unwell cat - possible eye infection?

Splinter

Hi folks,

beginning to notice over the last week or so my cat is generally getting more and more lazy, shes still eating fine but just not as playful as usual (perhaps its old age getting to her, not sure of an exact age as she moved in with us about 3 years ago after a neighbour moved homes and abandoned her)

either way, came home from work today, she hasnt been out since i left for work this morning and found her on my bed not opening her right eye. i wont have a chance to get her to a vet before saturday but i believe its an eye infection. i have a picture here - any advise on anything i can do here to help in the mean time?

thanks
Mark

MsFifers

That looks nasty! Does she have her vaccinations? Cat flu can cause gluey eyes. Is there any way you could get her to the vet before Sat? The thing with cats is they tend to hide their symptoms until they are really v. unwell, so if she is moping about it is a sign she is feeling very bad.

You could try gently bathing her eye in tea to clear the messy stuff, (camomile tea bags even better) but she probably needs some kind of antibiotic so if you can get her to the vet sooner that would be great.

waraf

A trip to the vet is definitely in order Mark. Are there no vets around your way that have clinics in the evenings? Maybe a quick google search for vets in your area would be an idea.

edit. just noticed your location. I use a vet in swords and they're very good. They're open until seven during the week. Here's the link: http://www.merialvetsite.com/sites/lissenhall/hours.html You need to ring to make an appointment but that's never a problem in my experience.

PCros

Looks nasty.....bring her up to Lissenhall they open until 7pm on weekdays, two minutes up the road don't wait till Saturday.

Splinter

right. rushed down to the pet place in main street to get a cat carrier. back home, struggled like hell to get her into it but managed to. down to lissenhall, eye infection all sorted, got drops, home now and she wont talk to me :pac:

cheers for the help folks

PCros

Grand job.....she'll forgive you!:D

Mayoegian

Hey Splinter!! Sorry just had to post on this. I have lots of cats and they get thsi sometimes. Puss builds up in their eye/s and their eye closes. So we have drops for them, but what we also do, get a cotton wool ball, soak it in lukewarm water and rub really gently over their eyelid. The puss will come off. The drops deal with the cause of the puss in the eye, but the cotton wool gets rid of the puss! Right now, your cat is mad at you:p but he/she will come round!! Dont worry though!!! Hope this helped!:)

The Sweeper

See if you can get gauze instead of cotton wool - it can leave fibres that'll be more trouble than the original infection. Gauze is cheap from the chemist and has no fluff.

Splinter

right so, day 2. cat is moping around and barely moving. no purrs, not eating much. i presume its her body trying to fight the infection? anything i can do to help? been rubbing her and giving her water. hate feeling helpless

The Sweeper

Splinter, call the vet.

It sounds like your moggy has gone very 'flat' - listless, unresponsive, perhaps curled up small, pulling herself into a tight ball. Does she squeak in pain if you lift her? Is she fluffing her fur up? Those are all signs of a high temperature. Keeping her hydrated is very important, so good call on that one, but I'd call the vet and describe the symptoms, because it sounds like more than an eye infection - she could have a secondary problem like upper respiratory tract infection or something else. The other problem is if the eye is causing a lot of pain - cats hide their pain far better than dogs, but if she has no temperature then the quietness could just be discomfort.

Either way, I'd be calling the vet, because cats are great battlers who work through and show little when they feel off, and as a result signs of illness should be taken quite seriously.

Splinter

thanks for the response MAJD,came home last night and she was asleep on my bed, gave her a bit of a rub and she was purring a bit, first time in a few days. she was asleep down stairs when i woke up this morning so i decided to leave her be and ill check her whn i come home ffrom work at 4 and see how things are and call lissenhall. cheers again

Splinter

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Splinter, call the vet.

It sounds like your moggy has gone very 'flat' - listless, unresponsive, perhaps curled up small, pulling herself into a tight ball. Does she squeak in pain if you lift her? Is she fluffing her fur up? Those are all signs of a high temperature. Keeping her hydrated is very important, so good call on that one, but I'd call the vet and describe the symptoms, because it sounds like more than an eye infection - she could have a secondary problem like upper respiratory tract infection or something else. The other problem is if the eye is causing a lot of pain - cats hide their pain far better than dogs, but if she has no temperature then the quietness could just be discomfort.

Either way, I'd be calling the vet, because cats are great battlers who work through and show little when they feel off, and as a result signs of illness should be taken quite seriously.

went home at lunch to check on her and to put the drops in. yeah shes pretty unresponsive and crying a little when i lift her. tried to call the vet but he wont be in til half 2 so i'll give a call then. cleaned the eye a little but no real signs of clearing up. one thing i noticed was when she was jumping down off a chair she was very hesitant and then when she did it her paws kinda collapsed under her. presumed a)shes very weak and b) having only one eye open is throwing off her depth perception so the whole jumping thins is an issue? (that last one is just a guess though)

The Sweeper

Definitely back to the vet. That isn't a simple eye infection.

Splinter

back from the vet again, he said she has a slight temperature. but basically its possible that she either a)got a slight knock off a car or b) was in a fight and has something called cat bite/scratch? which basically acts like a flu of some sort and is making her weak. on antibiotics now, came home, had a feed, 20 minutes of attention on the couch and now ill leave her to sleep for a while.

cheers again folks, thanks for all your help and I'll up date you lot when shes back on form

The Sweeper

Glad to hear you've something else to work with. Hoepfully she'll come good soon. Meantime, keep her hydrated, keep giving her the meds (make sure you give the full course on the antibiotics) and don't be afraid to call the vet and describe any change over the phone - a decent vet will give you at least some advice over the phone and then press for you to come in if they feel it's necessary.

Splinter

woke up this morning by getting a paw in the eye and then she stood on my throat.

i think shes getting better :pac:

just wanna say thanks to you lot for the help very much appreciated

The Sweeper

Yay!! I'm glad she's getting better!

Now, PICS!!!