I had made a post before about needing to take my cat to the vet because of eye issues (she was closing her right eye a lot… sometimes it’d be gunky…); well, I ended up having to take the cat again to the vet when it came back and this time they gave a stronger medication to use on my cat. Now it’s a few weeks later and my kitty comes up to me, meows and I see she has a grayish film of mucous or something over her eye and the same gunky stuff. The vet said I’d end up having to take her to an eye specialist if it happened again… I wish I was a millionaire sometimes so that I wouldn’t have to worry about money. I swear to god this keeps reoccuring right before rent is due. The thought of an eye specialist sounds so damn expensive, but of course I care very much about the health of my cat. I wish I had a credit card or something, or even family to fall back on who I could pay back the money. I really hate money sometimes. But I digress, the question here I guess is, has anyone else had any similar issues with their cats? Could this be some sort of conjunctivitis? I had asked before in the other thread (but not a lot of people got to read it… I did get a couple of good answers though) if anyone knew of a way to get this taken care of for someone who is so cash strapped… anyone have any more advice? I wish my health insurance could cover my cat. 
Our cat’s eye problems turned out to be sinus problems. Cats’ tears exit through their noses, and his pathway is clogged. We can afford to treat him, but the vet says he’s too old and could die from the operation. In your situation, since you keep mentioning that you can’t afford to care for the cat, I’d consider finding her a home with a capable caregiver who has the means to care for her.
We had something very similar with one of our cats. She went on eye drops and the problem was solved within a couple of weeks. Looks like we got off lucky…
Our other cat had glaucoma, and we had to have one of his eyes removed. He gets drops in the other eye twice a day. FTR, between all the appointments and the surgery, it cost us about $2,500. Rhinestone eyepatch was $3.99, but he never wears it.
Pet health insurance does exist. Google for it if you are interested.
slight hijack…No disrespect, but we have three cats and a rabbit. I’ve been thinking of getting a dog, so I’ve been keeping track of several local animal shelters, looking for the “right” dog. Along with all the dogs for adoption, there are a ton of cats. With all the millions of animals up for adoption–all the millions of healthy animals–do you honestly think there’s someone out there who will think to themselves, “Gee I’d like to adopt a cat who needs several thousands of dollars in corrective eye surgery”? Since this isn’t the pit, I’ll stop there.
No, I don’t think anyone will think to themselves, “Gee I’d like to adopt a cat who needs several thousands of dollars in corrective eye surgery”.
What I was thinking was that there might be people out there who will think to themselves, “Oh, I love her! We can afford the surgery.” Like my wife and I, who bought a house that came with a cat. When it came time for termite treatment, we paid an extra thousand dollars for special pet-friendly service. We told the company we’d rather lose the house than her. But we were not thinking, “Gee, we’d like to have a cat that costs us an extra thousand dollars in termite treatments.”
It’s a big world out there. There are people who love animals and can afford to take care of them.
When my cat had what appeared to be an eye infection, and it didn’t clear up with medication (either applied directly in the eye, or orally), I took her to a different vet for a 2nd opinion and learned that her eyes were oozing because she had an infection in her teeth. Rather than spend a gazillion dollars on a veterinary dentist for root canal for a cat (yes, there are people who would do that, apparently), we simply had the bad teeth extracted (and this happened even though I routinely had her teeth cleaned). The thing to watch for is, infections in the mouth and sinus cavity will drain into the system and is thought to be one of the causes of feline chronic renal failure, which my cat was diagnosed with not long after the dental problems.
So long story short, if an eye infection isn’t clearing up with eye medications, either ask your vet to do a complete physical exam, checking for other causes, such as sinus and/or dental infections, or go to a different vet for a 2nd opinion.
Since cash is a problem, see if you can find a vet who accepts the Care Credit card. They can assist you in applying right in their office and you’ll know on the spot if you’ve been approved (see here, or you can apply online). The advantage to having this card for veterinary care, unlike a standard bank credit card, is that at certain thresholds of cost, payments can be made with no finance charges. I believe the minimum for the “3 months no interest” is $300.
Good luck, and I hope your kitty feels better soon!
My cat (who has lymphoma and is currently undergoing chemotherapy, which has made her immune system less than stellar) got an eye infection awhile back that turned out to be a combination of the feline herpes virus (very common) and a corneal ulcer. We took her to a feline opthalmologist and she’s now on three different ointments three times a day as well as daily doses of lysine. The doctor at one point also “debrided” her eye to clear away some rough edges that weren’t healing up. Meep is better now, but the problem still hasn’t cleared up completely.
If you haven’t already had the doctor do a stain and check for corneal ulcer, this might be something to try.
BTW, there’s a credit card called “Care Credit” that has a low interest rate and a long payback time, specifically designed to pay vet bills. Google Care Credit to get the details if you’re interested.
herpes in cats eyes, is fairly common, and the “outbreak” (generally during times of stress), and short of getting expensive treatment, you can try “LYSINE” (from Petsmart), it’s something that shortens/prevents outbreaks but MUST be mixed with their food all the time.
good luck… our kitty had it pretty badly in one eye and as it worsened it looked like a thick coating similar to Cataracts, but a couple of days of treatment cleared it up… thru our vets treatment… HAVE you tried contacting other vets that would allow you to make payments for their care?? Otherwise, try the LYSINE.