Kittens swollen, weeping eye

Dublin21

Hi

I have two kitties, one about 4 months the other about 3.

The older one's eye started weeping last friday evening. It was quite red and swollen but we cleaned it out with salty water, kept it dry and gave him some L-Lysine in his food over the weekend with the aim to take him to the vet on Monday morning if it was any worse.

He didn't seem to have any pain in his mouth and was eating, drink and playing with us.
By monday evening his eye looked pretty much back to 100% and looks perfect now.
Problem is though as much as we tried to keep the kitties apart the younger kitten has also picked up whatever the older one has.
We were giving him a smaller dose of Lysine when the older one was sick but it obviously didn't prevent him catching it.

Im just a bit worried about the younger kitten as hes a lot smaller and the eye looks more swollen.. he also won't let me at it as easy as the older one. Hes quite a picky eater but seems to be consuming the lysine so im happy enough with that but any idea's on what this could be?

Both kittens are vaccinated fully, wormed and are kept indoors. No contact with other animals?

The older kittens sneezed a few times over the weekend but i haven't heard the younger one sneezing yet.

SillyMangoX

Is the inside part very red or is there a lot of discharge? If so what colour is it? Try using cooled teabags to bathe the eye and take down swelling but if that doesnt work you'll have to get some antibiotic drops or ointment from the. vet.

Dublin21

Inside looks quite red yes, not a lot of discharge atm just a small glob of white discharge. The older cats eye was running like a tap at times!.

Will try the tea bags..

Any idea what could cause this?

My reading so far has led me to Herpes, chlamydia or upper respiratory infection?

The other guys 'infection' cleared up within a few days which obviously im hoping the younger kittens will too but i have a window of a few hours before the vet closes for the weekend. So obviously im trying to find out what it is or how bad it is/when to be worried so i can either book him in or try keep it clean and dry for the weekend..

SillyMangoX

Well if he just has eye symptoms it could be something like conjunctivitis, sneezing or open mouth breathing with it could be an upper respiratory infection. I know my cat quite often gets eye infections with no other symptoms but it usually has a browny red discharge and the vet said it was an infected cut on the eye/lid rather than an actual infection. Sometimes my other cat gets a clear/white discharge and tea bags clear that but if its any longer than 3-4 days it would be worth getting it looked at.

Ado86

What age did you get the kittens at ? Where did you get them from ?

Could have a recurrence of a herpesvirus infection - this can reappear at any time when there is a stress, kittens often get it from their mother when they are very young and depending on its severity then, can reappear at any stage. As this is caused by a virus, the antibiotic drops dont cure the viral component but clear any secondary bacteria and often have an anti-inflammatory contained in it to soothe the eye. Im not sure if you've ever had conjunctivitis or eye infections, but they are generally quite uncomfortable. The fact that your other cat had it a few days ago suggests to me there is definitely an infectious component to it, the virus itself is highly contagious and despite keeping them separate, you could have inadvertently spread it yourself.
Personally I would bring your kitten to the vet and get some ointment for the eyes - if it gets more severe and their sense of smell gets affected it can put them off their food, and as you said with being so small that wouldn't be a good thing.

Dublin21

Thats great thanks SillyMango..
I would be a lot more worried if the older guy didn't have the infection before, as said it cleared up in a few days.
The younger one is just so much smaller that if its anything more sinister than an eye infection im not sure if he would fight it that easily.
Will def try the tea bags and see how hes doing tomorrow.
Thanks for the advise.

Dublin21

Got the younger kitten at 6-7 weeks (abandoned by mother) and the older kitten was pushing 3 months when we got him.

Got them about 2 weeks apart.

The older one had a few probs when he came to us i.e. vomitting and diarrhea, the vet took bloods etc and kept him in for 2 nights and could find nothing wrong so put it down to stress of moving home,. Hes been fine since bar this eye infection.

Ado86

The older guy could be the carrier then if he was sickly when you got him, and may have passed it on to the younger one now.

Dublin21

The younger guy was vaccinated before we got the older one but i realise that this doesnt necessarily prevent the infection.

I would have presumed the infection would have flared up when the older guy was actually sick (going back a month now) rather than recently. Plus the older guy was sneezing a lot last weekend too..

If it is herpes i suppose theres nothing much i can do other than getting ointment and keeping it clean etc?..

ladyjuicy08

My cat has chronic conjunctivis from calicivirus vet said once the discharge is a green /brown colour it's infected havta use drops in the eye plus also use tea bag and give l lysine whilst the infection is in his eye ...

Dublin21

This discharge is quite thick and an off white colour.
It looks worse today unfortunately but hes still eating/drinking and seems in a good enough mood.
Im cleaning it with salt water when i can, keeping it dry, using cool teabags every few hours, giving him some L Lysine and also a bit of Vit paste..
Hope it clears up soon.. it looks so uncomfortable

fattymuatty

My kitten had something which sounds similar. We foster kittens and he caught it off one of them. We brought it to the vet and like you said further up she thought it was either herpes/chlamydia. It took two weeks of antibiotics and eye drops to clear it up.

boomerang

Everything you're doing is absolutely brillo but he'll need a course of antibiotic tablets (Ronaxan) and an antibiotic eye cream (fuclithalmic or chloromycetin) two or three times a day to clear it up completely. Definitely go to the vet as these items are only available on prescription.

It's a really, really sore thing in kittens and it can deteriorate really quickly, putting her eyesight at risk.

Dublin21

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Just curious though, because the older guy had it from about Fri - Monday last week and it pretty much cleared up (Hes perfect now!) can i presume that this case will also heal itself with the younger kitten?

Does Chlamydia/Herpes usually clear up within a few days or what is the prognosis?

Hes jumping around now playing as if there is no bother on him.. although i know they are great at masking the pain!

Just as i came home tonight the older guy has vomited... never a dull moment with two kitties!!!!