Help! Conjuctivitis 5 days into treatment, doesn't seem to be improving?

Hey all! A little backstory for ya: I have two kitties that have conjuctivitis. They were both prescribed eye ointment (one has neomycin, one does not). At the time of exam at the vets, everything checked out and there was no signs of a URI. They are both eating, drinking, playing, and visiting the litterbox. They even managed to destroy a bag of croutons they procured from the cupboard, for what it's worth. 

My concern is that their eyes still look very watery, along with head shaking and pawing at the face. They also seem to be squinting and blinking quite a bit. I guess my question is, is this normal for the duration of the treatment? I am supposed to be giving them the ointment 3-4 times a day for 7-10 days, which I have done religiously to this point. I suppose I expected some better signs at 5 days in, but I'm not seeing it. Like many of you, I consider my cats to be like my children, so I'm very concerned for their health and eye sight.

Thank you in advance.

One of mine had conjunctivitis and URI when we adopted him.  He was on Tobramycin drops, along with Clavamox liquid.  I'm not sure how long he had been on it before we got him, but it seems like it took longer than I expected to see improvement.  I was feeling the same way you were, and getting concerned that it wasn't looking better. I think it took a good 9 -10 days or so before it started to look better to me, and was probably about 2 weeks when it was completely better.

Conjunctivitis/feline herpes virus is contagious, so it is understandable that they both have it. It is very itchy, irritating, etc., so getting this resolved before it gets worse is important. You should have seen improvement 5 days in, so you should contact your vet to see if he/she can prescribe a different ointment. It might be that the strain they have isn't being addressed by the one they prescribed. The neomycin will address bacterial infections, but not viral. Maybe the other ointment is for viral infection?

Something that helped my oldest boy when he had this years ago was the supplement L-Lysine from capsules that contained only L-Lysine. Dosage is dependent on your kitties' particular needs; talk to your vet about this supplement. They may also have some on hand. With Abby I gave him 500mg divided between two doses per day in the acute stage, then 250mg divided in two doses for a week after. Here at TCS, a lot of folks give 500mg twice a day (total of 1000mg), then maintenance dose of 250mg twice a day (total of 500mg). L-Lysine can be mixed in food. I also used Colloidal Silver (Source Naturals Wellness CS, 30ppm) a couple times a day, a few drops in his eyes at a time. I've been lucky and Abby has had no recurrences of this.

For what it's worth, Abby was doing better at two days in. No signs of this after a week.

Both ointments are for bacterial infections; one just happens to have neomycin, bacitracin zinc and polymyxin B sulfate while the other only contains bacitracin zinc and polymyxin B sulfate. I will have to visit the vet on Monday, since I'm now noticing the one cat is beginning to have a runny nose :/

Can you pick up L-Lysine capsules in the meantime and start giving that in food before the runny nose lessens kitty's sense of smell? I would give to both kitties.

Jules has given awesome advice so far. :nod: just wanted to second the L-Lysine, it has worked wonderfully for Lucky's eye issues!

I will definitely look into getting some L Lysine. I plan on taking them both back to the vet tomorrow to see what she has to say. Thanks everyone for all the advice!

When my kitty was younger & had recurring eye infections, we found that gentamicin drops worked best.  Don't be afraid to ask your vet for a different med if the current one doesn't seem to be working.