Milkiness in young kitten's eyes

My neighbor found a very small kitten on the side of his house about 2 weeks ago. It was scared and scrawny but we managed to get the kitten to a local animal shelter where a staff veterinarian would take care of it.

I don't know much about feline health, but am curious as to the milkiness in the kitten's eyes - especially the mucous-like discharge from the left eye. Has anyone seen anything similiar in other cats?

Thanks very much.

Maybe claucoma (sp) , or some kind of infection .

Could be anything from virile to bacterial. The best thing is to see a vet about it and get the kitten on medication.

Is the kitten with you or did you turn it in to the shelter?

Thank you Hedi and hissy for your ideas. I turned the kitten over to the shelter 2 weeks ago, and they assured me that a veterinarian would look at it later that afternoon. Just 1 day before, the kitten's eyes were a clear medium light blue, so I was wondering what could have caused such a drastic change.

I'm sure the kitten got good care at the shelter - it's "no-kill" and was referred to me by the other local shelters (which had no room or would only take kittens over 8 weeks old). But I want to be more knowledgeable in the future, should more stray kittens show up in this neighborhood (which is dominated by dogs-only people).

I only found these forums a few days ago - I imagine that the rescuers here give a lot more TLC than would be available at a city shelter. It's only after the last few days of research that I've gotten some small idea of how to provide a fighting chance for survival to an abandoned kitten. I now know that a loving and experienced foster home is better than a possibly crowded and overtaxed shelter.

awwww she is sooooo pretty .

Poor nutrition can also cause that milkiness. That is one kitten that will be scooped up fairly quickly. Calicos are quite popular. Thank you again for saving her.

Originally posted by hissy
Poor nutrition can also cause that milkiness. That is one kitten that will be scooped up fairly quickly. Calicos are quite popular. Thank you again for saving her.

Click to expand...

I'm glad that it wasn't an indicator of anything immediately life-threatening. I only wish that we could have gotten the kitten to a good foster home where she could learn from and romp with other cats - we are in New York City, close to Woodside in the borough of Queens where LDG/AirPrincess's Mae was found. I now know that I couldn't have given the kitten the right kind of care to nurse her back to health (I have no pet or parenting experience at all), so even a city shelter is definitely better for her.

The people who took her in at the shelter were careful not to make any guarantees, but assured me that a qualified veterinarian would look after her. There are surprisingly many cats roaming around New York City, and so many of the shelters are overfull - I figured that the kitten's best chance would be to for someone to take a shine to her at the shelter. Even though she's now in someone else's hands, I'd like to post the kitten's story sometime - either on the S.O.S. forum or maybe the Cat Lounge?

Thank you again everyone for your responses. These forums have an amazing community spirit, in sharp contrast to some other Internet forums that I visit.