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My kitten has an inflamed eyelid. Can I use expired eye drops?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | unspayed | 2 months and 1 day old

Hi, I have a kitten with an inflamed inner eyelid, I have some conoptal but noticed its expired in 2015! Will it still be o.k. to use or will it make the eye worse?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 28th, 2018

This usually happens when the eye is damaged (scratched or punctured), in pain from an infection, or something is stuck inside the eyelid.

It's best if you can first flush under the eyelid with normal saline. Saline flush can be bought at the pharmacy, or supermarket in the eye care section. Flush the eye 3-4 times daily and gently wipe away the discharge with a warm/moist cotton or cloth. Below is a link to a good video that demonstrates how to flush the eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDGzdUTUdNI

The expiry dates are usually not very accurate, so it's likely OK to use the conoptal, but we can't recommend giving this medication without seeing the eye and diagnosing the condition. If it was not expired, then this is a good antibiotic that can be helpful in certain cases where infection is considered the primary cause.

As always, it's best to have a vet evaluate the eye and prescribe the necessary treatment. If the eye appears worse and/or has a lot of yellow/green discharge, then I would definitely recommend taking Suzy to the vet for an evaluation. They will be able to better inspect the eye and provide the most appropriate treatment.

I hope that helps and Suzi gets better soon.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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