Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My cat is 2 years old and he has had an eye infection on and off his entire life. I first noticed him blinking a lot when he was a baby, and finally when he was a few months I noticed that his inner lid was red, so I took him to the vet. They gave me ointment for him. I put the ointment on him every day for a long time until he cleared up. A few months later, the infection came back, so I took him back to the vet. I thought it had come back becuase I didn't do his medicine as long as I was supposed to. So this time the vet (a different one) told me it was conjunctivitus and told me to put the ointment in his eye again. So this time I did it until the tube was gone. That was about 2 months ago that I used up the medicine. His infection was gone then. But now it's back. Should I keep going to the vet and getting the medicine which doesn't cure anything? Can that possibly be good? I'm worried about the possibility of him going blind in that eye.

Your cat definitely needs medical attention. It may be a deep-rooted infection which means it may take several rounds of anti-biotic cream to really get rid of it. Or it may be a viral infection. Your vet should check it further. Be sure to ask if it might be a virus - perhaps your vet might even want to take a culture to find out exactly what it is.

There are veterinary eye specialists and if the problem continues you should consult with one if possible. Although cats can do with only one eye, the fact that there is an infection means that it could spread to something else and become life-threatening.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

See your vet and insist that she does a culture. Without a culture she can't be sure the ointment is right for the particular infection. It might be too mild. In some cases, oral antibiotics have to be given as well.

The root cause might also be blocked tear ducts. One of my cats has that and he has been having runny eyes his entire life. Sometimes it gets worse and the eye becomes red, and he needs antibiotic eye drops. Most of the time though we keep it under control (and don't need the antibiotics) by cleaning the eye frequently with a mild boric acid solution.

Blocked tear ducts can be surgically opened. I haven't had that done for him because here in India the vets don't have experience with that and I don't want to take that risk. But if this is the cause for your cat's recurrent infections you could opt for the surgery.