My cat has watery eyes and tear stains. What should I do?

Hello, and thank you for your question! Seraphina is a gorgeous kitty. The eye discharge may be due to a mild herpes virus infection, blocked tear ducts, or environmental allergies. To rule out a herpes infection, you can try giving her a lysine supplement, which will help to strengthen her immune system and reduce the clinical signs of herpes such as runny eyes and sneezing: If this does not help after a few weeks, I would recommend visiting your veterinarian. They can confirm whether or not Seraphina has an eye infection, and discuss antihistamine options to treat environmental allergies, or recommend flushing the tear ducts under sedation. In the meantime, try to keep the eye area free of discharge by cleaning out the discharge daily with a warm soft cloth. I hope this helps, and that your little girl improves soon!

If Cali is behaving normally otherwise, you can try using an e-collar (cone) on her to prevent scratching or rubbing. This may allow time for healing. Also, check her over for fleas or flea dirt. If she is sensitive, just one flea bite could make her very itchy. A pheromonal product, such as Feliway spray or diffuser, may decrease any stress or anxiety due to your new addition (Congratulations, by the way!). Keep the Ivy out of reach if possible. While not high on the toxicity scale, ingestion or chewing of a leaf or two may cause irritation in and around the mouth and/or GI upset. Monitor for worsening of symptoms, squinting of the eye(s) or discharge. See your veterinarian for a physical exam to address non healing or additional symptoms.

Clarise’s eye discharge may be due to a viral infection, a problem with the drainage of the lacrimal duct or allergies. Infections are the most common cause and I would recommend to have her seen by her veterinarian as medication may be indicated. The doctor may use a special dye to stain the corneas and look for any ulcers as some viruses will cause this. If the doctor is not suspicious of an infection, she will recommend other tests or treatments. I recommend to get an appoint quickly as things can get worse. In the mean time, you can give her 250mg of Lysine twice daily. This supplement will help viral infections. You can often find this in pet stores. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This actually sounds more like a viral upper respiratory infection. Herpesvirus and calicivirus are very common in cats and many cats are exposed as kittens then continue to have mild outbreaks throughout their lives, particularly during times of stress. Symptoms include watery or red eyes with clear discharge, squinting, sneezing and clear nasal discharge. If this is new for Cass I'd recommend having your veterinarian take a look at her to see what they think. I would not recommend using any eye washes or giving antihistamines - this would be unlikely to help and could make the symptoms worse.

This could be a few things. Most of the time this indicates and infection. I recommend to figure out if this is the case by having Charli examined by the veterinarian. Charli may get antibiotic eye drops to see if the treatment makes the discharge go away. Another reason could be an abnormal sinus. In this case, some of these kitties will respond to cat lysine given every day. Most of these kitties will still have some drainage and you will want to keep track of what is normal for Charli. Less commonly, a blocked tear duct can also cause this issue, Continue keeping the eye clean. This will help to prevent any issues with infection on the skin due to increased moisture. If Charli wants to rub at the eye at all, have him wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Excess tearing can be caused by a few different things, commonly including allergies, blocked tear duct, bacterial or viral infection. If there is a creamy discharge, if Pipsi is squinting often or experiences light sensitivity, or her eye appears very red, I recommend that she be evaluated by a vet. If those symptoms are not present and she seems comfortable, you can continue to clean the area with water. Sometimes viral infections that cause eye issues can respond to a lysine supplement. You can try a product like Vetri-Lysine Plus, but it may take a couple weeks for the virus to stop replicating after starting lysine.

I have a Persian as well, and face the same problem you have with Smooshee. Because a Persian's face is so flat, they have a shortened nasal cavity. The result of that if they experience more drainage from their eyes, and it is common in cats and dogs with flatter faces. I also clean my Persian's face daily, and I use Fido's tear stain remover for dogs and cats. I got it at Animates pet store here in New Zealand, and I'm sure you can find that product or something similar in Australia. I find with using that I don't have to clean up Mao's face (my cat) every day, and it helps get rid of the tear stains. I recommend using a product like that. Another thing to consider is that Smooshee could be suffering from chlamydia. Don't worry, you can't get it! It's a bacteria respiratory infection in cats that manifests as conjunctivitis. It can be a chronic condition, and it becomes worse in times of stress. Mao has it as well, and it makes his tear stains worse sometimes. A course of doxycycline can help clear up an outbreak of chlamydia in cats, and you can have Smooshee seen by a vet to see if she does suffer from it as it may help with her tear stain problem.