Third eyelid staying across eye (pictures)

rina_marie

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Has anyone ever experienced this before??? Our cat, Shachar, has started showing his third eyelid, and it's gotten progressively worse. Our vet is out due to the holidays, and I just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this??? The only thing I can really find about it online is that it might be "hawes syndrome" which doesn't have any real cure, except to wait it out. Anyone have any ideas or information? Has this ever happened to any of your cats?
 
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rina_marie

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PS. He does not have any other symptoms at all, only the eyelid thing.
 

jennyr

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It is often a sign of sickness, so I would get him to a vet as soon as you can. Do you think he has a fever at all?
 

gizmocat

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Is there another vet or an emergency center near you? If it was one haw it might be something in the eye, but this might be something that needs medical attention.
I hope that your cat is better soon.
 

kittenkiya

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If you have some sterile Opticlear, you may want to try washing his eye out to see if something has gotten into it. Other than that, a vet call is necessary, and soon.
 

hissy

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Generally this is a sign of dehydration, fever or sickness. If you take the scruff of the neck while the cat is at rest, and pinch it lightly and it stays up instead of going back down to the normal position in seconds, your cat is dehydrated and needs a vet NOW
 
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rina_marie

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<<Do you think he has a fever at all?>>

How do you check for that?

<<Generally this is a sign of dehydration, fever or sickness.>>

He's not dehydrated, and doesn't act sick but that doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't. I've heard that it can also be a sign of tapeworms (though I have NO clue how he would have gotten them) so we gave him some tapeworm meds today.

If it's not better by tomorrow, I'm going to talk with my husband about taking him to the vet in the next town over. They also have a pretty big practice, so I would think that someone might be there.

Thanks, everyone, I'll let you know what happens.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Rina_Marie

He's not dehydrated, and doesn't act sick but that doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't. I've heard that it can also be a sign of tapeworms (though I have NO clue how he would have gotten them) so we gave him some tapeworm meds today.
Please don't give your animals medication if you aren't sure they have a problem. You could cause irreversible damage. Just because "you heard" that having the third eyelid showing is a sign of tapeworm that doesn't make it so. The third eyelid showing could be a sign of illness and most likely is. I certainly wouldn't take chemotherapy just in case I had cancer - not a good idea.

Over-the-counter medications and flea products should be avoided at all costs. Many cats have been very sick and some have died with over-the-counter medications.
 
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rina_marie

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Please don't give your animals medication if you aren't sure they have a problem. You could cause irreversible damage. Just because "you heard" that having the third eyelid showing is a sign of tapeworm that doesn't make it so. The third eyelid showing could be a sign of illness and most likely is. I certainly wouldn't take chemotherapy just in case I had cancer - not a good idea.

Over-the-counter medications and flea products should be avoided at all costs. Many cats have been very sick and some have died with over-the-counter medications.
I've never heard of OTC medications causing problems unless the wrong meds were given (dog meds given to a cat, for instance.) Thanks for letting me know... I had no idea!

We're off to the vet today. I'm taking all four of them, in case Shachar has something contageous, and I want to get our indoor/outdoor cat checked anyway, since she is more able to get into things than the others. I'll let you know how it goes.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Rina_Marie

I've never heard of OTC medications causing problems unless the wrong meds were given (dog meds given to a cat, for instance.) Thanks for letting me know... I had no idea!
If you do some searching and reading on these forums you'll find lots of info that supports NOT giving OTC medications and some sad instances where they have caused death.

As far as you having no idea - join the club. Until I joined TCS I was pretty ignorant about a lot of things which surprised me since I was raised on a farm. I have learned a lot and now know I wouldn't have lost my beloved Simba if I had known then what I know now.
 

kluchetta

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The only experience I've had with a cat showing its third eyelid is when it had a very high fever. Oh - and my very elderly cat shows hers just a teeny bit at the edges. For some reason.
 

alikatt

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We just went through this. JR's third eye-lid starting showing just in the corners, and you could tell his body temperature was up. He become really lethargic, sleeping a lot, but was still eating and drinking. We took him to the vet, and he had a slightly high fever, and the vet said he had a little kitty cold. After some antibiotics, he was fine, so just get him to a vet. I wish you and your kitty the best of health.
 
