Cats yucky eye thing?

Question

Ok...My family lives in the country and cats have taken over the barn. Every time a litter of kittens is born, at around 6 weeks old they start to get a oozing eye cold. The vet gave my parents penicillin (sp?) to give them small shots, but did not give them an explanation for the problem.

So....does anyone know what may be causing this? Recently, the vet I take my pets to said it could be caused by ear mites so we are treating the little kitty we brought home for that. I'm still very interested in other ideas though so that maybe we can stop this cycle. Thanks

To the person who said we should get them spayed and take the ones we can't handle to the humane society...well obviously in a perfect world we would get them all fixed and find them homes. Unfortunately, vet bills add up and the shelters are all over extended and in a crisis themselves so for now, not every cat gets fixed. They are getting there though, but strays show up all the time so the cycle never ends so you decide...take them to a shelter where every animal that comes in is put down within 48 hours if a home is not found right then OR do our best to care for them until they can be found new homes.

For everyone else, please forgive me for sounding harsh, but if I didn't want to find the absolute best way to help these animals, would I even care what is wrong with them?

Answer 1

The runny eyes is caused by a common respiratory infection. Many kittens in shelters and elsewhere become infected with this. The common cure is the liquid penicillin. Ear mites are also commonly passed on to kittens, whether they are born in shelters or at home.

Answer 2

This could be a number of different things.Pink eye(conjuctivitis) will cause gooky eyes. Calici is a virus that will cause this. hemobartonella is a bacterial disease that may show those symptoms. feline herpes is also another. my suggestion to you is that you go the website www.sniksnak.com/cathealth or search for the manhatten cat specialists website. i have found them both very useful. They list many different ailments to research. They discuss symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of just about any disease or illness there is in cats. I must warn you however, if you have your own cats in your house, be extremely careful. Every illness showing gunk in the eyes and nose i know of is highly contagious to other cats. So.. wash your hands!!!

Answer 3

well first start spaying or taking the cats u cant handle or are increadibly feral to the shelter or put them down your self because if the cat is yours and it injures some one or another persons animal your held liable, also the kittens could be allergic to some thing, or it could be sinus infections, or just bacteria from a pond or river in there eye, or they could have had an eye trauma.

Answer 4

Most likely a very contagious respiratory infection like calicivirus, rhinotracheitis, or chlamydia. Usually will resolve but often need antibiotics and eye ointments to help with symptoms. High numbers of cats living closely increases incidence of disease. Never heard of ear mites causing that.

Answer 5

my aunt has always said its just a cold in the eye, heat up some water, like BABY BATH warm, and make some tea, take the warm tea bag and place it over the eye, do that for like 3 days, twice a day...it worked wonders on my kitten that had that problem

Answer 6

they possibly have Panleukopenia also known as Feline Distemper, if left untreated it could kill them! go to the vet and ask if they might have it!

Answer 7

its called conjunctivitis,, will go away on its own but if it gets really bad can cause blindness...