Cat with third eyelid showing?

morganafay

My cat's third eyelids were a bit closed this evening. I thought he was sleepy but they were still like that a couple of hours later. I know that means he could be sick but he is eating fine and energetic, so I don't know what kind of sick, so any ideas what it could be? Or is it probably nothing?

He's vaccinated, neutered and about 3 years old, in good health always.

I know the vet would just say to keep an eye on him! I guess that's what I'll do for a couple of days anyway, but just wondering if this ever happened anyone else's cat?

Heckler

Hi,

When I got my cat about 6 months ago he was quite ill. Worms and fleas and such. But as well as that we noticed his 3rd eyelid quite a bit as well. The vet gave us drops (can't remember the name offhand) and it seemed to clear it right up. After worming and so on he was fine but recently i've started to notice the 3rd eyelid a bit again and his eye is weeping a small bit. Maybe a recurring eye infection. He's fine in every other respect. In fact I'd like the vet to give him valium he's so hyper !

Take him/her to the vet to sort it out. Only something small i'd wager.

Just checked: the drops are called Fucithalmic.

good luck with it.

morganafay

Thanks

He's due to be wormed soon anyway, so I'll try that, and check for fleas, etc. I have kittens at the moment who had cat flu before I got them, but are ok now, but sometimes still have slightly weepy eyes, so maybe he picked up something off them, though he is vaccinated.

Quiet_thought

I have the same problem and am really worried about him.
The third eyelid isn't showing all the time, but he's also gotten really 'gassy' and his diet hasn't changed.
We did get a new kitten about 3 weeks ago, but they get on really well, sleeping together, cleaning ech other and all that.

morganafay

Someone said it could be the stress of getting a new animal, but my cat likes the kittens too. I have a new puppy too, who chases the cat, but he doesn't seem very bothered, he just jumps out of the way and is used to dogs . . .

When he shows up for his breakfast I'll check his eyes again.

Quiet_thought

Well of course I had to scare myself by googling his symptoms!! It all points to intestinal parasites.
My poor little baby! He's going straight to the vet after work

boomerang

If he had cat flu at any time in the past, he would have recovered from the bout of it, but the virus does linger in the nerve endings so they can have a flare up at times of stress (say, new cat in the household, change of home etc) or if his immune system is not working as it should be. That's when you'll see inflammation in the eyelid, or weepiness of the eye.

I would start giving him a crushed Lysine tablet over his food every day - it's a great immune booster and helps prevent the cat flu symptoms from flaring up. Lysine is tasteless and there are no side-effects, even with long-term use. ;-) You can buy it in the chemist in the healthfood section - it comes in 500mg tabs and sixty days supply is about €8 or €9.00. (You can probably buy it cheaper online.)

Some people sprinkle the Lysine over the cat's water, or mix it through wet food, although I just sprinkle it on the dry food. And if your cats share food bowls, it won't do the other kitties any harm if they have some Lysine too - in fact if they have weepy eyes, it'll help them too.

morganafay

I found him when he was about 7 weeks, so maybe he had cat flu before that, but he hasn't since anyway. His eyes aren't swollen or weepy, just that the third eyelid is slightly closed.

Today he seemed a little quiet, eyelids still the same, but eating fine, not weak, just not running around as normal.

For a second I thought I saw a tick on him, but it was just one of those sticky ball things, I don't know what they're called, that come off of plants.

He does have scratches on his head though, there's an aggressive tom cat around that attacks him. My cat doesn't seem to know he's a tom cat and doesn't fight at all, but some times the other cat gets him. :rolleyes: The other cat attacks my old female cat too, who wouldn't fight at all. But yeah, I thought maybe a slight infection from the scratches or something maybe?

I'm definitely going to worm him anyway, I have worming tablets, so just waiting for him to come back from his adventures again!

Quiet_thought

I wormed my lad lad night, hopefully will see some improvment.

I've to bring the little one to the vet this evening for her vaccinations so I'm going to talk to the vet about the other and see what he suggests.

The thing that baffles me though, is he's an indoor cat. I really don't know where he could have picked up a bug or anything...

morganafay

I wormed my cat last night too. This morning he's much the same though . . . I won't be able to bring him to the vet til monday anyway.

Graces7

It can be a symptom of one form of cancer; I had this with an older Siamese once. Cannot get the sites up but ask google re third eyelid. google is an excellent resource for all these issues.

The vet is the best idea here.

Quiet_thought

Well i was at the vet today with the kitten getting her vaccinated and spoke to the vet about my older one.
He said it's common when a big change takes place ie: new kitten arriving.
So he told me if it's still happening in a few weeks to come back, but that it's quite normal....
feel somewhat relieved, but we'll see how it goes.

morganafay

That's interesting since I have gotten two new kitens and a new puppy recently. I didn't think the cat was bothered, but maybe that is it. There's also that tom cat always trying to attack my cats too though, so maybe that is stressing him out, he's very scared of other cats trying to fight with him.