funky eye - should i worry?

Starlight is 5 months old. She's a great kitten!

Today I noticed that her left eye looks kind of dull and goopy. It's not bright and clear like the other eye. It has a little bit of discharge.

When we first got her, she was very sick and had lots of yellowy crusty stuff that made it hard to see her eyes at all. It's not nearly like that!

It's been about 12 hours since I noticed it. It actually seems to come and go. It will looks icky and then an hour later it will look much better, then icky again.

She's not acting like it bothers her. She's not rubbing it or anything. She's acting pretty normal, I think.

Two things have me worried:
A few days ago she was sneezing a lot. The last few days she's sneezed, but not much at all. Probably just a normal amount, but I'm more aware of it right now.
Also, today we had playgroup at my house with 5 toddler boys. (insanity) Starlight was playing with them, but I wonder if they could have hurt her. She didn't scratch or bite anyone and stayed around, so I don't know if that's likely.

What should I do?

I would say take her in for a vet visit. It could be a bacterial infection.

Thank you!

It could also be an upper respiratory infection if as you say she has been sneezing. It's hard to tell without seeing/hearing the kitty.

sounds like conjunctivitis

Originally Posted by monahead81

sounds like conjunctivitis

Click to expand...

And what would you do about that? My kids get eye drops. Are there cat eye drops? I actually always start with drops of breastmilk for my kids and I'd say 3 out of 4 times it clears it right up!

My Godiva, due to her breeding, is prone to conjunctivitis. They do have an antibiotic eye ointment for cats. The vet gave me several tubes so that I don't have to come in all the time when it's pretty obvious what is going on. It really helps... the discharge is gone after a day's therapy, but I always keep putting in on for four days or so just in case.

It could be URI(Upper respiratory infection)like Yosemite said. Maybe the stress of the Playgroup just set it off. 2 questions. Is her third eyelid inflamed? You can check by lightly pressing on the top eyelid, the third eyelid will then come out. A healthy 3rd eyelid is white and flat, and irritated/infected one is red and puffy. Also ss the discharge green/yellow? If its clear it may just be irritation....if its colorful it usually means URI(this is 5 years worth of working at a vet speaking...lol). G'luck!

Thanks again all!

Her 3rd eyelid looks white. The discharge is almost gone, but is (and has been) entirely clear. She's definitely sneezing more than usual. Other than that she's totally normal - eating, drinking, using the litter, playing with my kids, mostly just sleeping in a sunny window and waking us at night for petting - her normal stuff!

It could be an URI or even allergies.I would call your Vet and tell them what is going on.
Lillys was sneezing,just a few times, and even though her lungs sounded clear,my Vet gave me some antibiotics for 7 days........because she came from the Humane Society