Asymmetrical Eyes / Smaller Eye Lots of Clear Liquidy Discharge

Hello, and thank you in advance for reading this! :-3

My youngest cat, Luna, is about 8 months old. I've had her since last summer, and she is a riot! She has a regular vet she visits, and the vet has never seemed worried or concerned about her weird eye problem she's always had since I adopted her. I should give a little back story about her: She was an abandoned alley cat (literally found in an alley dumpster), all by her lonesome self. We also think she is a runt because she is on the small side. So she must have spent some of her early days living on her own. 

Her eyes are asymmetrical - one is smaller/larger than the other. It's pretty noticeable. The smaller eye, most days, tends to have a large amount of clear discharge that runs down her cheek. She never seems annoyed by it, but my older cat, Stella (2 years old), likes to clean it occasionally. I have never noticed an odor from it, it just looks like tears to me. But there always seems to be a lot of it. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to happen while she is sleeping.

Again, my vet never seemed concerned about it. I recall her even saying "It is something she should grow out of" - but after this much time has passed, and nothing has changed, I am starting to really wonder if that is the case.

Does anyone know anything about this? 

If need be, I can take a picture of her eye(s)... (although she hates having her picture taken, such a diva!)

Again, thank you!

I think her story is beautiful similar to mine, strays are wonderful. Idk, but id google the question on line,

What your kitty has is called unilateral microphthalmia.

Microphthalmia is a congenital (but not inherited, it is completely random) defect of the eye that results in one (unilateral) or both (bilateral) eyes being of abnormally small size. It may not just affect the eye; the facial structure on the affected side may also be smaller than the normal side. Kittens with microphthalmia may also have other underlying congenital defects.

In severe microphthalmia cases, removal of the affected eye may be warranted.

Kitties with this defect are prone to retinal detachment, cataracts, colobomas (keyhole iris or eyelid coloboma) and may be blind in the affected eye. Colobomas of the eyelid can cause excessive tear production, as the eye is not adequately protected. Keyhole iris (colobomas of the iris) can also cause photosensitivity (extreme sensitivity to light, very painful), which may also cause excessive tear production.

Unfortunately, your kitten will not outgrow this condition. You may want to see about going to a kitty eye specialist, if you can.

Hi @StellaLovesLuna  and welcome to TCS!

I completely understand your concern, but I would definitely not freak out about this until you get a good diagnosis from either your vet or a specialist.  There are a lot of cats with asymmetrical eyes that require no treatment whatsoever, so don't be discouraged or downhearted by what you find if you Google for images or treatments---it's the same with us, you can have a mosquito bite and google it, and the next thing you know you are convinced you have malaria. Yes, some cats do need radical intervention, but not all.  If you Google micropthalmia, you will see mainly images of the extreme cases.  But there are varying degrees....I had a cat like this who lived to 18 with no procedures needed at all.  She did have lifelong issues with her sinus cavities on the smaller eye side, causing both some eye and nasal discharge, but it was not enough to need medication or intervention.  Don't worry yet until you have a reason to!!

I would begin by going back to your regular vet and specifically expressing your concerns and asking if they believe it would be beneficial to see a specialist.  If they say no and you are still concerned, I would go ahead and find one on my own.  Especially if you notice what you would consider symptoms of a visual disturbance or other suspicious symptoms.  Use your gut instinct, no one knows your cat better than you, and no matter how good the vet, they don't live with them 24/7. 

You say she isn't annoyed by it and acts--from what it sounds like--a normal 8 month old kitty!  Sounds like she is great fun!

I agree completely with hbunny! I didn't intend to frighten you with my post! As I said, you may want to see a kitty eye specialist, who will be able to look at the inner structure of the eye and tell you what degree of microphthalmia your kitten has, and what treatments, if any, are necessary.
The constant eye leaking is what prompts me to suggest you visit a specialist. If your kitten does have an eyelid coloboma, the leaky eye problem can very simply (in most cases) be fixed.

@moggielover  is right.....I took mine to a specialty clinic (lots of yowling during a 2 hour drive and a lot of $) but it gave us peace of mind because we feared structural problems (she also drooled with her snottiness and excess eye tearing).  Luckily hers were just minimal, and she did great.  I did have to wash her face a lot due to the tearing because it stained next to her sweet little nose...but sounds like Stella has that covered for you

If you have the finances to do so, it would give you a better perspective if you can take her.  If you don't, and I can definitely understand because it was upwards of $1,000 for us (and that was YEARS ago), get a vet you trust that can help.  Like I said before, you know your gut instinct. 

And don't wig out if you google "cat with one small eye" or something of the like and see the pics of the kitties with the extreme deformities.  Those are ALWAYS the ones that pop up first.  I saw the post about "google the question online" and was like "whoa"....I know you're gonna be freaked out if you do 

Thank you all for your insight on the situation! I thought my vet was wrong - so maybe I will just have to (like I do myself with my own health) seek out a 2nd opinion. If it is something that can be helped or treated in some form early on to prevent the loss of an eye, that would be the best route to take with this situation. Like I said, she really doesn't seem bothered by it at all - I've never seen her trying to paw at her face or anything - or rub her face on anything. Although, if she is in some form of pain and it can be improved, that would be the best. I don't want the poor darling to be in pain her whole life if someone can help make life better for her.

I did have a suspicious feeling that she might have poor sight with the eye. I've tried putting my finger near the eye (very carefully not to poke her) and she does seem to notice it. However, she's a nibbler - so she generally likes to bite me when I have tried to test if she can see my finger or not getting close to her eye. (LOL). She probably isn't 100% blind in the eye, but I'd say there's some loss. The question is: how much? I suppose her current vet doesn't seem concerned about the eye because Luna is so crazy and active - and that's putting it lightly. She definitely puts the "Luna" in Lunatic.

moggielover said:

This. So much! Oooh, do I dislike googling images! Half of the images are super scary (and on the extreme side/rare) and the other half aren't even relavent to the search terms! Lol!

Click to expand...

Oh, so true.  I am having eye surgery soon, and I made the mistake of googling after pictures....I had to make myself STOP!

Just sniped a picture of her - and funny enough, the asymmetry isn't prevalent in this angle of the shot. But I wanted to show the discharge on her face. The discharge looks kind of white in this picture, but it's not in person.

Oops "prevalent" wasn't the right word. I meant to say "obvious" instead. 

She is so pretty!!  She looks like my little Tina!  I don't think it's an issue from what I see, but the constant tearing could be a number of issues.  If it seems bothersome, I'd definitely get it checked.

Again...she is gorgeous

Aw thanks! Yeah she's quite the looker ain't she? I felt really lucky when I first met her and picked her up. The very second I saw her I was ready to take her home. Love at first sight!

Here's a pic of her as a baby last summer (my favorite!)

Absolutely adorable!!  My cat who had the one eye smaller than the other had a much larger difference than your baby. 

thanks! The difference in her eye sizes isn't very noticeable from my photography skills. But when you look at her straight on, you can see a difference for sure.