my cat has sore eyes

jimf

hi everybody

just after a bit of advice please my cat tom has sore eyes when I say sore I mean red with a sticky discharge

does anybody know of an over the counter remedy that I may be able to get that might help clear this up

I know a trip to the vet is possibly on the cards the reason I want to try and sort this myself is not money driven but to avoid the total mayhem of trying to get him in a carrier for the journey

plus he hates the vets and has proven to be a handful for me and the vet on his last visit

at a guess I would say it looks like conjunctivitis and only noticed it tonite

but if it has to be vet trip so be it I just hate putting him through it and if I have to I will probably ask the vet to make a house call and pay the extra it would be worth it

SillyMangoX

Try bathing the eyes with cold tea bags, can be hard enough with a cat but it really soothes the irritation! I don't know of it's perscription only, but usually it's chloromycitin used for conjunctivitis. I got it before from the chemist when I told him it was for a cat, but I don't know if it can be normally bought over the counter!

jimf

thanks for your reply smx I might ask the vet in the morning if he will prescribe without a visit

hes such an ould softie and pet of a cat that I hate to upset him jaysus he transforms into a total wild animal when he sees the carrier

even when we go on holidays to bring him to the cattery is a battle

boomerang

He will need antibiotic ointment or antibiotic eyedrops several times a day for a minimum of five days. (As they are an antibiotic, you have to finish the course, as it were.) Cold tea is mildly antiseptic but you really do need an antibiotic and these are prescription only.

The vet will probably have to see the cat as if there is corneal ulceration then eye preparations that also contain dexamethasone (a steroid) are contraindicated. You may not see a corneal ulcer with the naked eye.

angeline

I'm afraid a visit to the vet is unavoidable imo. I had my cat there recently and vet spotted that one of her eyes was a bit red with slight brown discharge so it was a mild infection. Yours is a tad more serious and cat will definitely need prescribed antibiotic eye drops anyway. My cat gets very distressed going to the vet but her health is so important and the vet might pick up on something that you would not other wise notice, dental disease, etc.

ferretone

I'm lucky, op, cos I had both my cats as young kittens, so just leaving the carrier out all the time with the door off, allowing them to play in and out of it, and feel safe in it, has meant there is never an issue with persuading them to go into it when necessary. However, I've had older cats in the past, where this hasn't been possible, and for those I always use a flip-top carrier, so as long as they will let me pick them up, there's no issue with putting them into that one either. If you don't own a flip-top, I'd recommend you acquire one for the future at least, as there will always be issues that absolutely need the vet, and not all of them are going to be treatable at home by having the vet call out either.

spur

I have used cold teabags on a dog and find them great. His eyes weren't as sore as you're describing, but there was a discharge from them. I was sure I'd be off to the vet, but tried this first and could see an immediate improvement and he was fine in a day or two and I didn't take him at all.
What I did was use warm tap water - just off cold really. dunk the tea-bag in that and put it straight onto his eye, I held it there for a while - probably only about a minute, but it felt longer! Then I dumped that, got a fresh teabag and did the same with the other eye. make sure it's not too hot and most importantly a fresh teabag for each eye - to avoid moving any infection between the 2 eyes.

The only other "home" treatment I've heard is to boil water, let it go cold and then bathe the eye in it. I don't know what it does or why it works, but it seems to clear up soreness - but I find the teabag far easier! The dog I was doing this one wasn't the easiest dog to do anything to and he sat there and left me do this - so I'm guessing he was getting relief from it.

Good luck with it.

Pumpkinseeds

He really needs to see a vet, conjunctivitis feels like having sand in his eyes, so he'd be very uncomfortable and probably sore, if he's outdoors he'd be more vulnerable as well.

Pumpkinseeds

How are Tom's eyes now? Hope he's feeling more comfortable.

jimf

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

How are Tom's eyes now? Hope he's feeling more comfortable.

had him at vets yesterday big row as usual trying to get him in the carrier much better today pumpkinseeds

thank you for asking

Pumpkinseeds

jimf wrote: »

had him at vets yesterday big row as usual trying to get him in the carrier much better today pumpkinseeds

thank you for asking

He sounds like one of our chaps. Jasper was a feral kitten, he's a lap cat now but by God getting him in a carrier is Hell. We use a large top opening crate for him and even then it almost gives us all a nervous breakdown grabbing him and getting him in. He fights for his life any way he can. We had him at the vet last month to have 2 teeth removed. He only goes to the vet when he needs it, is just too stressful for him.

jimf

I know exactly how you feel I felt awful yesterday morning but I knew I had to bite the bullet

hes like a demon even hours after coming home just let him alone and he eventually cools down

but were best buddies again today was working in the garage this morning repairing an oil burner and he kept knocking my tools off the bench any chance he got and running under the hedge giving me the two fingers

Pumpkinseeds

jimf wrote: »

I know exactly how you feel I felt awful yesterday morning but I knew I had to bite the bullet

hes like a demon even hours after coming home just let him alone and he eventually cools down

but were best buddies again today was working in the garage this morning repairing an oil burner and he kept knocking my tools off the bench any chance he got and running under the hedge giving me the two fingers

We put Jasper in the safe room for a few hours after we got him home, to let him recover after the anaesthesia and he dug a hole in the carpet inside the door trying to get out.