Kitten - Nasty URI or something else?

I have a kitten I have been fostering for just about a week.  He is maybe 6-7 weeks old and has what seems to be a nasty URI.  When I brought him home his eyes were weepy, he was congested and breathing through his mouth - I could hear him across the room.  He wasn't eating at all, was drinking water but was dehydrated.

I was giving subQs but he seems no longer to need that since his diarrhea stopped.  He is on clavamox and I have been bottle feeding him and have been using a vaporizer as needed in the bathroom with him.  The first 24 hours were pretty much force feeding but by now he is reading nursing for the bottle and will ask for food when he is hungry.  Yesterday he finally ate on his own.  One bite.  Today he did the same - he is interested in food, but not quite ready to eat it I guess.  His appetite has increased tremendously the past 2 days, has actually put on some weight and in some respects it seems he is finally turning a corner. 

And then there are his eyes.  I have erythromycin ointment for his eyes and this is a nightmare to apply.  I spend more time trying to get the excess goop off his eyes some days than I do feeding him, it seems!  To add insult to injury - they seem to be getting worse rather than better.  Now one of them has a milky appearance, for lack of a better way to describe it.  Not the entire eye - but where I previously would see what seemed to be mucous in the eye it just seems a white liquid of sorts.  His vision seems fine - his third eyelid is out, but it has been all along.  I was just given terrimycin to use instead - it's too soon to say if it is working better but it definitely is hurting him when I apply it.

Is there something I can look for to know if this is something more than a simple URI?  Googling herpes infections and calicivirus has done nothing but worry me more.  He's not mine to take him into the vet, and the emergency vet is close to 2 hours away IF we don't get snow if I were to try to take him in anyway.  I doubt they'd refuse to treat him if it came to that.  Other than taking him into the shelter tomorrow for them to have a look and hopefully make a vet appointment for him is there anything else I can do for him now?  I feel terrible to not be able to do more to help him but I'm at something of a loss.

He could have conjunctivitis which is serious if not treated. It's just a nasty eye infection and takes awhile to get rid of. Are you able to take him to the vet if you get approved by the shelter?

I would contact both the shelter and the vet that has already seen him about getting him further treatment.  I have never fostered so I do not know how that works in regard to getting treatment.  Perhaps if you get in touch with the vet you could ask if you could try eye drops if you think it may be easier for you to use. I had to use eye drops on my Casey when he was a kitten for the eye infection he had.  He was making a mess all over himself when I tried to use ointment. I was able to call my vet and just stop by and pick up the same medicine in a different form without bringing Casey back in.  He did need two rounds of treatment to completely get rid of his eye infection.  He was 7 weeks old when I went through this.  I was lucky because Casey was not hard to medicate once I switched from ointment to drops.

You can start trying to add some Lysine to his food if you can. They sell a powder of it so you can just mix it in. This will help if it is Herpes or a couple of other viral things. I have had a lot of success with terramyocin ointment for eye problems that I have had so hopefully that will start helping soon! If not I would say he definitely needs a vet. Is the eye itself white and cloudy? it could be an ulcer in the eye from applying the other medication possibly? Hope he feels better soon!

The eye itself seems clear.  The tissue around the eye is inflamed and there is something white in there, but it moves around and doesn't seem adhered to the eye at all.  I just gave him his night time application of the ointment and I can tell from his reaction that it stings, but I notice that in a few minutes the eye is more clear.  It weeps a bit more, but between that and the steam it helps me get him cleaned up enough to get a better look at the eye and I don't see anything that looks like a ulcer to me, but I have no experience with that in so young a cat.  I will definitely talk with the shelter tomorrow about getting him in - if all else fails, while I doubt the local vet (this is a small rural area) can get him in there is an office 30 minutes or so further out which would probably let me make an appointment.  It isn't who the shelter uses but I don't want to have him keep getting worse and end up losing an eye because it wasn't treated early enough.

He is in there grooming himself now, which is a good sign - he hasn't done that until now.  Overall at least he does seem to be feeling much better.

thanks - I think that drops would definitely be easier, so I will ask about this.  The vet typically won't see him (outside of a life/death emergency) unless it is arranged through the shelter but they may be willing to switch up his meds.

Yes - if the shelter OKs it I will get him to the vet.

He really is the sweetest little guy, and it's just heartbreaking to not be able to fix this for him!

Re the l-lysine, I will try that.  I have some I bought for one of my own when we were trying to diagnose some problems she was having.  He isn't eating enough on his own, yet, but I don't imagine mixing it with the milk replacement would be an issue.  He is very interested in food now - I imagine now that he needs his mouth less for air, he will be more likely to use it to eat and then I can mix it in with his food.