Bob has a nasty eye infection and we are snowed in

I am stressing out. When we woke up yesterday, Bob's third eyelid was up a little bit, but still white. I flushed her eye with some saline and she seemed fine. I thought maybe she had a little speck in it or had rubbed it too hard. It looked okay and I didn't notice it getting any worse, probably because she was sleeping all day.

As of early this morning, her eye is swollen nearly shut and her third eyelid is red and inflamed, almost like cherry eye. It is even swollen in the outer corner of her eye. The side of her face is swollen, too. The discharge is clear and her other eye is fine. I can tell she is miserable.

The big problem is we got a foot of snow overnight. We are completely snowed in on the mountain and I don't know when we will be able to get out. Normally, I would have had her at the vet or made an appointment for later today. I have some leftover Tobramycin from one of Pooper's eye infections, so I used some on Bob. I know not enough time has passed for the meds to make a difference, but her eye just looks so bad. I have been doing warm compresses on her eye every few hours. I feel so helpless. I hate it when my babies are hurt or sick. I cannot stand that we are stuck here and cannot get her proper help.

Bob was a stray who came to us nearly blind in one eye, so, of course, the infection is in her good eye. She can barely see now and I think that has her freaked out. She is napping on the bed and has jumped down once to use the box (a nice, big pee). I picked her up and put her back on the bed.

She is my kitty who was very sick 6 months ago and we have worked hard to put some weight back on her. I swear she has already lost weight in the past 24 hours. She feels so frail, but I can't tell if that is me overreacting and freaking myself out even worse. She slept all day yesterday, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. I didn't notice if she ate anything yesterday because I didn't realize anything was wrong and wasn't paying particular attention. Her eye must have already been really bothering her. I have been giving her little portions of wet food with warm water mixed into it. She is drinking the water, but only giving the food a few licks. If she won't eat more, I am going to have to syringe feed her to get something substantial in her belly. I tried to interest her in some baked chicken, one of her favorites, but it was a no go. Her nose is stuffy because her eye is runny, so that is probably why she won't eat. Plus, she feels like crap. My poor baby.

I think I am doing everything I can for her here at home. Mostly, I just needed to vent because I am stressed and scared. I hope the drops help and we can get off the mountain tomorrow.

Keep doing what you're doing for her eye and if Bob's not eating, be sure to syringe feed or force feed to get food in him to fight the infection. It's important that he stay hydrated and eating.  Warm up canned food and offer it to him to see if he'll eat it.  Just a few seconds in the microwave or in a water bath for a couple of minutes should do the trick.  Do you notice any nasal congestion?

Thanks for answering, I feel like a nervous mother hen. Her nose is stuffy and I figure that is because her eye is running. She doesn't sound congested, just a little runny. I am thinking that is why she won't eat- she can't smell the food. When she drinks the water out of the food I have been giving her, she snorts and snuffles a little. I hate syringe feeding her because she hates it, but if she won't eat next time I offer her food, I am going to have to.
Do you know how long it will be before the tobramycin makes a noticeable difference? If I could just see some improvement, I would feel so much better.
The good news is the sun is out and he snow is starting to come off the trees. The bad news is the temp isn't going above 30 until Wednesday. I think Thursday will be the earliest we can get out.

I think you are doing all you can, the warm compresses are a good idea. I would think the antibiotic should start kicking in in 48 hours. You are lucky you have it, you might want to get some extra from the vet and keep it in your fridge for emergencies. You do know that by not giving ALL of the antibiotic to your other cat you could be developing a resistant bacteria in him that might not respond to antibiotics the next time? They also have an antibiotic injection that lasts a week if your cats are hard to pill.Do you have any L-Lysine around for the immune system? They have it in treat form on the internet, it's good to keep around. You could also call the vet to see if you can do anything else. Good luck and keep us posted!

The tobramycin is an eyedrop, 2x a day for 10 days. The bottle is large enough, I think I probably have a second full course in it. Pooper has a blocked tear duct, so she sometimes gets an eye infection when she gets a stuffed nose from her seasonal allergies, so we usually have some on hand. Pooper's eye has never been as swollen as Bob's is, though.
Bob has gotten the drops twice so far, 2 am and an hour ago, so hopefully tomorrow morning there will be a difference. I am so glad it is not a pill! Bob is impossible to pill. We have to burrito her and I really don't want to stress her out any more than she already is. I was going to compress her again, but she went back to sleep after her drops, and I do not want to wake her yet. In an hour, I am going to wake her for food and do a warm washcloth bath and compress. I wish we had some l-lysine. I have been meaning to get that and some lactoferrin for Sammy, but I keep forgetting. It has been a crazy winter. This is the fourth time we have been snowed in.

