It was about 6:30 when I noticed Buster’s right eyelid was drooping. He could open it all the way but when he relaxed it went back to half-closed, and he was blinking it a lot.
When I moved close and examined him, I saw the right eye was very moist, more so than his left eye, and it was tearing pretty badly.
So I called the vet and made an appointment for this evening. I’d have brought him in immediately, only he didn’t appear to be in pain, and the eye was only watering (no pus or blood), so I figured it could wait.
This morning as I was preparing for work I took another look. His right eye was fully open again and no longer teary. There was a big plug of apparent “sleep” or “crust” on his cheek, just to the right of the eye. I scraped it off and found it was matted pretty firmly into his fur.
Aside from that, he seemed entirely back to normal so I called the vet again and canceled the appointment.
What do y’all think was wrong with the little guy? Was my reaction too cavalier? Should I still take him to the kitty-doctor?
Take him in. It could be an infection. One of my cats was often sick as a kitten and as a result, one of his tear ducts no longer works. It isn’t a huge deal–he gets icky gunk in the corner sometimes, but nothing too bad. On occassions tho, we have had to wash his eye with saline solution, and when it was really bad, we had to put ointment on his eye to fight the infection.
So, take him in to make sure it isn’t infected, because it may cause problems in the end.
BTW, Buster is a great name for a cat. We were going to name our adopted cat “Buster” but he had already been given the excellent name Jack, so we kept it.
our cat gets one watery eye every once in a while. we took him in, paid a couple of hundred dollars for inconclusive tests (“it might be herpes and it might not have been active when we did the second test. can you bring him in again?” no! i’m tired of throwing money down the toliet!).
it’s pretty clear discharge so we chalk it up to “allergies” and don’t bother with the money-grubbing vet. he’s been fine for the past couple of years.
and Ceejaytee, what are the possibilities and effects of an infection?
Hm. Another Buster cat here. I didn’t name him, but I used Cloud’s Buster Sword (FF7) as a mnenmonic device to distinguish him from his brother (Buster was quite a bit larger than Butch.)
A cat can easily scratch his own eye in the course of his daily grooming or simply scratching, which is what I think may have happened. It’s good that it seemed to go away, but a quick check-up now could save you possibly hundreds later on down the road.
Five, Buster may have gotten some dust from the cat litter or similar foreign material in his eye. Once the eye watered enough to wash out the irritating substance, it would have cleared up. If the eye looks clear, he isn’t squinting or pawing at it, and it isn’t tearing any more he is probably okay. You might try pulling the lids apart a little and checking to see if his conjunctiva are red and irritated looking - sometimes this is the only indication that there is a problem.
If the eye starts watering again, I’d definitely take him in - cats sometimes scratch each others eyes while playing, which can sometimes be very serious. Most likely the vet will give you some drops or ointment for his eyes. He may want to use some fluorescent dye to check the eye for scratches, ulcers, etc. - putting the wrong medication in a damaged eye can cause serious damage. (Some eye meds contain steroids to relieve inflammation - however, steroids will delay healing if there is any broken skin, and can cause an ulcerated eye to rupture.)
Thanks for all the responses and advice, folks. Buster’s eye looks completely back to normal, even on close inspection. He’s not favoring it or acting odd in any way. So I think I’ll just leave him be unless there’s a recurrence.
The big problem we had is that when Jack had an eye infection, we had to treat it (with topical antibiotic ointment that goes right on the eye (ick)) in both of our cats, because it was contagious. Jack had numerous health problems as a kitten in the shelter, and eventually it just damaged one tear duct to the point where it no longer works properly. This doesn’t seem to cause him too much trouble–he gets occassional discharge, which he usually cleans himself. Sometimes he needs to have his eye washed with saline (pretty rare these days) or just wiped with a damp tissue. When his eye gets lots of discharge and looks red we’re suppposed to use the ointment, but that hasn’t happened for two years.
**Five: **I’m glad Buster is feeling better. Sounds like he may have just gotten dust in his eye, or maybe had an allergic reaction to something.
Thanks for the kind thoughts, Ceejaytee. I’ll think of them tonight when I pet Buster. Then Piper will see me stroking her brother, make her plaintive “What about me?” vocalization, then I’ll pet her, and think of your kind thoughts while I’m doing that too.
Doe your Jack’s dysfunctional tear duct mean that eye is always dry? Or are tear ducts not the only source of moisture in the eye (human or feline)? Poor little guy…I bet he blinks that eye almost constantly.
It’s weird Five, his eye does get wet but I’ve never asked about it. He’s healthy, happy and spends most of his time running around like a maniac, so I guess it’s nothing to worry about.
Oh, and I have been known to pet 2 cats simultaneously, even when they decide to sit on opposite ends of the bed and howl and I have to stretch as far as I can.
It’s no trouble unless I’m already petting Buster and Piper and then my Jack wants a piece of the action. In such cases I usually bend over and rub him with my bald head.
