# kittens with sticky eyes?



## jennie1981 (Aug 17, 2009)

2 of my cats 2 week old kittens have developed runny sticky eyes. Ive spent the last few hours bathing their eyes with cotton wool dipped in warm water. Im going to get them looked at by a vet hopefully tomorrow but in the meantime is there anything else i could clen their eyes with that might help a little. Poor little things their eyes look so sore


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

is their mom vaccinated for chlamydia?

have any of them got discharge from their nose or sneezing?

only other thing i`ve ever used is strong black tea, seems to take away some of the redness ( always looks worse the first day you use it though )


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## quizicalkat (Jul 7, 2007)

I've always found the best thing for removing the stickness is milk (the cats own milk would be best for this as it is sterile - if you can manage it!) on cotton wool - aparently it has an enzyme that breaks down the gunk:whistling2:

Hope all goes well at the vets!


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## jennie1981 (Aug 17, 2009)

yes the mum is fully vacinated and fit and well. I'll try using black tea as you suggested. They have been sneezing a little. No dischrge though.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

I agree with strong black tea too, let us know how you get on at the vets


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

not many cats are vaccinated for chlamydia and its a big cause of sticky gunky eyes in kittens.

if they`re sneazing it could possibly be the start of cat flu?

best get them to the vets, he`ll probly give you some fucithalmic eye cream and possibly some amoxicillin suspension for them, nip it in the bud before it gets on their chests and makes them really bad.


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## jennie1981 (Aug 17, 2009)

thx for all your advice i'll be ringing the vets first thing in the morning and hopefully they'll get seen. I'll let u know how they get on
thx again


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

jennie1981 said:


> yes the mum is fully vacinated and fit and well. I'll try using black tea as you suggested. They have been sneezing a little. No dischrge though.


Definitely a vet trip as they need cream for this.

Sadly just because the queen is fully vaccinated doesn't mean that she wasn't infected with a flu virus _before_ she was vaccinated and therefore is still carrying it and has passed it on to the kittens.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

hi, 

my bengal babies started with sticky eyes and ended up to be a flu, i was mortified as the queen and tom were both fully vaccinated. The vet told me that they can catch it from you bringing into the house, shoes etc!!!

I used to put them in a cat carrier and "steam" them, with a towel over a hot bowl of water with obviously the cat carrier door shut !!

they had a shot from vet, a few steamings and within about a week was massive improvement! 

not trying to scare you, its supposed to be a positive comment! they were great in no time!


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Cannot recommend tea enough lol.

Always use it on every animal with a gunky eye and it works. Even used it on my budgies when i used to breed and show them


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

its the business for bunnies sticky eyes too.
does seem to make them redder for a couple of days, but thats probly just the tea bringing all the muck out.

vaccinations wont stop your cats catching the flu.
but it will make it milder and hopefully easier to get over.

has mom been going out?

sometimes the vet will give antibiotics to stop it settling on the chest.

hope it goes well at the vets, its one of the things that are quite easily sorted out if you get them seen asap.


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## jennie1981 (Aug 17, 2009)

they now have some cream for their eyes and the vet confirmed it is cat flu. They re still feeding ok so thats a good sign. No mum hardly leaves their side at the moment shes been inside since having them. We do have another couple of cats tho so one of them have probably passed it on. Thx so much for all your advice its appreciated so much and fingers crossed they will recover well now


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Fingers crossed that they are OK.

It's surprising how many cat are already infected with the flu virus *before* they are inoculated, which then means that, certainly with herpesvirus, they will carry that virus for the rest of their lives and it will reactivate at times of stress, such as giving birth. The virus will reactivate in 10-14 days after periods of stress, so the timing is right that it could still have been the mother. Also there is the cross-placental infection to consider. The other main cat flu, calicivirus, can leave the cat's system in up to about 2 years, but only if the cat isn't mixing with other cats and therefore can be cross-infected.


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