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rina_marie

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Well… after our day at the vet we found out a few things:

1. Arek has an upper respiratory infection (or, at least, heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s being treated for one as weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve caught him sneezing lately.)
2. Pipsi has some stomach upset (he didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t actually “diagnose†anything as he wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t able to get a good fecal on her, but he did find blood in the little bit of stool he was able to get. He wants me to bring in a fecal sample again in a few weeks.)
3. Shachar has worms (which means that everyone probably has them, Shachar was the only one he was able to get a good fecal on.) No other symptoms of any illness, though, other than his eye problem, which vet said was indicative of a cat not feeling well.
4. Molly, the only indoor/outdoor cat we have, has no symptoms of anything! Isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t that crazy??? All the INDOOR cats are sick, and the cat who goes outside is just fine!


Soooo… as a prophylactic measure due to Shachars eye problems and Arekâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s sneezing, we gave everyone a broad spectrum antibiotic, Pipsi got one for her intestinal problems, and everyone is being treated for worms. Vet said that the type of worms Shachar had (I think it was hookworms) is a type that is not normally seen in cats, but in dogs. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think that our dog has worms (though she needs to be treated now, too, “just in caseâ€) because weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re pretty good about keeping her de-wormed… but there are a thousand other ways worms could have gotten to the cats from other dogs. There is really no way to know for sure. The vet said that if one of our kids (or the dog) stepped in poop outside (we have lots of neighbors dogs who love to poop in our yard) and tracked it into the house (which does happen, with four young children), then the worm eggs could have survived in the carpet even after cleaning. And the worst part is that is no real way to get rid of them! Apparently, certain types of worms (or worm eggs) can live for a long period of time outside of the host and they can get embedded in the cracks of the carpet where the shampoo/vacuum canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t reach. Then, as the animals (OR CHILDREN!) walk along, they can pick them up and become infected. So the really bad news is that this ALSO means there is a good chance that our KIDS have worms - especially as Arek (the Maine Coon) is notorious for pooping in the floor (and the assumption is that if Shachar has worms, they all have worms.) The worst thing about all this is that even if we treat everyone now, they could all become re-infected later down the road when they pick it up from the carpet again. The vet wants me to bring in fecal samples from all the animals every few months to see if a pattern develops. In the meantime, weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re going to be treating everyone in the house (humans included) for worms and renting a heavy-duty carpet shampooer in hopes that that will help - every little bit counts, anyway.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d really appreciate your prayers.
 

sarahp

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Oh no, sorry to hear that!!! I'm glad you got them all to the vet in time though, sounds as though you caught things just in time!

Hope they all get better soon
 

grayfluffy

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I didn't read all the replies. So, maybe you have gotten your cat treatment by now. But, my cat had the same thing. Here's what I did. I got a prescription amoxi-drops from my vet and gave her pedialyte instead of water. I don't know what she had, but it cleared up with the full treatment of anti-biotics and she continued to drink pedialyte for a few days after treatment. The eye ointment anti-biotics didn't do anything.
 

jkrodger

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I used to do Parasitology research in college, there are ways to eliminate the eggs, find out what specific worm your cats have and then search on google, you should be able to find it there.
 
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rina_marie

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Just thought I'd update you guys...

Shachar's eyelid is still up, but he still has several days of antibiotic left, so I'm hoping it will get better once he's off it. Arek, who received a shot of antibiotics instead of a 7-day treatement, is still sneezing. I'm going to try to get a fecal from him if it continues after everyone else is done with the antibiotics. If all else fails, he'll go back to the vet. Pipsi's goopy poo is clearing up, but now Shachar has goopy poo. Got a sample of it yesterday, so if it doesn't clear up, we'll take it to the vet as well. Molly is still perfectly fine.


Thanks, everyone, for the advice and I'll continue to keep you posted!

PS. JKRodger, thanks for the information, I'll do some research.
 

babywukong

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I sympathise with you and your furkids... but I can't help chuckling at the fact that Molly's perfectly fine. Perhaps being outdoors helped to build her immune system or something.

Did any worms show up in your dogs? I really hope your kids don't have any... Good luck with the treatment, am hoping to hear some good news soon (no more goopy poop and no more worms!!). I'm assuming its not an option to get rid of the carpet due to the climate where you are?
 
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