cat with eye problems

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VW - 23 Aug 2003 18:35 GMT

We live in a small dwelling in a rural area of BC and have 4 healthy
cats that love to spend time in our large fenced yard. We also get cat
visitors, many of which are friendly and get along with our cats.
We've had a very friendly male hanging around over a year who loves
getting petted and having some tasty food to eat every now and then.
At first he was shy and kept his distance - and we noticed his face
looked a bit strange, as though he had no eyes ... just slits. This
summer he got brave enough to come close and we could see that his
eyes do appear as slits, with colored pus draining out of them
constantly, and they're puffy all around the outside like bare skin.
I've never seen anything like it. He seems healthy otherwise and has a
good appetite. He can see to jump fences, etc. but does seem to have
some vision problems. He has various other scars on his ears, etc. My
husband thinks that someone near us owns him, but he's not sure who.
What can we do to help this cat? Can we take him to a vet (an hour's
drive from here) if we don't own him? Can we get something to help
with his eyes? I'm worried it might be contagious - I don't want our
kitties catching anything but I'd sure like to help "Mr. Scarface".
Any ideas or suggestions?

Vini

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Arjun Ray - 23 Aug 2003 19:06 GMT

| What can we do to help this cat? Can we take him to a vet (an hour's
| drive from here) if we don't own him?

Sure, why not? No one else seems to be taking care of him.

| Can we get something to help with his eyes? I'm worried it might be
| contagious

Yes, it could be.

The eye infection could be viral, bacterial, or a combination (where an
opportunistic bacterial infection takes advantage of a viral attack.)
In general, the discharge tends to be whitish or clear and runny with
viral infections, and brownish and gucky with bacterial infections. Be
aware, though, that definitive diagnosis of the infection usually needs
a PCR test in a lab with cells scraped from the eye.

There isn't much to be done for a virus except weather it out. If there
is an underlying herpes condition (not unlikely, as more than 80% of all
cats have it), then adding L-Lysine to the food can help keep it under
control.

For bacterial infections, there are topical antibiotic eye ointments, as
most oral antibiotics can't penetrate the membranes around the eye. The
tetracycline family is an exception, in particular doxycycline. This is
usually available as a raspberry flavored liquid that can be mixed into
the food.

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VW - 23 Aug 2003 21:46 GMT

>| What can we do to help this cat? Can we take him to a vet (an hour's
>| drive from here) if we don't own him?
>
>Sure, why not? No one else seems to be taking care of him.

Thank you very much for your answers! We'll certainly get some help
for our friendly feline visitor.

Vini

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Katra@centurytel.net - 24 Aug 2003 03:39 GMT

> >| What can we do to help this cat? Can we take him to a vet (an hour's
> >| drive from here) if we don't own him?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Vini

If nothing else, you can try going to your local feed store...
Many antibiotics are sold over the counter there, including eye
oinments, and they are not expensive.

If the cat will let you catch it, clean it's eyes out gently with some
tissue soaked in warm water and try to get all the gunk off, then
follow the instructions that come with the eye ointment. Usually just
a bead/line of ointment in the eye. When we have treated kittens for
eye infections, we just gently rubbed it in with a clean finger tip.

This will only help with bacterial infections, but if his eyes are
that gunky, that is most likely what it is.

Try to do it twice per day for 10 days...

If he gets too spooky, you may have to try some of the powder
antibiotics mixed into some food, but the eye ointments are much, much
better.

Keep us posted? :-)

K.

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k - 25 Aug 2003 22:59 GMT

No one should "go to a feed store for over the counter
antibiotics" when they are not 100% sure of what they
are dealing with.

Nor should anyone be suggesting they do, much less
telling them to do it for "ten days".

You can't just buy any antibiotic. Antibiotics may
not even be called for and should NEVER be used
arbitrarily.

If you aren't a vet (and you aren't) don't prescribe!

Damage can be done!

Katra@centurytel.net (Katra@centurytel.net) wrote in message > If nothing else, you can try going to your local feed store...

> Many antibiotics are sold over the counter there, including eye
> oinments, and they are not expensive.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> K.

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