Cat eye Problem. Please Help!

cyan

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Hey everyone, I'm new to this site and am hoping someone here will be able to help me out.

Around a month ago my 13 year old cat, Wookie, started to have sneezing fits. She would sneeze around 15 times in a row a few times a day. Sometimes when she sneezed a long string of mucus/snot would come out of her left nostril, sometimes the snot was bloody.

In the past week, her sneezing has greatly decreased in frequency. However, her left eye has been leaking a clear fluid. The right most corner of her left eye has a pink fleshy thing that is not apparent on her right eye. I'm hoping the pink thing is just swollen and not a growth.

She doesn't seem to be discomforted by her eye at all. When I dab her eye to remove excess liquid she doesn't seem to be bothered by me touching it.

After looking on the web, I'm inclined to think it may be either one of three things. Either cat herpes, cat clamydia, or Conjunctivitis.

What I'd like to know is if anyone can identify what is affecting her. I would also like to know how I can treat her, ie: what kind of eye drops.

I would take her to the vet but I am a University student and cannot afford it. Even though she is not in any visible pain, I want to make sure this does not become a serious problem.

Here are links to some pics I took of her eye.

Thanks in advance!!
Cian Walsh
 

taterbug

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It looks like pink eye, aka conjunctivitis, to me. Your best bet would be to get her to a vet for a correct diagnosis. You don't want to take any chances with your kitty's eyes.
The vet can prescibe her an antibiotic ointment for her eyes. Pink eye is pretty serious. If I'm not mistaken it can easily advance to pneumonia.
 

mrblanche

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Take a look around on this site, and you will find suggestions for help with vet expenses.
 
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cyan

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Thanks Taterbug and Mrblanche for replying. Has anyone heard of Eye Easy for Cat Conjunctivitis, I read somewhere that this might be an option for treating pink eye in cats.

Does anyone have any other suggestions. Before going to the vet I'd like to administer care myself. I'm working this summer to cover tuition, and going to the vet would require me taking out a loan. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Cian W.
 

blaise

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There are two things I want to say.......

First, you've heard from people here that this is a condition that really requires a Vet's attention. Then I see you disregard all that, plead poverty, and re-request help to treat the cat yourself.

This cat should have had Veterinary attention a month ago, when you observed bloody mucus coming from her nose.

Get in touch with the Ottawa SPCA and explain your situation. Try to reach the shelter manager or Executive Director. Most SPCAs have emergency funds and Vet connections to take care of animals in need of medical care.

Point number 2: your cat, at age 13, is now a "senior citizen" and, as such, and, in all fairness, needs to see a Vet a minimum of once a year, AND to have bloodwork done at that time. All you need to do is to "stash" (budget) $3-5 weekly to cover that off....are you "up" for that?
 
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cyan

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Thanks for responding,

I do feel that the ideal solution would involve bringing her to the vet, however since her condition does not appear to be severe I would like to first attempt to resolve her condition myself.

Since I am by no means an expert, my postings here are an attempt to gather knowledge from people who are either trained in the field or who have had to deal with a similar condition.

I have gone ahead and ordered Eye Easy, used in the treatment of Conjunctivitis, in the hopes that this will clear up Wookie's condition. If this does not resolve the issue, or if the condition worsens, I will definitely take the advice of the above posters and bring her to a professional. I do not feel her condition is severe enough to warrant aid from the emergency funds but if needed I will contact the Ottawa SPCA and see what their thoughts are. Thanks for this tip as I would not have thought of this myself.

I will update this post to let people know how the situation develops. Hopefully a future poster may find some informative information here that may in turn help out a cat of their own.
 

robertm

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Originally Posted by Cyan

I do feel that the ideal solution would involve bringing her to the vet, however since her condition does not appear to be severe I would like to first attempt to resolve her condition myself.
For over a month, your suffering senior cat has had sneezing fits, mucous/snot (sometimes bloody), and eye discharge. None of which, it seems, are going to magically disappear anytime soon. How is this not "severe"? And at what point does it become "severe" in your estimation?

Originally Posted by Cyan

Since I am by no means an expert, my postings here are an attempt to gather knowledge from people who are either trained in the field or who have had to deal with a similar condition.
From the TCS "Terms of Use & Disclaimer," to which you agreed when you joined the site:

Always consult your own veterinarian for advice concerning your cat. In no way is TheCatSite.com engaged in providing veterinary medical services via this site.

I don't believe there are any vets here, and very few people who are "trained in the field". No internet site can possibly be a substitute for a licensed and trained veterinarian. And anyone who has had to "deal with a similar condition" would only be giving you speculative advice at best because they are not able to physically examine your cat.

Speaking of speculation...

Originally Posted by Cyan

I have gone ahead and ordered Eye Easy, used in the treatment of Conjunctivitis, in the hopes that this will clear up Wookie's condition.
Unless you really and truly know precisely what you are doing --- self-medicating a cat can be a very dangerous undertaking. You have no idea whether Wookie even has conjunctivitis. You even said in your first post that it could be herpes or clamydia. It could also be none of the above. You are really rolling the dice and I can easily see things going from bad to worse. You're trying to play doctor and do things on the cheap here, and I wouldn't be surprised if in the end you wind up spending more money than you would if you would just find a way to get this poor cat to the vet ASAP.
 

pat

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Hi there,

It's just not possible for anyone - even a vet - to accurately diagnose over the internet. The issues you mentioned that concern me is 1) bloody mucus, 2) eye discharge along with the nasal, 3)the redness and swelling of ?the conjunctiva.

I believe you re the finances, but it's time to get creative - try the suggestions re contacting the spca, try a referral to a vet who takes payments...a simple exam, a prescription (or two), then go back when you have saved up for a senior blood panel (this, done once a year, will give you a heads up when kidney functions and/or thyroid function, begins to change as it well may as your cat gets older).

Please keep us posted,
 

AbbysMom

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How is your cat doing now? Were you able to get any help for her?

There is an excellent article here about ways to help your cat when you do not have the cash.

With your cat now being 13 years old, various health problems are going to start popping up. You may want to start putting a few dollars aside every week into a separate account so when this happens again you will be prepared.


Please keep us posted.
 
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cyan

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Based on the recommendation of various board posters, I decided to bring Wookie to the vet. They confirmed my suspicions that she had a bacterial infection in her eye. However, they could not explain what type of infection it was (cat herpes, cat Chlamydia, or Conjunctivitis). The infection explains her sneezing and mucus discharge symptoms.

They prescribed an anti-inflammatory Topical-Corticosteroid Antibioic eyedrop (Sandoz Pentasone) which is to be administered twice a day for 10-days. They also mentioned that the eye problem may be due to a foreign object lodged in the eye, however this is an unlikely scenario as the eye problem was proceeded by the sneezing fits. If her eye doesn't get better, they recommended taking a biopsy.

Although I was not very impressed with the diagnosis, I am pleased with having medication to treat her problem. I would have liked to get a definitive answer as to what type of ailment is affecting her. However, based on the vetâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s diagnosis I'm guessing that the eye-drops would be a suitable treatment for any of these conditions.

Total time at the vet – 10 min
Cost - $100
I was pleased with the rate charged, my last experience with a vet cost me $700 for a barrage of tests that proved unnecessary.

All in all I do believe that going to the vet is the best thing you can do if your animal is sick. However, I do think that certain conditions can be treated at home if the proper research is done and if the condition is not severe.

I would like to thank all the board members who replied to my post
-Cyan
 

pat

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Sending vibes for Wookie to recover fully...glad you were able to get her in to the vet.
 
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