My 3-day-old kitten has a tear. Is it an emergency? What to do?

So it appears the third eyelid is showing, which means Oreo either has an eye infection or has injured her eye. Any eye problem is considered an emergency because leaving it untreated can lead to vision loss. I would take her into your closest vet now. Best of luck.

The main concern is to keep it clean and free of infection. You can lightly trim the hair around the wound and then do a thorough clean of the area with iodine diluted 50:50 with warm sterile water or chlorhexidine solution 3%. Then leave the area alone until Newborn can see the vet on tommorrow. Since your kitten is so young use care not to introduce cold water because kitten cannot regulate his temperature very well. And it is best to use gloves when handling kitten as well.

I recommend bringing Chester to the veterinarian. A torn eyelid can cause irritation to the cornea and pain and annoyance for Chester. If you can't get to a veterinarian tomorrow you can put an ecollar on him until you can get to a veterinarian. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi Caron, thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question. At 5 and a half days of age, that is young for the eye to be open, and there is a concern that it won't be fully developed as you fear the eye was forced open. He needs to see a vet right away, as this could permanently damage his eyesight. You are doing the right thing by keeping the lighting dim and covering the windows, and you want to make sure the eye isn't too dry, which is why he needs to see a vet to get checked out. He can't be separated long from his mother, so please bring the mother and siblings to the appointment as well, and I would take them all in today. He should see a vet asap. I hope this helps!

This poor kitten needs to see a vet immediately. If his tail is hanging by a thread, this is extremely painful and there are no pain medications you can give him. Many human pain medications are toxic to cats, and are fatal if given. He may also have a severe eye infection, which also needs to be treated by a vet. Leaving an eye infection untreated can lead to vision loss. I would consider this a medical emergency. Please take him into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website. Best of luck.

Tinkerbell's eye lid does appear to have some sort of tear or ulceration. This could be related to trauma or a viral infection. Tears on the eyelid should be care for quickly. I recommend to have Tinkerbell examined by his veterinarian within the next day. Make sure to protect the area from rubbing by having him wear an elizabethan collar at all times. Rubbing the eye can make it worse. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You can try putting some neosporin on it twice a day. If it isn’t healing then I would have your vet take a look at it. She may need oral antibiotics or there could be a parasite in it causing the hole. I hope this helps!