Thread: Eye discharge

Originally Posted by ayeizajedi

I've noticed (as did the vet - to which she said to monitor it) that he gets a clearish discharge forming in the corner of his eyes that ends up going a crusty dark colour that looks rusty when we wipe it. As he's a red silver its quite noticable on his face (it sometimes looks like someones dunked his face in his food). Am I being overly worried about this or is it something natural? After only having his highness for a week im new to all this.

Our red cats have always gotten little dark crusty things in the corners of their eyes, and I others have said the same. Actually if you look very carefully on the our other cats you can often find them, but due to the dark coloration around those cats eyes they are not really visible. Only very occasionally do we see actual (clear) fluid/discharge, though I seem to remember that our boy Remy did have that when he was a kitten, and we were concerned for a while. It seems worse when they get into dusty areas so may be allergy related. We simply brush/flick off the little crusties every day or two (if the cat doesn't wipe them off). Probably normal unless discharge becomes heavy and/or not clear.

Our Minnie used to have some eye discharge that went brownish in colour as well. The vet said the discoloration was due to dirt and dust. It has for the most part cleared up, but every once in a while there's a little bit in the corner of her eye which I wipe with a cotton wool pad soaked in saline solution.

Teething very often causes discharge from an eye or eyes....

Thanks for the replies everyone, its put my mind at rest at least. I'll continue to look out for any coloured discharge from his eyes.

Glad to see he's not worried, he just gave me cuddles (with claws!) and lots of face kisses... eeeh honestly!!! he wont leave me along this afternoon!

While he's watching the soprano's (the washing machine) im gonna go clean, thanks again

My MC's the same, although her colouring means you can't always see it. The vet told me it's not uncommon (not sure if he was referring to cats in general or the MC breed) and it never seems to cause Freyja any discomfort. I got some eye wipes from Pets At Home, they're quite nicely moisturised and a firm-but-careful wipe down from the eye towards the nose/ cheek seems to do the trick. She's got so used to it now that she doesn't wriggle when the cloths appear.

Edmund has had eye discharge issues since I got him (and the orphanage said he's had it for a while before). He's 6 months old now, so I was kind of hoping he'd grow out of it, but I'm not sure. They had him checked for all "serious" things and said he's very healthy besides the chronic lite eye infections... Before I got him they had him on antibiotics for several months straight which I'm not too fond of because it didn't work and he's likely now partially immune to them if he ever gets seriously sick, but oh well, I can't change the past now.
I always feel bad for my baby since his eyes are always a little crusty and often a little bit red, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain and lets me wash his eyes and put some natural animal saline eyes drops in without a fuss at all. (And yes, he has been to the vet a few times about this and they don't really have any idea except to try more antibiotics again and again, maybe I need a different vet.)
He's the most "tolerating", I guess would be the word for it, cat that I ever imagined but that's what I hear about a lot of Maine Coons!
Any more advise on how to help stop the discharge is appreciated!

Mufasa has this most days. I have read in several places that red maine coons are more prone to it?
It doesn't bother him when i clean it out. But i wish i didn't have to. I hope it isn't irritating to him. (:

Originally Posted by emmabailey

Mufasa has this most days. I have read in several places that red maine coons are more prone to it?
It doesn't bother him when i clean it out. But i wish i didn't have to. I hope it isn't irritating to him. (:

I could be wrong but I thought I read somewhere that red's aren't more prone to it, but their colouring means it shows up more. Might be thinking of something else, so apologies if I am! It doesn't seem to bother Freyja or Wicca, although if I don't get rid of it for a couple of days (i.e. when I went on holiday) the build up on Freyja looked like it was making her eye a little stiff. Once I'd got the eye wipes out though, she was back to normal.