More eye issues

We have a 5-month old spayed kitten, Smudge, who has developed a cloudy left eye. She had an URI a few months ago: Sneezing, watery eyes and "clicking" sounds when breathing. She went through 3 rounds of antibiotics before it cleared up. She hasn't shown any other URI symptoms until now with this cloudy left eye. I'm concerned because we did have an 8 month old kitten who died of suspected FIP in April 2008.

We have 3 other cats: Smudge's male littermate; a 4 year old spayed female; and a 3 year old neutered male.

Her appointment is tomorrow, but I'm wondering if I should request bloodwork or x-rays, or if we should just treat the eye right now? I'm thinking the vet is going to prescribe an antibiotic, but I'm concerned because she had 3 rounds of antibiotics for her URI a few months ago. And then again when she was spayed last month.

Other than this cloudy eye, she has no sneezing, runny eyes or difficulty breathing. But last night she seemed a bit down. (Although, two of her baby teeth fell out, and I think her mouth was sore).

I'm hoping this could be just a slight eye infection that will clear up with some ointment. Guess we just have to wait and see what the vet says tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Normally if there are no other symptoms other than the eye problem only the eye is treated with drops or ointment. The cat is not normally treated with oral antibiotics unless there are other URI symptoms. Does the kitten have a discharge from her eye or is it just cloudy? Did she have an eye infection when she had URI before? Is it just a slight cloudiness or is it very noticable?
Sometimes when a cat gets an eye infection it can cause permanent damage to the eye where it will look cloudy. It's more likely in kittens for some reason. If that's the case there isn't much you can do. However, if this is something that just popped up now and not in connection with an eye infection that's probably not the case.

Since your kitten had URI before and now has an eye infection (if that's what it is) she probably has feline herpes. It's quite common, especially in cats that have been in a shelter or lived in other multi cat environment. Unfortunately herpes is chronic and some unfortunate cats will have flare-ups of URI and eye infections for the rest of their lives. It's especially brought on by stress. For the most part the cat doesn't need antibiotics when they get URI since it's caused by a virus which antibiotics don't help for.
What does help though is L-Lysine. L-Lysine is believed to boost the immune system and help break down the herpes virus. It can be used both as treatment when the kitty is sick and as preventative. If your kitten will continue to have URI and eye problems you may want to keep her on lysine permanently. At least use if for a while until her eye and everything is cleared up. A kitten under six months should get 250mg per day divided in two doses, morning and night. Cats and kittens over six months should get 500mg/day divided in two doses.

I hope it's just a bit of conjunctivitis (eye infection) that will clear up with some ointment (imo ointment is much easier to use than drops so if you have an option I'd choose ointment, it stays on the eye better too).

Good luck

Thanks for your reply. That's definitely helpful. We'll see what the vet says today. I'm definitely going to ask about the L-Lysine, especially if they think it's herpes.

She did not have an eye infection before and there is no discharge. In fact, she has no other symptoms. I noticed a week or so ago that her left eye wasn't "glowing" like the other one, but I never noticed it being cloudy. It seems to be getting darker (more cloudy) each day, but it's not completely opaque. She's a black kitten, so her eyes are stark bright yellow, but the cloudy one is a much darker yellow.

Thanks again. I'm hoping it's nothing serious.

My girl Lula also has a cloudy eye. It's pretty minor and only noticable in certain lights. For her it was caused by an eye infection she had as a kitten and it is permanent.
But if your cat hasn't had an eye infection that's probably not it. Hopefully it's nothing serious and can be cleared up with a simple treatment.