Inflammation eye kittens

What should you do if the eye is blocked with a kitten older than 10 days? 

Normally, the eyes will open after 10 days
After 10 days the eyes will open. The eye lids are stuck to each other by a sebum layer. This will dissolve after 10 days and the eyes will open. See photo.

What should you do if the eyes will not open?
With some kittens the eyes will not open after 10 days or the eye lids will open but you notice pus on the eye and not a clean eye. This is caused by an inflammation of the eye. Usually due to a bacterial infection which they have (probably) obtained in the uterus. Because of the pus the eye lids, which had been opened, can get stuck again. See photos.

Eye lids will puff up
The eye lids can even puff up or bulge if they don’t come loose. If the eye lids get open the pressure will be removed and you can start treating the eye. However, if the eye will not open the eye lids must be removed from each other by the veterinarian in order to be able to treat the eye. If an eye with pus exists too long the eye’s cornea can get damaged permanently. Early intervention is very important therefore.

 

Therapy
With the help of eye salve the infection can be treated and the eye will recover. If too much pus is present the eye needs to be irrigated first with a means which dissolves the pus.

Prognosis
The prognosis is very good if an intervention takes place soon. We advise the following: if the eye is still blocked after 10 days or if the eye contains pus with young kittens, contact your veterinarian. It is important to treat the eyes in the egg.

 

5 days later

As you can see on the photos, the eyes recover rather fast after this treatment. These photos have been made of the same kitten as the kitten on the photo above, only 4 days later.