Something else you can try is a green tea compress.  Steep green tea and then use the tea bag for a warm compress.  To help with the nose and struggling to eat due to drainage, try elevating the food dish on some books or pieces of wood so that Bob won't have to bend her head down as far to eat.

Colloidal silver is a great natural antibiotic. I spray some in my cats' and dogs' water dish every day. If their is a problem with the eye, a drop of colloidal silver can be put straight in the eye. It's nano-size particles are amazing.

Make sure you're feeding the kitty high-quality food. That's super important for good health. I mix a few high-quality foods together so my cats have variety. Avoid corn and by-products.

If Bob's problem is a virus, the eye drops might not work. The colloidal silver would work.

Colostrum is also a good immune system booster. You can find it in powder form at the health food store. Sprinkle some on their food or mix it in with canned food. Best kind is from New Zealand where they treat their cows much better than in the US. They let them graze on grass so they're much more content and healthier.

He may be able to smell fishy foods better so you could try that. Maybe he'd lap up some chicken broth.

Oh my gosh. It is 4am, I woke up and Bob had reddish brown, slimy goo all over the corner of her mouth and it was on the bed where she was laying. Her face isn't swollen as bad anymore. She must have had an abscessed tooth, and the swelling affected her eye. Poor baby! I had no idea. I thought about it when she was swollen and even felt along her face to check for tenderness, but she didn't react at all, so I ruled it out and focused on her eye. No wonder she looks thinner, she must have been eating very little the past few days. She is a grazer, even with canned food, so it is hard to tell exactly how much she is eating. And what she doesn't eat, her piggy siblings finish. I give her small portions all throughout the day. She is eating some canned food with warm water now, and she even came over to beg for it, like she normally does in the morning. She is more active and alert, too. I am glad she is feeling a little better. She just hopped up on the bed, so i am going to give her a little sponge bath.

Edit: She ate about a TB. of canned food and it is now nibbling on some canned chicken. Oh, yeah, it was definitely an abscess, the goo had that special smell. Once I got her totally cleaned up, I was very happy to see that it did not come through her cheek and stayed localized around the tooth. Although I feel bad for her, I feel so much better because abscesses are something I am very familiar with and know how to treat. Eye problems really freak me out. I am hoping the infection didn't spread into her eye, though. I am holding off on the drops to see if her eye un-swells on its own now that the pressure is gone. That should happen gradually over the next several hours. If not, back to the drops until we can get to the vet. Oh, and I put her on a course of Amoxicillian for her tooth. Fun, fun. She just loves getting meds. She is already acting more like herself, interested in what is going on around her and glaring at her little brother.

The eye swelling is going down faster than I expected! Already, I can see twice as much of her eye than I could before. Her third eyelid is still inflamed, but she is looking at me with both eyes and seems to be focusing. Before, the eye was too puffy to be of any use.
I have been continuing with the warm compresses to make sure all the infection drains out.
She ate again, just a little bit more canned food with room temp water added, and she has started following me around everywhere again. She's my little stalker.
She has laid down for a nap and her position looks more natural and relaxed.

Here is a photo of Bob, (pre-abscess, she looks a little gruesome right now) so you know who I am talking about.

You know, I wondered about an abscess, but I couldn't figure out how the eye was so infected. I'm so glad it 'popped' on it's own so she didn't have to have surgery! She should be on her way to healing now, good luck!

Thank you I was just putting the blankets in the washer. Boy, that stuff is stinky.

I finally got her relaxed enough to thoroughly examine her mouth (she was a stray and is not cool with excessive handling) and it was the tooth just behind her upper canine, right below her eye. It looks good now, or at least as good as it can look under the circumstances. She is such a very tough little kitty. I cannot believe she didn't even squirm when I was feeling her face last night. It had to hurt like hell.

I am so fortunate to have to proper meds here at the house. One of my other cats gets recurring gum infections. There is always a full bottle of amoxicillian in the house in case he flares up while we save money for his extractions (they haven't officially called it stomatitis because he doesn't get the ulcers, thank goodness). I am a bit surprised nothing was said about Bob's teeth at her last vet visit. It looks like she might need 2 or 3 teeth pulled. Sigh. It is so darn expensive to have vet dental work done around here, but I will find a way.

I spoke to my vet and she said we are doing what she would have done, so that makes me feel good. It is such a relief. As long as all continues to go well, we have an appointment next Tuesday. She said to call if Bob doesn't continue to steadily improve and we can come in that day. I just looked up the weather again, and they are forecasting freezing rain tonight, on top of all this snow. We are definitely not getting out any time soon. Now, I am more concerned about running out of milk for my coffee! That could get very ugly, indeed.

