Conjunctivitis in kitten, advice please?

R0C

A feral cat has got 5 kittens on my property. They're about 5 or 6 weeks old.

2 of the kittens have conjunctivitis. Kitten 1 isn't too bad, just a little stickiness/discharge from the eye when it wakes up in the morning. Kitten 2 has it very bad, the eyes are sealed shut in the morning/after it has been asleep.

I only found them on Sunday evening and have been using cooled down boiled water and wiping their eyes clean a few times a day. Kitten 1 has improved hugely, but kitten 2 is still waking up in the morning with the eyes sealed shut, he's not too bad once it's been cleaned out but there's a lot of gunk to remove each time and as soon as he goes to nap again for a few hours, they re-seal.

I already have several cats and many other animals of my own, and while I am willing to feed these cats should they decide to stick around, I am not willing to get into more huge vet bills.

The mother is not catchable, and will probably disappear again off to neighbouring farms when she's done with these kittens. I can't keep the two with conjunctivitis separate from the rest of the kittens, I don't want to interfere too much.

I'm willing to go to the vet and get some drops or such, or is there something I can buy online to sort this out?

Will a vet give me drops without me having to gather these kittens and travel with them to him?

Granted this is only the third morning I have cleared the kittens eyes, but when should I start seeing improvement if I continue on the natural route?

I know people here will think I'm being cold by not rushing all of these kittens off to the vet for vaccinations and drops, but I already have a large farm and don't have time or money to start paying bills for another 6 cats. As said, I will feed them, and should any decide to stick around long term, I will take one or two on, (all of my own cats are neutered and very well cared for indoor cats) but knowing my vet if I take them into him, he will want me to pay out a fortune for vaccines and drops and they will probably run away the next week after I have paid out.

And no, there is no-one in the area who will take on the cat/kittens.

Anyone any idea how much conjunctivitis drops should cost?

MaryK666

Without seeing the kittens it's going to be hard to diagnose what exactly is wrong with them but from the symptoms, I suspect that there's a dose of cat flu going through the colony.
If this is the case, they need to see a vet and get treated with antibiotics, and the sooner the better.
The worse case scenario in a case like this is so well described in the case of Lorcan, the blind kitten (he has his own facebook page) whos two little eyes literally rotted in their sockets and had to be completely removed as a result of cat flu going untreated.

Maybe your vet would be able to come to some kind of deal with you since they're feral cats?
If the kittens are able to be handled there might be some kind people who'd be prepared to adopt them and provide them with the treatment that they need.
It's worth checking out many of the support and rescue groups on Facebook as they provide enormous help and support for people dealing with colonies of feral cats. They have people all over the country that work as a network of volunteers and if they're not in a position to help personally, chances are they will know someone who can.



It also might be a good idea to see if there's a TNR project in your area who'd be prepared to help with the neutering of the older cats to prevent future litters having to go through the same thing.

R0C

I've dealt with a cat with cat flu before and I see no signs of that with these kittens.

The only symptom they seem have (to my eye at least) is the mucky eyes.

There is no runny nose, sneezing/wheezing, they are feeding very healthily, the two in question are very playful with each other tumbling around as kittens do as soon as their eyes are cleaned, there is no fever or depression or loss of appetite from what I can see. Surely I would see symptoms other than the eye issues if it were cat flu?

lorebringer

Maybe try to ring your vet and ask how much it will be for a consultation and/or drops. Lots of vets, particularly "country" vets, will give a deal if the cats/kittens are feral and someone if just looking out for them. Ring around a few vets and see if any of them could help you out.

If there is discharge from their noses as well as their gunky eyes, they probably have cat flu - spreads like wildfire in a litter of kittens and can be very severe. The kittens would need an antibiotic if they do have cat flu, plus drops (neither of which are too expensive). Keep doing what you have been doing, and keep the kittens in a warm place, until you can sort something out.

If you can find a particularly generous vet, you could sort out a TNR (trap, neuter, release) program for the cats you are feeding - would work out cheaper in the long run if they would not keep having loads of litters each year that may need taking care of.

Alternatively, you could contact a charity to see if they may take the kittens or help out with some of the cost of keeping them - charities tend to be stretched the the limit though so I don't know how successful it would be.

Good luck!

EDIT: just read your second post - early stages of cat flu is often just gunky eyes and the cat can seem fine, some cats can get rid of it on their own but it's very unlikely in kittens. Hopefully, it's just minor but if it isn't clearing with regular washing after a few days the kittens would probably need to see a vet.

R0C

Definitely no nasal discharge, just the eye thing.

I'm after ringing the country vet that deals with farm animals, he's far away but I don't mind travelling to him alone (without the kittens) and he will give me some drops to try out (just 8 euro which is fine), if the kittens wait around I will take on a couple of them and will look at vaccinations/neutering, but I'll try them with the drops first for another day or two and monitor, hopefully it's not cat flu.

You just don't know with feral cats, I've been caught out before with getting them vaccinated, etc only for them to disappear forever a short while later.

They are in a warm and dry place and seem content otherwise.

Hopefully the eyes might improve in the next few days and I'll take further action then. Thanks for advice.

planetX

sounds like the kittens I rescued, same age, they all had gunky eyes. Vet gave them a shot of long-lasting antibiotic, which wasn't too dear. I had drops from a previous vet visit that didn't do anything much. Unfortunately one kitten lost an eye and no-one would adopt her:(
I'd be concerned that the one with the eyes sticking shut might be irreversibly damaging the corneas, might be worth just one vet visit?

Just saw that you have indoor cats - want to warn you that I kept the newcomers strictly seperate from my cats, even down to washing bowls in different sinks, and was constantly washing my hands. Despite this one of my cats caught a very bad respiratory infection, even though he is up to date with vaccinations - it must have been transferred on my clothes. My kittens had no symptoms other than sore eyes, there are a lot of different strains of cat flu and it seems to be really bad this year.

lorebringer

Great to hear you found a vet who will help out!

As "planetx" said - it could be an idea to get a long lasting antibiotic, one injection lasts a while so you would probably only have to pay for it as a once off and it would be pretty cheap too (under €10), just to give them an extra boost to fight whatever it is they have!

R0C

Did several cleanings of the eyes yesterday and administered the drops.

This morning the 2 kittens in question are up and playing with eyes wide open of their own accord.

Kitten 1 seems to be totally free of any problems, no gunk on eyes this morning, kitten 2 had some gunk in the one eye which was previously sealed (yesterday morning his left eye was opening of its own accord but right eye was stuck closed until I cleaned it) but this is the first morning he's opened the right eye of his own accord and there was very little gunk to clean away compared to yesterday. Nice to see him not waddling around with his eyes closed.

Not sure if it was the warm water, or [very fast acting?] drops or if they're just getting past whatever they had, but I'll keep doing as I have been and hopefully I see the same results for the next few days.

MaryK666

planetX wrote: »

Unfortunately one kitten lost an eye and no-one would adopt her:(

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That's absolutely awful to hear PlanetX. The poor little girl. People don't know what they're missing out on.
I have a boy who's missing an eye and has scraggy ears from fighting. I adopted him and his mate when they were rescued from a farm where they were part of a feral colony. He is now the sweetest, kindest, laziest, cuddliest, chattiest, most affectionate cat I have ever met and his pirate look just makes him more handsome.

I don't think people realise that an animal who's missing a few bits and bobs (through no fault of their own) is just as worthy of a loving, caring, home as an animal with two eyes and four legs.