Kitten's eyelids fuding together, need help now!!!

I've got a kitten who's right eyelids have gotten and infection and seem to have fused together on the inside. The upper and lower eyelids are separate from each other, but the inner or third eyelid seems to have fused to both the upper and lower eyelids. The inner eyelid won't go back toward the nose, and the upper and lower eyelid will open only as far as it will go until pulling on the inner eyelid. I haven't been able to get the kitten to the vet yet. I've been giving pentamycetin ointment in that eye several times a day since the first signs about 4 to 5 days ago and they seem to just keep growing more closed. I've also been giving amoxicillin several times a day. There was a mucous discharge that I removed the first day by wiping it out, the second day it stuck more and I had to use tweezers to pry off the mucous between the lids, and since then I haven't been able to remove it. It seems to me the mucous is fusing the lids together. i've just now switched to using tetracyclene ointment, and because I can't get in to see the vet until tomorrow afternoon, I'm wanting help in determining how to prevent the eyelids on the right eye from fusing together completely and having to deal with a worse situation. The eyeball behind seems to move freely, but I cannot be certain. What I can see of the eyeball seems to look normal, it is definitely not clouded. What can I do, I am very concerned for my 6 week old kitten. Please help.

I have outdoor cats, and we have had several litters - being outdoors they probably tend to have even more eye problems as kittens. First, I highly recommend checking out the article on this forum (link below).

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54375

One thing you will notice is that it is not advisable to forcefully remove any crust or gunk... I have had the best luck keeping kitty eyes clear with a gauze pad well moistened with saline solution (even the regular saline for nasal irrigation - its what I find most easily.) I would avoid medicating...

One kitten i had recently had a very nasty gunk build up... I noticed in the morning that an eye was crusty (he had not yet opened his eyes...) I went to work with the intention of a giving a gentle eye bath at the end of the day. But by the afternoon when i got home, the poor littly guy had a huge bloated bulge on his head! I right away got the gauze and saline and gently dabbed for around 20 minutes. When the crust finally loosed, there was LOTS of goop... it was quite nasty. Anyways, all of this story to say that apparently his eye was very resilient! i was worried about so much infection that may have damaged his vision, if not cause other problems, but he recovered, and had no vision problems.

Good luck!

Sharon,

My kitten is doing just fine. The eyelids appeared to be fusing together due to some swelling and discharge between the inner and outer eyelids. What I needed is to give both the tetracyclene and the pentamycetin together. Either one alone was treating one aspect, but not the other. It is FHV as I thought, so the vet approved of my having been giving him L-Lysine also (the pure form without the preservative which is very harmful to cats) and the eyelids have come apart and receded almost to normal now.

The first reply I got to my post was from someone who did not know much about any of this and just put me down in every way, and I was not going to return to this forum due to that. He didn't know I tried to get into a vet earlier and couldn't due to them being booked up at several locations, partly due to the long weekend, etc. However, your reply was very good and helpful and supportive, and I thank you. I have had many litters and saved many kittens the vets told me would not survive, and after many occurrences of some types of things, one learns to think for themselves and not drive the three hours to the closest vet every time a cat sneezes.