Yikes! red and weepy eye (kitten, food, antibiotics, house)

[scsigurl3000]

I noticed a few minutes ago that my cat's left eye was shut and it was red around the edges and weepy. I made some Lipton tea and put on it a couple of times and it's open and looks better (this is the remedy I got from this forum and used with a kitten that had this problem very seriously.)

Wonder what causes this? Can it be serious? Should I rush him to the vets? He hasn't been exposed to anything unusual, but he was sort of droopy the last 12 hours or so.

[chilaili]

Sounds like conjunctivitis. Can you carefully pull back the eyelid and see if the inner eye is swollen and red too? If so, you probably need to get some drops from the vet to clear it up ASAP.

[scsigurl3000]

Thank you for your reply. Don't see anything amiss in the inner eye and the tea seems to be doing good.

[Garden of Eden]

Keep up with the tea. I believe what chilaili was saying is to look at your cat's eye by very carefully pulling up on the upper lid to expose the white of his eye and so that you can see on the inside of your cat's eyelid. If both are reddened and the eyelid looks puffy, it might just be conjunctivitis and you will need some sort of antibiotics to clear it up. If you have Echinacea without Goldenseal (dang that doesn't look right.....sorry my brain is tired) sprinkle a tiny tiny bit as in a half of a pinch, on his food and mix it in. This might help his body to fight the infection, if there is one.

[scsigurl3000]

Well, I'm using regular Lipton tea, but before (another fur baby) I used decaf green tea. Wonder which one is better.

[Garden of Eden]

I came back on here deliberately for this thread, because me being half asleep posted some advice I am not comfortable giving. I wouldn't put tea on my cat's eye, just warm water. Sorry I said keep up with the tea.......

And I know there have been some massive arguments on here about adding a tiny tiny tiny amount of Neosporin to the wet ..... I use cotton balls ...... before you put it on your cat's eye IF you see inflammation on the cornea of the eye, and on the inside of the eyelid. BUT if you don't feel Neosporin is appropriate please don't use it.

[Heidi60]

Hi There,
You might want to try cleaning the eye with a warm compress. Do you have Tears in the house? That might help also. It might be an allergy so check with the vet in the morning just to be sure it isn't an infection or distemper. Keep us posted.

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by scsigurl3000

I noticed a few minutes ago that my cat's left eye was shut and it was red around the edges and weepy. I made some Lipton tea and put on it a couple of times and it's open and looks better (this is the remedy I got from this forum and used with a kitten that had this problem very seriously.)

Wonder what causes this? Can it be serious? Should I rush him to the vets? He hasn't been exposed to anything unusual, but he was sort of droopy the last 12 hours or so.

Tea?

Please check this out:

Efficacy and safety of mercuric oxide in the treatment of bacterial blepharitis.

It's effective, inexpensive,... and it works.

[catsmom21]

Please take your cat to the vet.

Eye problems are nothing to mess around with at home. The longer it goes on, the more difficult (and expensive) it will be to cure.

[Garden of Eden]

^^^Yes, that too! I know I mentioned getting your cat on antibiotics but you do need a vet for that!