked.