I have a kitten with an eye that gums shut

[shadu]

I have been using warm water and a soft cloth to ungum
the eye. Is there a better way?

[mimitabby]

1. take it to the veterinarian n/t

[slackmaster]

2. Could be a bacterial infection

Get kitty to a vet. If it's an infection the treatment will probably be be a few days of eye drops.

[alittlelark]

3. It could be infected.

I had a kitten w/ that prob., and the vet gave me antibiotic ointment (neomycin) to put in the eye.

[montanacowboy]

4. She has a little conjunctivitis

Most dogs and cats get it, and it's usually chronic. She needs some medication from the vet - a little tube of ointment with antiobiotics. Don't wait too long to get it.

[mimitabby]

5. untreated

untreated eye infections can lead to blindness in cats

[Misunderestimator]

6. How old is the kitten... the soft cloth and warm water is good

but if it keeps up too long, you should take your kitten to the vet.

I once let something like that go, and my cat ended up after a couple of days unable to breathe through his nose... listen for its breathing.

[shadu]

9. seven weeks old

the problem arose three days ago.
He is improving.

[Beaverhausen]

11. 7 weeks is young

You should take him to the vet anyway. Has he has any of his shots yet?

[shadu]

16. he has had his first distemper combination

[shadu]

10. There is no gumming up today - I just checked

I think this will subside by itself.
I was wondering if mineral oil or some such thing works
better.

[TX-RAT]

7. Take to the Vet.

It's easy to take care of. I can't remember the name of the cream, but it works great. Not uncommon in kittens.

[Renew Deal]

8. How old?

[Indiana_Dem]

12. I'm not sure of the exact ingredients but I remember

my grandma and mom using something with boric acid solution for kittens' eyes when I was little. Maybe do a search for boric acid solution for cats on the net?

[Indiana_Dem]

14. Here I found a site with some recipes for it:

http://www.koolpages.com/hokuspokus/boricacid.html

[Indiana_Dem]

15. Here's one specifically for cats:

http://www.vetinfo.com/cateye.html#Eye%20wash%20for%20cats?

[shadu]

18. good site

thanks

[Pithlet]

13. My cat got very ill

and it started with a gummy eye. He ended up with a terrible respiratory infection that required putting him in a nebulizer just so he could breath, and he lost a lot of the fur on his face (since regrown). His heart was also enlarged. The vet told us not to expect him to live long. Fortunately, that was 5 years ago and he's a healthy, full grown adult, but it took him awhile to fully recover.

In short, take him to the vet now before it gets any worse. It could be nothing, and it may go away on its own, but if it is more like something our kitty was afflicted with, early detection and treatment could keep it from getting to the stage that ours did. Good luck and plenty of healthy kitty vibes your way.

edited to add that this all happened when he was only a few weeks old.

[shadu]

17. good advice

[Zuni]

19. Other than saying go to the vet, I don't know what to tell you

but I hope that your cat gets better and stays healthy.

[Dookus]

20. it's pretty common

every kitten I ever got from the pound had a bad upper respiratory infection. Any vet can give you antibiotics, including an eye-cream that's easy to apply. Get her checked out.