This reminds me of when I was having my dental issues. Once, I had an abscessed tooth that swelled enough to put pressure on a nerve in my face. The whole side of my face went slack. It was terrifying, but went away after a couple days of antibiotics. I really empathize with Bob because I know how painful a rotten, infected tooth can be.

Little sweetness ate a tiny bit more and is napping again. And she took a trip to the litter box before her nap.

Wow!  Glad you figured out what was causing the pain and eye problems and glad you're on top of it!  Hope she continues to improve and do well.  She's a beauty!!

When it rains, it pours ... Bob is doing much better, but last night, Sammy took a big, pink pee in front of the litter box. Sigh. The good news is we finally got out today and took them both to the vet. The bad news is I now have two grumpy kitties who hate getting meds. Four doses of antibiotics a day between the two of them. Aarrrgh!
My husband and I were talking and we realized that other than Bob's scary bout with dehydration 6 months ago and Sammy's gums, we have had a long spell of healthy kitties. I am very grateful for that. We haven't had an ER trip in almost two years. I'll take an abscess and a UTI over some of the other major issues we have had to deal with any day.
Also, today, I was handing out treats and Bob toughed it out to eat some kitty crack, I mean Temptations. She chewed on the opposite side of her mouth. I was shocked! I had a little tibit of shredded chicken ready for her, but she wanted the junk. She is definitely feeling better.

Bob passed away today and I am heartbroken. She was doing so well. The abscess cleared up, she was still on her antibiotics and her behavior returned to normal. But that only lasted for two days. She stopped eating. After consulting the vet, who said refusal to eat is common with some antibiotics and very common with mouth issues, I started force feeding her every 2-4 hours, Hill's a/d and some Pedialyte to prevent dehydration. Her poor little body just wouldn't process the food. I do not have a car, so when my husband got home this afternoon, we were going to take her in to the vet again for another evaluation. She didn't make it. She passed away in her sleep.

She was very sick about 6 or 8 months ago and lost a lot of weight. We had been working hard to help her regain the weight and were somewhat successful. She was just big enough to be healthy, so when she stopped eating, she went from thin but healthy to emaciated in the space of 36 hours. And this was with assisted feeding.

I should have taken her in immediately when I noticed the a/d wasn't helping, but last time she was sick it took 3 or 4 days to notice a difference. So I kept feeding her and waiting for her to perk up. The vet thinks she must have had an underlying illness, maybe cancer or kidney disease. Something inside her had shut down.

After looking at old photos, it became obvious that she has gradually been getting smaller over the past two years. She was a bit chunky when we took her in off the street 6 years ago, so we thought a little weight loss wasn't a bad thing. Plus, we got Pooper about three years ago and figured Bob was simply getting more exercise from playing with Pooper. The big weight loss from her last illness was not normal and she never fully bounced back from it. I keep second and third guessing every decision we have made for her. This sucks. I miss her so much already. Her bed looks so empty.

This afternoon, I knew Bob was going to die because of something Pooper did. About three hours before Bob passed, Pooper sat in the exact spot where Bob had been napping and cried the most awful, sad meows. I have never heard a noise like this come out of Pooper's mouth. She was wailing. I thought she had hurt herself somehow, but she was physically fine when I checked. I just knew Bob was leaving us when I heard Pooper cry like that. They were best buddies.

I'm so sorry for your loss.



It sounds as if you were doing everything you could to help Bob, I don't think getting to the vet a day or two earlier would have made any difference.

Thank you for taking her in off the street and giving her 6 happy years. I hope you and Pooper can console each other somehow.

Aw, happybird , I'm very sorry about Bob. What a horrible turn of events...just when you thought she was getting better. I know everyone says it, and it doesn't make it suck any less, but at least she's not in pain anymore. How special that you guys had each other for so long. Hugs to you and your other kitty.

Thank you, Norachan and Krashballz. I gave Poops a little bit of the leftover a/d and that seems to have cheered her some. She loves that stuff.
She keeps alternating between wandering around, looking lost and hiding behind the recliner. She seems confused, the poor baby.

Poor kitty Give her lots of loves. Who was oldest, Pooper or Bob?

Krashballz said:

Poor kitty Give her lots of loves. Who was oldest, Pooper or Bob?

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Bob was older. She was about 10 and Pooper will be three soon. They are my two tuxedo kitties. The town we used to live in had a huge feral and stray cat population and the majority were black and white. That town was simply crawling with tuxedo kitties. We took in 3 strays, but Sammy is the oddball. He's orange tabby.

Oh that sounds like heaven- a whole town crawling with tuxies! Too bad they're feral. You're so sweet for taking a few of them in and giving them good homes And at least you 3 still have each other. It's so hard on everybody when one is lost.