persistant eye infection

Hello everyone, this is my first post on these forums.

My 4 year old short haired cat has had an eye infection that has persisted for the better part of a year. My vet gave me antibiotic ointment to apply to his eye which I have been doing daily. With the application of the ointment the infection will go away but will always return after I stop the treatment. I usually apply the ointment for 2-3 weeks in a row or until I run out, so I don't think the problem is that I'm not treating his eye for a long enough period of time. The infection began in one eye, but spread to both eyes before returning to just his left eye.

Has anyone had experience with this problem? Any suggestions or ideas are welcome as my cat seems to be quite uncomfortable.

Thanks!

Hey there!

My cat Simba, was born with an awful eye infection, I had to treat his eye for 2 months. I had some weak drops that didn't seem to do anything at all, he then gave me much stronger drops, which headled it all up in the end, but I went through alot of packs, applying it 3 times daily.

I noticed with Simba not long after the drops were applied, his eye would shut up and all the puss would fill again. so I used to bathe it with warm water. an a little cotton ball.

Ask your vet if there is a stronger drop you can apply, it was more of a cream that you ran along the eye, it looked odd but it did the worked!

I'll try and find out what it was called....

Hope I helped. good luck eye infections are nasty!

Have you tried the supplement L-lysine? It has worked wonders for me! My kitty had the same problem when I first adopted him. I would apply the ointment,and his eyes were clear throughout the treatment, but a day or 2 later BAM the gunky eye was back. You can buy l-lysine in capsle form or do what I did simply switch to a food which contains it. One that does: royal canin-special 33, one of purina ones' formula also contains it. This is all I have done, and it has been months since the eye problem has been back. TAlk with your vet before starting any supplement though. Good luck, don't worry he will get over it soon

Has he been tested for feline herpes? It is usually the cause of such infections.

I agree with chichismom. It sounds like a viral infection, rather than a bacterial one. What happens is that the herpesvirus causes eye problems which then sometimes develop into a bacterial infection, but the initial cause is viral. That's why the antibiotics seem to work while he's on the eye drops but comes back soon after. I would recommend going back to the vet or even a different vet and let them know the treatment the cat has had and that it is unsuccessful. Something that works really well for viral eye infections is an ointmelt called Zovirax Opthalmic, only available from the vet. I'm in Australia, so it may be called something else where you are. The L-Lysine is good at keeping up the cats resistance to viruses. First stop though is the vet for another examination.

Thanks for all the help!