12 day old kitten one eye crusty - questions!

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if somebody could give me a little advice on my current situation - my cat Babalon gave birth to one single beautiful kitten that we have named Rowan. He is exceeding expectations weight wise (is always either gaining MORE than 15g per day of the 7-15 range or is at 14-15 per day.) He is feeding lots and mewing. I put a stuffed animal into the birth box so that he has some snuggle company. 

His right eye opened no problem over the weekend and his left has been shut. I just noticed yesterday that there were some crusty bits, kind of black, around the left eye. This afternoon I very, very gently wiped the eye with a warm wet clean cloth. The wipe helped him to open it a bit and I will wipe again when he has his daily weighing this evening.

From what I've read black/non-pus/not green/yellow is ok, right? He HAS been sneezing a bit, but to be honest it seems as a result of making lots of effort to flip over if he fell onto his back or if he's feeding with Babalon and some milk went down the wrong way. I have read about upper respiratory infections so have my eyes peeled for problems but he doesn't seem to have any at all. 

Should I just keep up with the gentle eye wipes and calm down until I see any evidence of anything bad, am I just worrying?

Any advice would be great. 

Here's Rowan with his snuggle bunny.

Thanks everyone,

Scarlet 

Hello? Anybody?

He's adorable! For his eye you should try L-lysine. It can help with the sneezing too.

The crusty eye and sneezing are probably related and L-lysine can sometimes prevent it from progressing further.

Ok, do you know where I can find this? I'm in Canada. Also, how much would I administer/how would I administer? He's (obviously) nursing so could I give it to my Queen and it would enter his system that way, or do I need to give it to him in a dropper or something like that? Thanks!

How long has the sneezing/crusty eye been going on? Did they seem to start together? Is this momma cat's first litter? Several thing can be going on, but if any alarming symptoms arise (that I will describe shortly) take the kitten to a vet ASAP!
1) sometimes first time mom's are still not 100% sure on the whole raising kittens process. They may not clean the babies as thoroughly as a more experienced queen. She could be accidentally missing that eye when cleaning. She might even show some slacking in cleaning since the kittens eyes are starting to open and the kitten will soon start to show more independence and try to clean itself. Not incredibly common, but I have seen it before when I worked for the vet's office.
2) how often do you clean the kittens area? Is their a litter box nearby? Sometimes mom will go off for some alone time and track in dirt on accident. If the litterbox is close, mom might even be tracking in some debris from the box. Since young kittens spend a lot of time smashing their faces into the ground while trying to learn their balancing skills and the kitten could just be getting dirt crusted around the eye. When a kittens eyes start to open their is often some crust or sticky substance for a few days before/after their eyes opening and this is prone to getting dirt in it. The drops recommended previously will help, but if the kittens eye is not open DO NOT force it open to give any drops
3) Does mom go outside? Are there any other cats around that go out? URI's are VERY contagious and will present with crusty eyes and sneezing. But usually there is a yellowish to greenish gunk that accompanies it. The gunk is very distinguishable though and there is really no doubt when you see it. It dries out to a yellow-green crust and the eye will appear swollen, even if the kittens eye isn't open yet. If there is only a little black crust, you should be ok. And kittens do sneeze as they learn how to properly eat and drink. If it becomes constant, like sneezing very close together over a long period of time, this could be a sign of a URI and should be checked by a vet
WARNING SIGNS: yellow to green sticky fluid that causes eye puffiness to a very noticeable degree, constant sneezing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, kitten is cold or very cool to touch, kitten starts to become lethargic or lose interest in eating, shivering, or "head drop" (where the kitten sits listlessly with a drooping head) are serious signs and should be evaluated immediately. Don't confuse head drop with normal kitten behavior as many kittens call asleep sitting up from time to time. Head drop will be very noticeable and accompanied by at least a few of the above symptoms. URIs can cause a kitten to deteriorate VERY quickly and could lead to more serious conditions like pneumonia. Pneumonia is almost always fatal for very young kittens and is quite costly to treat with a poor recovery statistic. Once the symptoms make themselves fully known, there is a short window to treat it before the kitten is past the point of no return.
Please don't think I'm trying to scare you! From what you've said it's likely that it's just a little crud that is not uncommon and not life threatening. But I hope that the information above can help you identify the exact cause, take preventative measures, and know what signs to look out for so you can be prepared to take immediate action.
I had a large rescue once of 17 kittens and almost all of them had URIs that were very bad. A few turned into pneumonia and by the time I realized what was it was too late. I had several pass away and had to go through pure tee HECK separating, quarantining, and getting medical attention for them all, as well as the emotional toll it took on me when another one started to to downhill and eventually died. The vet told me they were in such bad shape that the only thing to do was make them comfortable or to go ahead and put them down one by one. Each day for a week I would wake up to another ailing kitten who would be gone by nightfall. I tried very hard to do what I could and the vet helped me as much as she could with antibiotics and treatments, but there were so many kittens and they were so sick already there wasn't a lot to be done. It was very sad =( of course these kittens were severely malnourished, came from 3 feral mothers who were also in very poor health from infections and awful living conditions, and had I been called to the rescue a few days earlier before the illnesses got so bad I probably could have quarantined them immediately and prevented them from getting as sick as they were when I did finally get called out there. Your kitten already is in much better shape than these were as it is in a good home with a healthy mother and people to keep an eye out for signs of deterioration. Good luck and keep us updated!

Hi ladylion803, I'll answer your questions in a bit, I'd just really like to know what the proper daily dosage for Lysine is for a 2 week old kitten if anyone could provide me with an answer? I see that it's hard to overdose a cat on lysine but a 2 week old kitten I imagine is a different story. Any info? 

