New Kitten with Gunk in Eyes

[Steelhorserider]

My partner Deb lost her cat a few months back. My roomie's friend had unexpected kittens and asked Deb is she wanted one. We go over and Deb picks out a calico and the roomie's friend actually brings it over to us last Sunday (her grandson was out of the house and he wants to keep them all). She asks my roomie a few days if Deb wants the other female as they really bonded and the other two kittens are male and they are keeping them both. We talk it ove for a few days and Deb says yes so roomie brings the new kitten home. She has pussy gunk in both eyes that is greenish in color and keeps her eyes closed when it is dry. It looks painful and disgusting. I tld Deb that I think kitten needs to see a vet pronto. I ask roomie about it and she says that all the friends have been doing for it is wiping kitten's eyes and the other kittens do not have it. Of course, this kitten is also the runt and is on 1/3 size of the original kitten. I tell Deb either kitten has to go to vet or we should return it. She is in love already so I guess it is a vet appt. I just wanted to ask if anyone has any advice as vet can't see kitten until middle of next week. Is there something I can put in eyes or do other than wiping the gunk away? I am also worried other kitten will get infected but so far nothing. Am I worrying too much, roomie's friend seems to think it is just a cold and will get better on its own. I should mention roomie brought kitten home so we did not see the eyes before we said we would take it.

[Gypsy Rose]

The green gunk could be infection. Is there an emergency animal clinic near you? Or could you get the kitten in to be seen by the vet you've made an appointment with at least as soon as tomorrow morning? Something like that could be very serious.

Does the kitty have any other symptoms, or is it just the eyes?

[TheRedHayflinger]

needs to be seen by vet, but you can flush the eye out with saline or any other type of non medicated eye drops until you can get her to the vet. If the eyes crust shut, you can gently use a warm wet wash cloth to hold, but not rub or wipe, over the eye..and when it opens, flush with the saline. The vet will give you some sort of medicated drops for it more than likely.

[Steelhorserider]

Thanks for the info...we have been flushing the eye and keeping it open. The other kitten is not affected and the two kittens from the litter have not become affected. I took the first appt available and they did not seen to deem it an emergency so I am following vets advice.

[Stalknndashadows]

It is commonly linked to an upper respiratory infection or conjunctivitis... both of which kittens are prone to and it would be best to get antibiotics from the vet.

My rescue kittens had it, one severely, the other two mildly. I just rubbed their eyes with a warm wet cloth every couple of hours. Two cleared up fine, and the third unfortunately was put down (had a whole mess of problems and it was either put her down or let her slowly die.) However, I still recommend atleast talking to a vet over the phone and describing symptoms.. you may not even need to take the kitten in.

[HeartofSteel]

One of my kittens had the same thing, I have two but only one got it. We took her to the vet and they gave us Terramycin to put in her eye twice a day, we only did it for a few days and it went away.

[Cat]

Very common in kittens. Use a warm damp cloth and soak & clean the eyes. Then you can get terramycin eye ointment (make sure its the eye ointment and not the feed-through stuff - it will be in a small yellow box) from most feed stores or even tractor supply. Its $10-$12 per tube. Take a little of it and dab it into the eye twice a day. It will clear up in about 2-3 days.

[Steelhorserider]

UPDATE: Kitten's eyes are almost cleared since she has been getting them and drops in them. The larger kitten cleared up on her own in a few days.

Thanks for all the replies. I was able to keep the eyes clear and her disconfort low until we could get medicine for her.