Sneezing and eye squinting--related?

Hi all,

I have a 6-month old kitten that I adopted about 2 weeks ago. He has been sneezing (mildly) since I got him. I figured it was a kitten cold, so I took him to the vet last week. She told me that because he had no other symptoms (like runny nose, eye discharge, etc.) that it was likely a virus and not a bacterial infection, so there was no medicine she could give to him. 

But, for the past 2 days, he has been squinting his right eye. There is still no discharge coming from it, but the outer rim seems redder than the rim of his left eye. I read online that sometimes cold symptoms can appear before the onset of conjunctivitis. Has anyone had any experience with this? 

I called my vet and she can squeeze an appointment in tomorrow morning, but I'm worried about my little guy and wanted to get some insight before tomorrow.

Your poor little guy - he is lucky to have someone who is keeping such a close eye on him and a vet that can see him nice and quickly.

When your vet sees him he will probably check the surface of your kitten's eyes, that the eyes are draining well (as sometimes a cold can block the ducts which drain them), and for any signs of infection.   It could easily be down to him having a nasty little cold but always best to check and let the vet have a good look at him, and see if he needs any medicines to help with what ever the cause is.

I think your vet will have a good idea what is going on when she sees him again.  Unless you see a coloured discharge which looks green or yellow from his eye and it looking sticky it is more likely to be a viral infection or something iritating his eye like an alergy than a bacterial infection - like your vet has suggested already.  If his eye looks more red and there is a yellow or green sticky discharge with lids sticking together, the best thing you can do prior to going to the vet is to very gently wipe over the affected eye/s with a saline solution. This can either be the same kind you can get at a chemist and is sterile, or you can make it yourself by boiling some water up, adding a teaspoon of salt which you then stir in and disolve thoroughly and then let the water cool in a covered container.  You would soak a little cotton wool pad or other soft fabric and very gently wipe outwards over the affected eye, using each piece of material only once so you do not wipe any bacteria around and perhaps spread infection.   If the eye looks red or is watering but no sticky discharge I would leave it alone until your vet sees him.  Sometimes a virus can cause little ulcers on the surface of the eye and they will be very painful - if there is no infection there your little one will be happier if you don't touch or go near his eyes due to the pain.

Mouse used to sneeze and cough a little when he was small, then got a very sore mouth, but I didn't really put things together until he was a bit older and one of his eyes would run clear sometimes at the same time as he was sneezing and coughing.   That was when our vet said he probably had the feline herpes virus:  Mouse keeps very well now he is a bit older.  I think his immune system has got stronger and he is better at keeping the virus at bay.

I hope all goes well at the vet and your kitten doesn't have anything making him feel too unwell or in any pain.