(no subject)

[spatch]

Mr. Abbie has a squinty eye. Not quite sure what to make of it. I just noticed it this morning and I checked him out; couldn't find any outward cause for him squinting his left eye 1/4 closed (it's only slightly closed, not half-squinty, but you can tell something's up.) He had no cuts or abrasions around the eye and didn't seem to be in any kind of pain when I touched him (in fact he rather enjoyed the attention he was getting.) There's no real visible swelling and no discoloration, and no excess fluid in the eye. Nothing I could see that would scream infection. But on the other hand cats just don't up and decide they wanna do a Popeye impression for shits and grins, so I'm going to keep close tabs on his mug to spot any further sign of change. I'd consider taking him to an expensive weekend vet (and then consider what body part I'd have to sell to afford it) if he was showing signs of discomfort or pain, but he's just tooling around being his usual dopey self. The eye is probably bothering me right now more than it's bothering him. Any ideas?

Comments

[cheezdanish.livejournal.com]

When people do that, they're either drunk or they have a stye.

So either Abbie got into the everclear or he has an eyelash outta place... ;)

[empire74.livejournal.com]

Maybe he decided today to be Abbie the Pirate Cat. Arr! (Maybe he has no eye patch, so he's doing the best he can by squinting!)

(Sorry... I'm not trying to downplay your worries, since they're valid. Just being silly. :)

[spatch]

A stye sounds like that could be it. He's not shying away from me and the thing looks like it's more annoying than hurty. I just want to make sure it doesn't get infected cause as fun as eyewash cups are, I don't think they're made for cats and he wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. ("OPEN! OPEN YOUR EYE, DUMMY! IT'S OK, IT'S STERILE!") Not sure what else I can do in this case.

And he has never embraced the piratical lifestyle as much as his sister, who at the moment is playing Sleeping Pirates on the foot of the bed.

[karyn.livejournal.com]

my cats do that once in awhile. i just figure they might have a hair or something in their eye. they seem to get over it.

[off_coloratura]

Kitties get squinty eye all the time. If it doesn't go away in a day or two it's probably an infection (especially if a discharge starts) and you should take him to the vet. But my Buster had pirate eye a couple days ago and it went away on its own. Sometimes the kitties accidentally scratch an eye when they're playing and it's sore for a day or two.

Just to be safe, I rinse the eye out with saline, in case it's a foreign body.

And kitties hide pain or discomfort pretty well, so if they ever do show any, I am at the vet's like a shot.

[platys.livejournal.com]

When Katie was doing that (only her eye was mostly closed, not half squinty), it was when she managed to scratch her cornea. We did take her to the weekend vet, but only because we totally freaked out. They gave us various ointments to put in her eye, and she was just fine.

[phonemonkey.livejournal.com]

Wait a few days, and if he's not better then take him. Is he off his food? In cats, I've found that appetite loss is the main indicator that there's something significant wrong with them.

[pecosy.livejournal.com]

I agree with the whole 'wait and see' plan as long as there is no icky discharge. Usually it's just a bit of dust in the eye. My cat had major reaction to the sedative I gave here for the cross-country plane ride and her inner eyelids got all swollen and I felt the worst cat momma ever, permanently blinding my sweet kitty. The forlorn mewing coming from the carrier did not help with the guilt thing. I was planning on going straight from the airport to the emergency vet but by the end of the plane ride she was completely normal. So it might not be as bad as you think.

[sarcasma.livejournal.com]

He also could have simply encountered something that caused a bit of an allergic reaction - investigating the darkest corners of closets and behind the sofa will do that sometimes :) The hair/eyelash/stye theories are good too, and those are things that tend to self-resolve.

I'd say give it a saline rinse but I don't know how brave you are when it comes to elective kitty maintenance :)