Eye boogers in kitten

sarahp

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My little 7 week old kitten is having constant eye boogers. She had a bit of an eye infection a couple of weeks back, and her eye would be gummed shut in the morning. Id'd been cleaning it out myself for a couple of days which had already improved it a bit by the time I got to the vet. The vet couldn't find anything specific wrong, so gave me some erythromycin antibiotic ointment to put in her eye.

She's just started getting eye boogers again - a couple of times a day I'm having to clear out goopy discharge from both eyes. Her eyes are a little more squinty than her sisters, and always have been.

I'm cleaning her eyes out again, and applying the erythromycin again, making sure not to spread the infection between her eyes as much as possible.

Can some cats be completely healthy and just get goopy eyes, or has she most likely just got her eye infection back again?
 

7_angel

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One of my boys (who has been diagnosed with the feline herpes virus) had the same thing. We used terramycin for him. Went through a whole tube of it (1/8 oz.) using it 3-4 times a day. His eyes didn't completely get un-gooped. We had to start a second tube of the terramycin. He was also given Lysine to boost his immune system. So eventually the goop went away.

I would say a good amount of eye goop like you are talking about is not normal - and it sounds like an infection to me.

Hopefully it goes away soon - good luck!!
 

dragulescugirl

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Originally Posted by 7_Angel

One of my boys (who has been diagnosed with the feline herpes virus) had the same thing. We used terramycin for him. Went through a whole tube of it (1/8 oz.) using it 3-4 times a day. His eyes didn't completely get un-gooped. We had to start a second tube of the terramycin. He was also given Lysine to boost his immune system. So eventually the goop went away.

I would say a good amount of eye goop like you are talking about is not normal - and it sounds like an infection to me.

Hopefully it goes away soon - good luck!!
Terramcyin is incredible! My cat had some eye goobers on Friday night and by Saturday morning we were just continuously cleaning them out. His eyes were never closed shut from it, but I could see that it was a slight infection. I picked up the Terramycin that morning and gave him some right away. Wow! It worked so fast. I left him for about 4 hours, came back home and just a couple small dried goobers on his eyes. The next, his beautiful eyes were big and bright. I kept giving it to him for a few days to make sure the infection was gone, but it really worked like a charm.
 

zorana_dragonky

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Bamf has regular stints with extra goopy/boogery eyes. My vet and I think he has chronic feline herpes virus. We haven't run the pouch test to check for sure, since I would just end up giving him Lysine anyway... so I give him Lysine, and I have Terramycin for if it gets bad.
Good luck with your baby.
 

bookworm

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As all of mine came from the streets in pretty rough shape we had a problem with red runny eyes and some minor URI's. I tried Lysine pills on wet food, and Lysine paste, but a few would have none of it. As those few are still not comfortable with much handling, so syringing a liquid into their mouths would have been too stressfull. Finally I bought a pure, water soluble Lysine powder which I have been adding to their drinking water for about 4 months now. There has been no eye discharge or sneezing since the third week!
 

booger

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I have three kittens that i rescued about gosh.. almost two and a half months ago now..
they all had really old insalation stuck to their eyes.
They also had boogers really bad..
They went on a course of anti-biotics for it and then they were fine, for a week or two.

Then they went on another (and fairly different) set of anti-biotics, and eye drops...
then were completely fine during the entire course of the medication.
They dont sneeze any more, but the larger two are starting to get eye boogers again..
we actually ended up naming the biggest one booger, because he has the worst of it.

why do they keep coming back even after so much medication?? this is craziness... Our vet (who i dont trust very much b/c they charge out the butt and killed my dog. but there is no one else out here. When i go back to school i have a vet i LOVE out there.. but were a bit far now...)

any one have any ideas.. she tried to tell me that they might just be extra stressed out, but they dont seem stressed out. They run around and play all day, wake me up early so we can start training with treats, they learn fast and in all other respects are completely healthy! Even the smallest who was never fed by a mother cat is gaining weight. I just cant figure out why they continue to get boogery eyes!
 

bookworm

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It sounds like herpes eye which is what I'm giving mine the L Lysine for. A vet can do a swab test for it, if URI and all that has been ruled out. It's really common in shelter and street kittens, it's a mild form of some other more serious (sorry I forget which) virus. The Lysine builds their immune system and reduces the outbreaks.

Sorry that you don't have a good relationship with your vet, are there others in a reasonable distance taking new patients? I changed a couple times before I found the one I use now, and would again if things changed there too much.
With my own doctors I'm not so picky, I know if treatment is or isn't working, but for the cats it's imperative to be able to place 100% trust in their vet. They can't tell you that a medicine makes them feel worse, or what's going on with them at all until it advances to outside symptoms.
I'm lucky that when the clinic I go to changed hands most of the staff stayed, and the new Doctor himself is possibly even better than the old one.
 

booger

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I have not found any other vets in the area that we like.
My mom lives down this way and she has tried all of them since i was a child... one doctor is insanely unsanitary.. one is to old now.. and the list continues. This is the one she uses now and she doesnt like them either, but they are the only ones left. So.. idk

Can i get the L Lysin on my own or do i have to go through my vet again? Like i said she told me if this medicine didnt work that it was just stress which i dont buy at all.

im more than willing to go back if i have to (these are ferral kittens and they still need shot nd such but have been sick swith a supposed uri since i got them).

Any one live in the Downingtown Pa area and know of another doctor?
 

bookworm

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Originally Posted by Booger

Can i get the L Lysin on my own or do i have to go through my vet again? Like i said she told me if this medicine didnt work that it was just stress which i dont buy at all.
L Lysine is a dietary supplement and doesn't require a prescription. I believe the bigger pet supply stores carry it as a flavored paste, as I live I a rural area with out any, I buy mine on line in a powder form and mix it in the water.
Just Google it and you'll find several suppliers, I'm not sure of this forums policy regarding mentioning individual suppliers so I won't specify where I get mine until I'm sure it's permitted.
 

booger

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Thank you very much! I am willing to try anything for these sweet babies
I may have adopted them with the thought of getting them adopted, but all three have won my heart (and luckily my parent's too)

You guys have been 10x's the help my new vet has been.
I made an appointment with our vet in bloomsburg and i am going to travel the 3 hours to get them there, i think its worth it


Once again, thank you guys so much!
 
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