Gunky eyes!

So, my surprise kitten (whose name will be either Jean-Pierre or Marie once I know what sex it is) has gunky eyes.

Whatever the gunk is, it glues the eyes shut, but after I take a warm, wet washcloth to it, and clean them up, they open right up and the eyes look fine.

I will obviously take it to the vet if it gets worse, but my question is - what can I do in the meantime/can I do anything at home? Do pet stores have eye drops, or am I just better off getting the antibiotic ones? Should I just keep washing it with a warm, wet cloth?

Kitten is two and a half weeks old (and HUGE, the greedy thing )

Do you guys have some sort of human eyewash you can use? I use Optrex eye wash on my babies that have gunky eyes. If not you're doing the right thing with warm water - I'd use cotton woool or a cotton pad instead of a wash cloth personally - then you're sure that the cotton pad you're using is clean ...

Is there colour in the fluid? I.E yellowish? If so it could very well be conjunctivitis , so when you clean your kittens eyes, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly as it is contagious.

Please keep us updated once you have found out from the vet.

Well, she's going to the vet tomorrow morning. Her eyes continue to get gunked up, and this morning when I cleaned her eyes before I went to work, one oozed a whitish discharge. Her eyes still looking good after they're cleaned, but I don't want to miss an infection that does permanate damage.

Is it possible for mom to be a carrier? Her first litter (this was a surprise kitten, see the surprise kitten thread) had conjuctivitus, so I wouldn't be surprised if this one does, too.

(OTher than that, the kitten is a roly-poly fatso, being an only kitten - I'll post pictures shortly )