Eye infection

I have a cat that I take care of outside, and finally got an appointment to get her spayed with the feral cat program we have here in our area. The surgery went thru just fine, but yesterday I noticed her eye is all infected. It definetly was not infected before she went for surgery.

We decided to make the transition to bring her in the house now that she is spayed, so she has been recovering in the spare room since the surgery. I have not introduced her to the other 3 cats, or my 2 dogs, as I wanted her to have enough quiet resting time. But now I am not sure what is the deal with her eye, and I don't want to risk infecting the other animals. My Mother said it could be from surgery, so I just wanted to know if this is normal or not?

I dont think that this is a result of the surgery. I would call the vet and have him take a look at it ASAP!

Several of my kits have had eye infections recently. It could be conjunctivitis but in order to really know, you need to get her back to the vet ASAP. Good luck!

They're quite common among strays and ferals, usually as a secondary infection of one sort or another. They're really common among kittens, but often found in adults. In kittens the infection is usually bacterial--this can be observed from the yellow discharge from the infected eye(s).

I'm not a vet, nor do I play one on TV, but my rule of thumb is this: if the discharge is yellowish in color, then human or otherwise it's likely to be bacterial.

And of course such infections are treated with topical antibiotics. A variety of opthamological antibiotics are available, usually by prescription but there are other means. DO NOT USE any antibiotic not specifically for opthamological use!!!!

Those ointments are directly applied onto the affected eye(s). The dosage is usually two applications per day--the condition usually clears up within a week or so.

Some bacterial infections may be the result of injuries to the eye--those require close observation. A minor corneal scratch may only require ointment as a treatment--anything more extensive, consult your vet immediately...!

Just wanted to update you guys on the feral. Her eye infection is all gone now, and she is doing just great!

I am so happy that we decided to take her in, because she is a very sweet and loving cat. She is coming out of her shell around my other cats and amazingly her and my senior female cat are getting along very well. The senior pretty much hates everything, so to see her and the feral chumming up is a pleasent surprise!

She really loves human interaction, and anytime she can be around us when my 2 male cats are not around she is affectionate as can be. Alot of noises still spook her, but I think she is adjusting just fine. She is getting used to the males now, and she lets them get close to her. I think in another month or so she will fit in like she has always been part of the clan!

All 4 of my cats are either stray or feral (this being my first "feral") and I am so happy to be able to gives these sweeties a warm loving home. We decided to keep her as an indoor cat, and since she has been back from surgery she has not made any hints at wanting to go back outside, I think she knows how much we love her and want to see her stay safe.

Hey thats great! I just came across this post now but I will say something on the subject really quick. Stress affects cats very easily, stress weakens their immune systems and they get sick. Sickness is usually seen in goopy eyes, sneezing and runny noses. Stress would be taking the cat out of it's environment, putting it in a carrer, taking it to the scary vets office with all the new smells and people and then putting it through a surgery, putting it back in the cage and going back home. I am not suprised that the cat got a small cold. It was a feral too so even your comfort isn't really enough to reassure it. The last thing you would want to do in this case is take the cat back to the vet. If the cat lets you touch it, then wash the eyes with warm water and a towel until it clears up. You can give the cat a little dab of yogurt once or twice a day to build up the good bacteria if you like, but the majority of these stress colds slear up in a few days. If it didn't or it had gotten worse, then take the cat to the vet.

She got better because she was brought home, back to a more stable, familar environment.