Kitten's eye infection. HELP!

caribou

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Hi there! I have a new litter of kitten. (Which is an accident, getting my cats fix after the kittens are weaned)
They are ragdoll mix kitten and 16 days old today. There are 5 in the litter. 4 kittens opened their eyes normally in about 10 days old. One of them have one eye open and the other is sealed up by some dried up discharge. I used a piece of cotton and wet it with some warm water to gentally wipe the eye, then the discharge get soft, clear up and his eyes seem normal again. But if he goes back to sleep for an hour or so the same thing happen. His eye would be seal up again, and i have to do the same thing to get it open for him. The eye itself doesnt look red or swollen.
Is this typical in kitten? And will it go away as he gets older?
 

fleabags mom

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The discharge is drying and closing the kitten's eye. I used to have something like that as a kid! To be honest, he should really see a vet. Could be an infection or a cold or anything and personally thinking the vet's advice is the one to go for here. May be a really simple solution too! Good luck :-)
 

stephenq

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Often times eye discharge is part of an upper respiratory infection.  Other symptoms would include nasal discharge or stuffiness, sneezing, loss of appetite, lethargy.  but an early stage URI might not yet show these symptoms.  Given how young (and there fragile) a 2+ weeks old kitten is, i agree with Fleabags mom that you should consult a vet.
 

catwoman707

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Kittens quite commonly have the eye gunk thing going on as a result of the bacteria. I'd say more have it than not.

It's a very easy fix, simply get a tube or 2 of terramycin (ebay it's cheap) and put a ribbon in each eye for 3 days, it will be history!

As long as there are no other symptoms of an upper resp. infection that is, otherwise the vet will give you liquid clavamox for them as well.

Still will want the terramycin. You can get this at a vet however they will likely wanna see the kittens (office visit charge) and it will be about $15.00 per tube, over ebay which is about $5-7.00 a tube.
 
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caribou

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Thank you for all reply.!
The kitten have no sign of upper resp. infection. No sneezing or nosal discharge. And he is the chubbiest of all too so i dont think he lost his appetite. I have been giving him eye drop a few time a day and i actually see it getting better today. Should i still bring him to the vet?
Also, mommy seem to be very vocal now which she is not normally. Is that normal?
 

catwoman707

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Thank you for all reply.!
The kitten have no sign of upper resp. infection. No sneezing or nosal discharge. And he is the chubbiest of all too so i dont think he lost his appetite. I have been giving him eye drop a few time a day and i actually see it getting better today. Should i still bring him to the vet?
Also, mommy seem to be very vocal now which she is not normally. Is that normal?
Yes, she is being a momma, protective, vocal.

No, vet visit is not needed at this point, but can I ask what type of eye drops you are using?
 

fleabags mom

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it will be about $15.00 per tube, over ebay which is about $5-7.00 a tube.
I used to be a press photographer and was sent on a story about ebay and counterfeit goods. I was in a warehouse of goods seized in just a couple of months and I could not tell the difference on most things!  More often than not things on ebay are fake - ranging from clothes etc, batteries, technology, everything! And scarily medicine. I've always been very wary since then and would recommend all meds to be bought from a reputable shop. It's not worth the risk for a few dollars because fakes can be at very best, useless and at worst very, lethal and a cat can't tell you that's something isn't right.  Horrid people out there doing anything to make a buck or two :-(
 
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catwoman707

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I used to be a press photographer and was sent on a story about ebay and counterfeit goods. I was in a warehouse of goods seized in just a couple of months and I could not tell the difference on most things!  More often than not things on ebay are fake - ranging from clothes etc, batteries, technology, everything! And scarily medicine. I've always been very wary since then and would recommend all meds to be bought from a reputable shop. It's not worth the risk for a few dollars because fakes can be at very best, useless and at worst very, lethal and a cat can't tell you that's something isn't right.  Horrid people out there doing anything to make a buck or two :-(
I see that ebay has stopped all sales of terramycin. Hmmm....interesting.

I guess I got lucky then, I've been ordering it in bulk for years now for my rescue group.

Thank you for the info!
 
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caribou

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Eye drop called tobrex 0.3% which i got from the vet, (one of my other cat have some eye's discharge a few week ago so i took him to the vet, didnt use it all up so i thought it might help the kitten)

And very interesting about mommy's behaviour. She wasnt meowing, just make these noise like a moaning kinda. Never seen her doing that before. And last night she refused to stay inside the nest to feed the kitten, they were hungry and calling for her but all she did was sitting outside her nest and look at them. I didnt know what to do. But she seems back to normal again now. If something like that happen again what should i do?

Thanks all!
 

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Could be that the meds made them smell different - cats recognise each other by smell far more than by sight. So she was confused for a while. If it happens again after medication you would wipe a damp towel over Mom and then over the kittens to get the smells right again.
 

catwoman707

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Eye drop called tobrex 0.3% which i got from the vet, (one of my other cat have some eye's discharge a few week ago so i took him to the vet, didnt use it all up so i thought it might help the kitten)

And very interesting about mommy's behaviour. She wasnt meowing, just make these noise like a moaning kinda. Never seen her doing that before. And last night she refused to stay inside the nest to feed the kitten, they were hungry and calling for her but all she did was sitting outside her nest and look at them. I didnt know what to do. But she seems back to normal again now. If something like that happen again what should i do?

Thanks all!
Tobrex appears to be fine to use, however remember this is a 2 week old baby, which I found no information on regarding this med.

I would definitely err on the extremely cautious side, only an occasional drop if needed.

As long as mom got back in with them, nothing to worry about.

It's only if/when she will not go back in, then it's a problem. Sometimes they simply need a break.
 
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