Feline Conjunctivitis-I need a hug!

My kitty, even on a good day, doesn't like to pick picked-up or handled. This is not  a good day! 

I noticed on the weekend that my kitty was not eating, I thought it was just a passing thing. Then on Sunday I noticed he had some junk in his eye and it looked watery and a little swollen. He only has one eye to begin with (lost the first one to herpes) so it was easy to spot!

I rushed him to the vet because I was panicking, and the vet gave him a couple of shots to boost his immune system, some medicine, and two sets of eye drops. Two! I can't even administer one, and now I'm supposed to give him two spaced by five minutes!

I also have medicine that I can mix with his food, but since he is not eating, I have to use a syringe down his throat.

The night I brought him back from the vet, I tried to give him the eye drops. Holding him with one hand and the drops in the other, I hope some got in. I figured he had a stressful night so I waited until the morning to give him the medicine with the syringe. I got some on me, some in his mouth, and some on his fur. When I came home from work, I had to pull him out from under the bed, got all scratched up wrestling him, but I got the medicine down. I tried the cat and towel thing, but it's difficult with one hand.

Like I said, he didn't like to be held even when he is not sick, now I am forcing medicine down his throat and into his eye. He's hiding under the bed now. I don't have the energy to try the eye drops plus I am a little afraid of stressing him out too much, and kind of worried I'll break whatever little friendship we had going. He sleeps with me at night but keeps his distance during the day, and I’ve had him for a year.

He didn’t eat dinner, but I think his eye looks a little better. He just walked into the living room! Nope, he ran away under the bed when I got up to get some water. I could grab him now for his eye drops, but then he’ll go back under the bed and may never feel safe enough to come out. I hope that the medicine I force down his throat is enough.

I’m just feeling stressed out. I’m not sure what to do. Spend all night fighting with him with the eye drops or just settle with the morning and evening medicine with the syringe and hope for the best? I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm a single dude who lives alone so there isn’t someone else here to hold him down. I guess I just don't know what to do, because I want to help my kitty, but I can't get near him, so it's frustrating and give me a feeling of immense anxiety. 

It is hard.  When I have had to give eye drops I find firmly scruffing the cat quite high up works - scruffing usually calms a cat down, and then I drop the ointment in.  I can just about manage to use one finger to pull the lower lid down slightly, and my thumb and another finger to squeeze the tube.  Some ointments are quite easy to give - Fucithalmic for example - others are difficult because of the way they come out of the tube.

Good luck!

Well he ate a little dinner, so I am happy about that. There is a little white discharge in the corner of his eye, but it's not red or anything. He's back under the bed where I can't reach him.I can't fight him for a set of eye drops, then another set five minute later.

I'll have to save my battles for a syringe in the morning and one when I get home and hopefully that does the trick.

I don't have any advise, just sending my good wishes that you can get the job done without losing an arm

Seriously, hope your little guy feels better very soon, so this stress on both of you gets relieved

Awww!  It's so hard when the little critters don't cooperate!  I have wrapped my kitties in a towel like a burrito and administered meds that way.  You can get a large cage/crate and put him in there for the 5 mins before administering the 2nd set of drops.