Kitty with eye problem

We got 2 brothers earlier this year and they just turned a year old.  We just had the one into the emergency vet 2 months ago for a problem, and now his brother has runny eyes, his left one worse than the right.  Does anyone know what this could be or if there's any home treatment.  We're wiped out financially with our previous cats' problems (we also had one we tried to save in September and she ended up dying of Pyothorax), thousands in debt and my husband refuses to take this one to the vet.  I'm hoping that there's something I can do for it.  I have no income and am hoping that I can do something for it at home.  I still have this ointment that the lady had given us when we adopted our two rescues at 4 months old.  At the time their third eyelid was showing all of the time and she had been putting this ointment in their eyes for eye problems.  She's a nurse and had left this ointment with us...I just have to find it.   Thanks for any help you can give me.

Cathy

Don't use the ointment before checking the expiration date first. Take a soft cloth & soak it in warm water than gently wipe the kitten's eyes.

It could be that he's getting a cat cold, could be Feline Herpes, which is an on going condition that occasionally has flare-ups, and this could be one of those flare-ups, could be that he got something in his eye, and it's so bad that's it's actually effecting both eyes, could be conjunctivitis, could be numerous things.   The problem with eye issues is they can, depending on what is causing them, lead to worse things, like corneal ulcers .  That's not the  norm, but it sometimes occurs.  Is the tearing clear or is there a color to it?  Does it appear to bother him (itch)? 

Thanks to you both for your help.  I will try the warm wash cloth trick and see if that helps.  I hope it's nothing serious.  There's no color to the discharge.  Other than his eyes watering, he's acting normally and eating okay, etc. so maybe it's something that will pass...I hope.  I guess I was hoping that we wouldn't start having trouble with these two so soon.  We've taken cats to the vets in the past.  Other than our past cats' regular shots, every time we took them to the vet for symptoms they were showing, we ending up losing them every single time.  Two to kidney failure, two to cancer, and one for pyothorax.  My husband is adamant about not spending money we don't have trying to save any more cats, so I fear for our 12-year old's future since my husband said if he ever has a problem, we'll put him down because he knows it's just going to end up being a "waste of money" trying to save him if he ever starts acting sick.  His brother died last year of cancer.  I love our cats but after our Milo died last year, I swore up and down that I wouldn't get another cat just to go through more heartache sometime in the future, but then I saw these two brothers on adoptapet and wanted to give them a home.  They really are adorable.  I'm hoping that they will eventually settle down and become lap cats; right now they dislike being held at all.  Sorry, got off track there.  I just wanted to point out that I do love our pet kitties very much.