Have anyone else's cats experienced "blinky eyes"?

The thread title may sound a bit misleading, but that's the only name I could think of for what's going on with Binx. His right and left eyes are producing boogies, but he doesn't have a runny nose, and from what my vet explained, he wasn't showing the usual signs of FHV.

What is happening is: Despite antibiotic eye ointment, anti-viral eye drops, and lubricant, Binx's right eye is almost constantly held at "half-mast", or squinted shut completely. He doesn't paw at it a lot, but it's still unusual to see, and each time I've been to the vet (I think I'm on my sixth visit in two months -_-), they've examined his eyes, with and without staining or the scope, and he's turned up no sign of unhealthy eyes. It weird that it's just his right eye :/

He's set to be swabbed for FHV when he has his urine micro-crystal follow up appointment, but was wondering if anyone else on this site has any experience, or knowledge, regarding this?

Please and thank you in advance!!!

~Raksha

Squinty eyes are a hallmark of FHV.  My six year old would get brief episodes of squinty eyes, and zero other symptoms, for years before she finally experienced a severe flare-up that sent us to the vet's.  The surefire way to tell if it's FHV is to start Binx on L-Lysine: if it rids him of blinky/squinty eyes, then it's FHV.  In my experience, smaller cats do well on 250 mg. a day, 500 mg. for average cats, or for a mild case of FHV that develops into a severe flare-up.  Dosage is really dependent on the cat.   Some cats can go for long periods of time before becoming symptomatic and a maintenance dose isn't required.  Vivi hasn't needed L-Lysine since her last flare-up a few years ago.  On the other hand, I have four that need a small dose every day.  

Best wishes!  Let us know how things work out if you decide to try it. 

@the3rdname  thanks for the insight. The vet prescribed a lysine supplement, which I've been giving to him religiously. So far there's been no change (but it's been less than a week since he started, so perhaps positive change will come soon), however, it's only his right eye that is all squinty. His left is perfectly normal, which is why I'm so baffled.

Sometimes, though, it could be something like an eyelash irritating the eye or even seasonal allergies.  Have you done any kind of eye drops such as tobramycin or gentamicin? 

@stephanietx  I have not, mostly because I didn't know those existed, and I'm wary of straying from the veterinarian path... the vet did pull a stray hair out during one eye exam/checkup, but the last stain/blacklight test didn't reveal anything on the cornea, and the scope didn't show any visible abnormalities on the retina. He doesn't have discharge from his nose, though every now and then he sounds like he's congested (but lungs are clear).

What do these drops do, and where would one come across said drops?

They are eye drops from the vet.  I was thinking they might help with inflammation and discomfort.  I had a non-herpes cat who had chronic eye problems due to allergies.  We used to give her a lubricating eye salve as well as eye drops.  As a side note, you can use Gentamicin drops in both the nose and eyes. We do this with our herpes kitty when she's very snotty and sneezy.

I'll ask my vet tomorrow, since I have to go by and have him sign off on some insurance documents. Thank you for the tip!!!

We had a case at the vet I work for where a cat kept coming in with squinty eyes no matter what type of drops were applied. At her 4th visit another doctor examined her and realized her eyelids rolled in (entropion) and her eyelashes were constantly rubbing her eyes. She had surgery to correct it and has not had anymore eye problems. I'm sure your vet checked for this condition but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Yes, my baby had something similar when I first adopted him as a kitten from a feral community.  The vet looked at it and said it probably wasn't FHV as no other symptoms were present.  She gave me an antibiotic ointment to apply to the eye (it was his left one), which was not a treat for anyone.  So I applied it twice a day for a week or whatever was prescribed, with no effect at all.  But after that I just left it alone and it went away a few weeks later.  He wasn't in pain I don't think, or not bad pain--he just kept his eyelid at half-mast a lot of the time and it produced a bit of extra goop.  So in that case, wait-and-see worked pretty well.

JDollPrincess said:

We had a case at the vet I work for where a cat kept coming in with squinty eyes no matter what type of drops were applied. At her 4th visit another doctor examined her and realized her eyelids rolled in (entropion) and her eyelashes were constantly rubbing her eyes. She had surgery to correct it and has not had anymore eye problems. I'm sure your vet checked for this condition but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

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I'll be sure to mention this next time he's in, which isn't far off, now. Thank you for the tip!

drawsonanything said:

 
Yes, my baby had something similar when I first adopted him as a kitten from a feral community.  The vet looked at it and said it probably wasn't FHV as no other symptoms were present.  She gave me an antibiotic ointment to apply to the eye (it was his left one), which was not a treat for anyone.  So I applied it twice a day for a week or whatever was prescribed, with no effect at all.  But after that I just left it alone and it went away a few weeks later.  He wasn't in pain I don't think, or not bad pain--he just kept his eyelid at half-mast a lot of the time and it produced a bit of extra goop.  So in that case, wait-and-see worked pretty well.

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I've been doing that unfortunately it doesn't seem to be resolving itself. Hopefully our next trip to the vet provides some answers!

Update!

I went to the vet to have his medical records sent to my insurance company (finicky *******s), and asked if they had a proper saline solution for cats. Well, they did and I bought it, and (so far) it seems to be working better than anything else they've prescribed for his eyes! The lysine supplement he's on may also be helping, depending on whether or not this is actual FHV, but since I've started this saline rinse, his eyes have been open and clear, and I haven't seen him squinting or blinking nearly as much as before. This morning both of his eyes were completely open, even before the rinse! Yay!

That's awesome!  You might try looking online to see if you can find the same stuff cheaper if you're going to use this long term