tearing eye, cat scratches it, lid injury

My poor Taxi has developed a teary eye in the last 24 hours. The tears are clear and watery. He's not squinting and the third eye-lid is tucked away as usual and is its normal color. His behavior in general is normal, except for slightly increased face-washing and scratching. Things took a turn for the worse at his breakfast this morning when he scratched his cheek and broke the skin on his lower eye lid. Poor Tax.

What can cause sudden clear tearing? He might have a tiny foreign body -- I can't see anything -- or an insect bite or sting. Other thoughts on what could cause sudden tearing up? He is a strictly indoor cat but centipedes and spiders do make their way in. The vet should be able to sort this, but I am a huge worrywart and I can't concentrate on anything else right now. All signs point to its being only a mild case of whatever it is, still...? And now there is the little eye lid wound to complicate it.

He is scheduled to go to the vet in a few hours. Right now he is asleep in his cat bed and I am worrying, and worrying some more.

Please try not to worry so much since he will be at the vet's soon. There are many possible reasons for a teary eye, most of them completely treatable. Generally, if the discharge is clear, it's not considered as serious, but it's good to get it checked out anyway. As you said, it could be a little bit of debris or he could have scratched it a little. Many vibes that it's nothing serious and over with soon.

I hope your Taxi (cute name BTW) will be okay.  I think he will.  If he got a scratch in his eye (from debris, being scratched...) it can be irritating for quite some time.  Also, vets can do wonders.  My cat Godfrey, actually came home one time with her eyeball hanging out of the socket (she was a feral that learned to trust and love me, but would not give up her outdoor ways)  The vet was able to operate and she retained all vision in that eye.  HUGS and sending good vibes.

Thank you for your kind words and vibes, vball91 and sanandreas. Please keep them coming if you can, as Taxi is not out of the woods. Both his lower eye lids are now swollen and his pupils have stopped contracting. He is back at the vet's again and they are running more tests.

Your Godfrey is one lucky kitty to have gotten through that with no harm done, sanandreas! :jaw:

Oh no! I hope the vet figures out what's wrong soon and it has a quick fix. Many for Taxi. And   for you.

Continuing to send good vibes your way.   I too hope the vet figures things out soon.  It would be so much easier if our kitties could just talk to us (and didn't try to hide the fact they were ill)

 

Thank you. I think we're better now. I'm so glad to say I mis-read the "scratch" on Taxi's eye lid. It was not a wound but really fluid from conjunctivitis, which was his eventual diagnosis. I forgot what the vet called the fluid. It looked exactly like drying blood, a dark red in color. I still don't know how his tears could be clear but then he also had a little of this dark red stuff coming out?

Taxi's dilated pupils were a mystery. They remained dilated for about 48 hours during the worst "teary" phase. They began constricting again normally a few hours after he started getting his Neomycin--Polymyxin B--Bacitracin eye ointment.

I don't know how my kitty came down with conjunctivitis in the first place. He is 14 years old, strictly indoor cat with no record of eye problems or allergies. The only extra-normal test result was elevated eosinophils. Maybe he is getting more sensitive to pollen in his golden years? If the ragweed is bothering me, the cats could be affected too?

Knock on wood, he seems to be doing much better. He is back to running around and ordering me to throw his toys so he can fetch them. So I guess he doesn't bear me any hard feelings for wrapping him in a towel and squeezing ointment into his eyes 3 times a day either.