Sick cat with third eyelid showing?

Hello everyone! I just brought home Eve, a new cat I'm planning to adopt after a 2 week foster trail. I already made a topic about her ]here  with a small problem I had, but now I have another one.

When I went to see her yesterday, she sneezed a few times, so the lady at the shelter said she would have a vet check to make sure she's ok to go home tomorrow. They said she'd probably be better once she got out of the shelter.

When I went to pick her up today, though, the lady went to get her to put in my carrier and then took a while...and then signaled for a doctor...she said that Eve's condition had gotten a bit worse overnight, and she was sick now, so the doctor was going to get some antibiotics for her. She's sneezing pretty frequently, and has a runny nose that drips a lot, and a bit of what seems like drool. What alarmed me was that the third eyelid on her left eye is sticking out and covering about half her eye. Her other eye is normal...and both eyes were normal yesterday when I saw her. I asked the lady what's wrong with her eye, and the lady just said it's probably because of her sickness. 

The vet who was supposed to come to antibiotics just handed it to another shelter worker to hand to the lady to hand to me, so I didn't even get a chance to ask the vet about it. I was given an antibiotic to give to her, it's .9 ml orally for 10 days. I'm worried about her eye though, I've never seed a cat with a cold that had their eye covered. Should I be concerned, or am I worrying over nothing?

The first thing I would rule out is fever. Was her temp taken prior to you leaving with her?

Another thing that can cause this is a corneal ulcer on the eye.

Also, just to clarify, do you mean they gave you 90 mL total to administer over a 10 day period?? Or is it 0.9 mL?

Meaning 0.9 mL of the antibiotic daily, which would be 9 mL total.

Yes, 0.9 mL per day, sorry.   (This is why I'm an English major, lol).

I'm not sure if it was taken or not. I'm not sure if we have a pet thermometer or not, I'll see if I can find one. Also I'll try to add a photo of her from my iphone...right now she's sleeping wrapped up in a snuggie, so you can't see it that well.

Sorry to post again, but she's also not eating at all...I thought that was pretty normal for cats there were just brought in. But I gave her the antibiotic about half an hour ago and she just threw it up, and she's got a bit of frothy drool. I'm getting more worried, I'm not sure what should be considered normal for her cold and what's not.   

There's a lot to factor in here; but, she looks pretty sickly in the pics.

She definitely needs some food on her stomach with the antibiotic. You can try offering her some meat baby food. I use Gerber brand; but, you can use other brands, just make sure the ingredients are just meat, water and maybe some cornstarch to thicken. Avoid garlic and onion/onion powder. Stick with turkey or chicken. Most cats will eat this, even if they are feeling under the weather.

If she still won't eat, I'm going to suggest you syringe feed her some food before giving her meds. The baby food will be fine to use for this. Try to get 10-15 mL of food in her before giving the meds (more if you can.)

You can also try canned tuna in water or sardines pack in water. Tuna water can help keep her hydrated too, if she'll drink it.

Her illness is likely viral in origin and will have to run its course, typically 7-10 days.

There is an antiviral medication called Famcyclovir that can be used to treat feline herpes virus and Calicivirus. You could discuss this with the vet if she doesn't show some improvement in a few days.

Thank you CatPack!
I tried feeding her the kibble she came with, wet food, and some treats, but she wasn't interested in any of them. I'll go out tomorrow morning and buy her some jars of baby food...I hope it works! She's soooo small and skinny that I'm really hoping she puts some weight on soon, or at least starts eating.

You can use an ear thermometer to take their temp.  It's not 100% accurate, but it's close enough and safer for you than using a rectal thermometer. 

I would encourage you to get your kitty to your vet.  She might need a different antibiotic and/or eye drops.  Kittens can go downhill very quickly, so ASAP on the vet.

Unfortunately we don't have any thermometers around, I checked throughout the house.

I decided I would call the humane society tomorrow morning and take her back if she isn't showing improvement. I figure it's better for her to recover where she has constant access to vet care, especially since I have classes during the day. I brought her home thinking it was a few sniffles, but she really does seem quite sick, so I will take her to the shelter vet tomorrow and let them know I can pick her up once she's recovered.
Btw, she is an adult (2 years old), not a kitten. She's very skinny and small for an adult though!

Forgot to add: thanks for the advice!

