Watery Eyes
by Dave
(Niagara Falls)
Hello,
I noticed yesterday evening my cat started getting a watery eye. He would look like he was going to sneeze but never did and his eye would just start to water.
My thought was he had something in it but how do you help a cat remove something from his eye?
His eye is not red or swollen. And the only times he shuts it more then the other eye is when it starts to water. He isn't rubbing or scratching it.
This morning it didn't look like it was still watering.
I was reading on the internet that you can try a home remedy of a salt water saline and drop it in the eye 3 times a day. I was wondering what you think about this?
He is an indoor cat although he was recently outside on Sunday. He is longhair and 5 yrs old. He is still drinking and eating well.
Thank you for your help!
Hi, Dave,
If his eye is no longer watery and he has no other symptoms, DO NOTHING! If he had something in his eye, it is probably gone.
In general, when there is any unusual appearance to a cat's eye, the safest thing to do is to go to the vet. Eyes are too important and can be too readily injured and progress to a very serious state.
As far as using home-made solutions to flush a cat's eye, I wouldn't do that either. You can easily buy artificial tears from the pharmacy or a saline solution for contact lens users. Those solutions are definitely pH balanced for eyes and will cause no harm.
Thank you for writing. Dr. Neely