To answer your questions: 

I change the blanket in the birthing box every few days. Mom's been doing a great job of eliminating Rowan so there haven't been any accidents. I keep a close eye on the state of things. The Mom's litter is in the adjoining room to the birthing box - I tried keeping it closer but Babalon (the mom) would not use it there. I try to keep it and the floors as clean as possible.

Babalon does not go outside, she's totally indoors. 

I gently wiped Rowan's eye with a cloth again this afternoon and the eye was only being 'held shut' by literally two hairs, so when they were moistened the eye opened and is fine looking. No pus or discharge from either.

His sneezing really only happens either as he's nuzzling into Babalon's belly or after he's fed. It's certainly not constant by any means, and he is still very active and warm. 

I guess it's probably ok to give him Lysine anyway, just to be safe? I posted a question above about daily dosages for 2 week old kittens so if anyone could let me know about that, I'd really appreciate it. 

P.S. Today he gained 30 grams/1 ounce! I'm sure that's not normal...but I think that's good, right? 

I'm not sure of the L-lysine dose for a 2 week old kitten. I would call and ask a vet or post that specific question on the kitten forum of this site. I really think it will help clear this up for him I just don't know the right dosage.

I don't think you can start the Lysine until he begins to eat solid food, which he will when he is ready.  You should be able to buy powder which you can simply sprinkle on.  Make sure it's L-Lysine - there is the other version D-Lysine which is inactive.  You could give it to mother cat though.

30g - are you weighing in grams or ounces?  Grams are better as there are no decimal points to fiddle around with.  A genuine 30g gain is massive, possibly he had just been toiletted before the previous weighing and was about to be toiletted after this one.  But not to worry.  Keep a record - I use Excel as it will draw a graph for me.

Keep gently bathing his eyes a couple of times a day.  If the problem persists ring the vet who will probably want to see him - take both of them in if that happens.

Am curious about one thing though - you say Babalon doesn't go out - how did she get pregnant?  Do you have an entire male cat in the house or did she give you the slip?  She can get pregnant again very soon after birth, while she is still feeding, especially with a single kitten.  Ask your vet how soon they will neuter her, and take very great care not to let her get pregnant again in the meantime.

Hi,

My scale is in grams and then for my birth chart I convert to ounces. He was 11.3oz on Wednesday eve and 12.4oz on Thursday eve. Certainly this could have been pre-elimination, haha! But he is a big boy and does always grow on the larger side of what is normal from day to day.

Yes there is a male in the house, his name is Leto and he's 10 months old. He was a rescue from underneath a porch, his litter had no mother and they were found eating one of their littermates. We were actually just about to take Babs in to get spayed when we found out she was pregnant by Leto. He's being kept away in a separate room. Babalon has two large rooms in our loft to herself, and Leto plus our two much, much older girls have the main loft area. They obviously hate the door but it is fine for as long as it needs to be.

We definitely will not allow her to get pregnant again. Before the door between them is open again we are getting him neutered and her spayed, after baby Rowan is weaned of course. That's around the 10th week, right? 

My feral cat had several litters before we had her spayed ( we thought she was a neighbors cat and just eating at our place) and several of her kittens seemed to have eye problems and sneezing too. When I took a few into the vet, we were told it was very common for kittens to get these upper respiratory problems and not to worry about it unless the discharge became yellow or green. We were told to gently clean the eyes several times a day, and they did give us drops when a few got worse. After finding all these kittens homes we finally went looking for an owner, and finding none we were happy to have her spayed! She had 17 kittens in one year!  (and always brought them to us)

Well he doesn't have discharge at all anymore (the one eye was only 'shut' with two hairs, a little warm water on a cloth cleared that up). 

It's just the sneezing, that's all. No eye goo and no other bad signs except perhaps the sneezing. But like I said it could be related to being fed by momma or anything else really. I started putting lysine in the momma's food to start getting more of it into baby Rowan. 

The sooner he is neutered the better.  He will stil be capable of getting her pregnant for a few weeks after he's done, and his pee must smell disgusting which will gradually change once he's done.

Kitten sounds fine, especially if he is gaining weight. It's good that you know to weigh him after he pees/poops. Keep an eye on the sneezing, just to be safe, and get him to a vet as soon as he is old enough for his first checkup. If sneezing worsens, is accompanied by any other symptoms, or kitten starts to loose interest in eating or has any abnormal poops or doesn't pee much, a vet trip would be a good idea. Better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes kittens eyes when starting to open can seem sticky and that's not
uncommon. Yellow-green is never a good color for any animal. Mom could accidentally be bringing in some dirt or litter debris, but there's not a lot you can do about that, especially if she won't use it in another room. Quick warning though, once the kitten becomes more curious and mobile keep a close eye on him around the litter box! I have had very young kittens try to eat litter before and it is very dangerous since certain types of litter swell when wet and can suffocate them quite easily and very quickly. maybe try inching it closer to the door a little every day until it is outside the room? Of course, I'm sure we all know cats are not easy to fool and this may be futile, but it's worth a try =) good luck!

Sorry, went back and reread your post and I must have misunderstood. If the litter box IS in another room, great! It is still possible to track debris from it getting caught between moms pads, in her fur, and around her, ahem, "back end" when she squats to do her business. It's inevitable unfortunately and happens from time to time. I too try to keep my floors as clean as possible, yet I still manage to find litter in odd parts of the house on occasion. If mom does track a few bits in, just scoop them out of the box. From what you have said you seem to be doing fine =)