She seems worse today. I tried to give her some baby food in a syringe and she wouldn't take it, kept moving her head and spitting. I called the humane society and left a voice message 2 hours ago to ask if I could return her for vet care, no response yet...I'm just going to go over to drop her off right now, so fingers crossed that with a vet close by she recovers quickly so I can bring her back.

I'm sorry to hear she still isn't feeling well.

I understand that she is currently a foster for you and that means that vet care is provided by the shelter; but, make sure she is going to actually get the care she needs if you leave her.

It just seems odd that they would willingly send her with you being sick and the vet didn't give her a thorough exam before she left c

Thank you for all your help though. I find it odd too, considering I wanted to adopt another cat before Eve that had an URI and they kept her for two weeks to heal...then.it turned out she was 't good with dogs, which is why I picked Eve instead. I'm not sure why they would keep her but not Eve. But I'll check in on Eve regularly to see how she's being treated.

I thought I would post a small update.

The last time I posted, I took Eve to the Humane Society medical center...so it's been about 2 weeks now. I call a few times a week to check on her (I bet the people there must be annoyed of me by now, lol). Every time I call, I get the same answer: she's still quite congested and sick. She was supposed to have finished her meds and received a vet check yesterday, but when I called today, they said she was still sick and now receiving a new set of antibiotics. They told me to call back on Saturday for an update...

I'm wondering if this is par for course for a sick cat? I know it's probably not a serious illness, but as days pass I get more and more worried. 

At the very least, the staff said she was eating because they were giving her something to stimulate her appetite...so at least there's that. 

Pompy said:

 
I thought I would post a small update.

The last time I posted, I took Eve to the Humane Society medical center...so it's been about 2 weeks now. I call a few times a week to check on her (I bet the people there must be annoyed of me by now, lol). Every time I call, I get the same answer: she's still quite congested and sick. She was supposed to have finished her meds and received a vet check yesterday, but when I called today, they said she was still sick and now receiving a new set of antibiotics. They told me to call back on Saturday for an update...

I'm wondering if this is par for course for a sick cat? I know it's probably not a serious illness, but as days pass I get more and more worried. 

At the very least, the staff said she was eating because they were giving her something to stimulate her appetite...so at least there's that. 

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Is there any way you can take her to another vet?  She's not getting better at a speed that I would want to see.  I would also want more information about what they are treating her with.

Thanks for your reply! The foster contract I signed states that the humane society is to provide all vet care. I can call later and ask about the antibiotic though. I know I'm probably being impatient, but I get very antsy and I'd like to bring her home as soon as possible...she seemed very sweet for the short time we were together, although mostly she just slept.

Hi Pompy, you already are a great fur mom/dad! I agree, somethings *not quite right* here. This has been going on too long, too long.

Despite what the agreement says, I say snatch her out of there and bring her to a different vet! Whine. Plead. Beg. Bargain. Threaten, if need be. But get her out of there.

(((((((Huge hugs))))))))

misterwhiskers said:

Hi Pompy, you already are a great fur mom/dad! I agree, somethings *not quite right* here. This has been going on too long, too long.

Despite what the agreement says, I say snatch her out of there and bring her to a different vet! Whine. Plead. Beg. Bargain. Threaten, if need be. But get her out of there.

(((((((Huge hugs))))))))

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Thanks for the kind reply! Since I wouldn't be able to take her to the vet until the weekend anyway, I decided to wait until Saturday as they suggested and check up on her then. If she's still sick, I'm going to go to the shelter with my mom and see what can be done.

Pompy said:

Thanks for the kind reply! Since I wouldn't be able to take her to the vet until the weekend anyway, I decided to wait until Saturday as they suggested and check up on her then. If she's still sick, I'm going to go to the shelter with my mom and see what can be done.

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Is this a county shelter? If on Saturday you're still on square one, I'd go to the county commissioners/write them/go to a county commissioners meeting/all of the above. At least get an explanation. RECORD EVERYTHING with at the very least the audio recorder available on most smartphones. Ask for written records/lab results "just so you understand". If you can videotape these meetings at the shelter, or get someone to, all the better. If they release her great. If not then it's no longer a "he said/she said" situation. Good luck, and keep us posted.

If you adopted her, I'd go pick her up and hightail it to another vet.  The stress of the shelter is only aggravating her illness.  She should be much better by now.