Horner's Syndrome that cleared up?

Hello, fellow cat lovers.

I am new around here, and it's so nice to scour these threads and see how loving this community of cat-lovers is. I am a cat mama to Pu'ar, a female calico (2.5 years), and Oolong, a male buff tabby (1 year). We are having a problem with Oolong's eye.

On Monday, 1/19, I noticed that I could see his third eyelid when he was asleep. I kept an eye on him, and the next day, I realized the problem was that he couldn't close his left eye at all. There was no discharge and he didn't act like it bothered him -- he just can't close it, and his third eyelid is visible when he sleeps. I took him to the vet Wednesday, 1/21, expecting it to be an eye infection, but she told me she suspects Horner's Syndrome. She told me that either it will clear up on its own in a few weeks, or it won't, in which case we'll need to check him out for tumors, cancer, neurological issues, etc. This is terrifying to hear! It's been a week now without any improvement (it hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten better, either). We are supposed to go back in a couple of weeks to check him out again if it hasn't started to clear up.

Oolong isn't exhibiting any other symptoms. He is eating, drinking, playing and using the litter box as normal. He's not walking funny, and his pupils are the same size. The vet checked him out for eye and ear injuries, and everything looked good. Unfortunately, I am a helicopter mom, and my internet searches have all shown up these horror stories about how there is usually an awful underlying cause to this problem in cats.

I thought I'd come straight to the source and see if anybody has hands-on experience with their cats and this syndrome? I am driving myself insane. In all my years owning cats, I've never dealt with one who had this issue, and I'd love to hear about your experiences if you have!

Thank you!

I have not had any cats with Horner's Symdrome, but I have heard of cases where it's cleared up on it's own.  I know it can take several weeks, sometimes a couple months even.  What I'm wondering, though, in your case, whether or not this is really Horner's, since it sounds like his only issue is that he can't close his eye.  Does that pupil dilate when the light changes?    Did your Vet give you any eye drops to put in his eye to keep it from drying out and to minimize development of corneal ulcers?

Hopefully he'll wake up one morning (very soon) and be back to normal

Thanks for the crossed fingers! As of now, there isn't any real change. He is not any worse and not any better. The eyelid is a little droopier now, but the information the vet gave me said sometimes Horner's Syndrome can cause ptosis. I think we might be at that stage.

The vet did check his eye thoroughly for any damage. We weren't given eyedrops because she didn't suspect any sort of infection, but she did prescribe antibiotic ointment that goes in his eye twice a day. This is to prevent it from drying out and help protect it from injury or infection. We put it in his eye, and then gently squish his eyelids together since he can't spread it out by blinking himself.

I just get so worried. I'm ready for him to feel better now, you know? If there is no change (or a worse change) by February 2nd, we have a follow-up appointment to have him looked at again. Hopefully, I will see positive change before then!