I was so excited the day I had to go to the shelter and choose my cat that was going to be my new furry 4-legged friend. It’s amazing the feeling of rescuing an animal from having a sad life and sometimes due to the abuse or negligence they are exposed, some of these beautiful animals come with emotional or physical issues and my cat did. She had one eye closed and watering discharge in both eyes and this is the first thing I saw when I adopted her, I didn’t care.
I took my cat to the Vet and he prescribed her an eye ointment to put in her eyes twice a day but that didn’t work. Her eyes kept discharging several weeks after this treatment and one of her eyes still half-opened. So I started to investigate the causes of cat eye discharging in an attempt of trying to figure out the cause of this in my cat.
WHAT I FOUND OUT ABOUT CAT EYE DISCHARGING
I learned that there are several reasons for a cat to have eyes discharge and this is a symptom of an underlying problem more than a disease itself. So in order to know how to cure my cat’s eyes, I needed to know what disease my cat had in the first place. I must say that when I took her to the Vet he couldn’t figure out what my cat had so it was time to start my own research.
The common causes for cats to have eye discharge are the following:
—Upper respiratory infection
—Conjunctivitis
—Diarrhea
—Blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelid)
—Corneal disease
—Epiphora (excessive watering of the eyes from various causes such as blocked tear duct)
—Dry eye
—Allergies
—Others
As there were so many causes that create eye discharge in cats that I needed to know the different types of eye discharge in cats to find out the cause of my cat’s problem. The types of discharge in cats are the following:
- Watery, which is usually tied to viral infections, irritants, or allergic agents.
- Mucopulurent, which is associated with bacterial infections. The discharge is often yellow with thick and mucous consistency.
- Mucoid, which is a clear discharge with a thick consistency. This is caused by allergies or dry eyes.
My cat had watery type discharge from her eyes so I assumed it could be related to a viral infection or allergy.
WHY MY CAT HAD WATERY EYE DISCHARGE
As she had already watery eyes when she was in the shelter I thought she could have an underlying infection that the Vet didn’t determine. So I took her to another Vet (which is my current veterinarian) and I explained to her that I thought my cat had a viral infection and I needed her to get checked further.
Finally, it turned out my cat had an upper respiratory infection due to a virus and her immune system was weak. Maybe she had feline viral rhinopneumonitis (FVR) or herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), none of these were determined but the thing was to strengthen her immune system to keep the virus at bay. (Update: we determined later that my cat had FHV-1 virus).
THE TREATMENT THAT STOPPED HER EYES FROM DISCHARGING
Together with treating the infection with antibiotics (I assume the infection was advanced), the Vet told me to avoid very fine sand type litter to reduce exposition to possible allergens. Additionally, she told me to give her an amino-acid called Lysine every day which could put the virus into a standby mode and her symptoms would eventually disappear.
Together with all this, I made sure to feed my cat with the best healthy cat food to help her immune system to fight the virus.
So I bought this Lysine and started giving her 1/2 inch in her wet food every 24 hours for about 6 months. Her eyes started changing slowly but progressively, the watery discharge in her eyes didn’t disappear but it was much less than initially. After about 10 months of following all these measurements, she got better. She didn’t have any watery discharge in her eyes anymore, she had completely healthy eyes.
Most part of this result is treating her viral respiratory infection, the amino-acid Lysine, avoiding possible allergens, providing her a healthy diet, lots of love and lack of stress. The lack of stress is very important if you have a cat with a viral respiratory infection because the stress weakens its immune system and the virus takes over again.
Feline respiratory virus doesn’t disappear from your cat’s body, it just stays in a neutral mode when the cat has a strong immune system and it doesn’t show symptoms at all so your pet needs to feel comfortable and free of stress at all times to look and feel as healthy as cats get.
This is my story with Sophie and I hope I can help somebody that is going through the same problem with their cat. You can get this amino-acid on Amazon at a cheaper price than what I paid through my Vet.
Hi Lorena,
I chance upon your website when I was searching for the cause of my cats eye. They have similar symptoms. Hope to chat with you more.
My cat got cured from this. So far she has healthy eyes due to the treatment I put her on. Ask me any question and I am glad to help.
My cat has yellow pus coming from one eye I wipe it every morning but still comes back next day is it normal. ?
If your cat has yellow pus coming from one eye, take it to the Vet because it may be sign of bacterial infection. They may test the type of bacteria and treat it with the proper anti-bacterial ointment.
I’ve already been to the vet, but still having a problem. My Molly has that type eye discharge, and occasionally sneezes. But also has dirt-like skin issue around mouth and under chin. The vet called it feline blackheads. I feel these symptoms may be related to the food and or treats I’m giving her, and an immunity problem as well. I’m going to order the lysine but wanted to see what other things I might do for her to help. What brands and type/s of cat food & treats do you feed Sophie? Also, what brand and type litter are you using?
Hello Eileen. I use the Litter Robot and the litter is Fresh Step unscented. It has low dust when pouring it in the Robot. I feed Sophie Go Petcurean Chicken & Turkey and I mix it with Go Sensitivities Limited Ingredients. I suggest you to feed your cat with Go Sensitivities Limited Ingredients dry food. Wet food I feed my cat is Wellness Healthy Indulgence Gravies Chicken & Turkey. Also it’s very important to keep your cat on a daily routine with no major changes. Anything that changes your cat’s routine stresses your pet and it affects its immune system and this creates more watery eyes and sneezing. It happened with Sophie so I tried to keep her routines everyday. Feeding same time, food in same place, playing at the same time, etc etc. I hope your cat gets better, I am sure the Lysine will help a lot. It really helped my cat.
PD: if your Vet gave you some drops or ointment to put on its eyes sometimes this worsens the problem because it’s not always a bacterial issue. It happened with my cat the first time when we took her to the Vet, the drops and ointment worsened her eyes. It seems like drops sometimes don’t help, but the Lysine did help my cat. Anyway, this is my experience. Hope this helps!
Hello, thank you soo much to share your story. I have exactly the same story of your cat with discharged one eyes and all symptoms. I have 6 cats. They all got it but cured except one. That one is happening again now. He hardly can’t breath, diarrhea, sneezing and coughing. I’m giving him viralys every as well others too. I’m tired, it breaks my heart. The vets couldn’t find what he got. I was desperately need help and answers until I saw that. I really hope he will get better.
Hello Anna, from what I have experienced with my cat Sophie, every time she experiences stress for whatever reason, traveling to a different city, me or my husband leaving for a few weeks, etc., my cat experiences some sneezing and sometimes a slightly watery eye (not always though). As soon as she adapts to the new situation or me or my husband get back home her symptoms subside. The best bet is trying to keep his routine as stable as possible and lots of love and play. Of course, keep giving him lysine as well. The herpes virus symptoms (which is what my cat has) is totally related to how strong is the cat’s immune system and stress contributes to lower the cat’s immune response. A very stable routine including everyday play is the best way to avoid stress in cats. Also, this condition is affected by dust in the air (keep the air conditioning filter replaced), Vaccum the carpet as much as you can, choose a very low-dust cat litter. If nothing works you must take your cat to a different vet and get a full blood work panel. Hope that helps.