HELP! Something wrong with our cat's eye! It's red and swollen...
So I'm watching my housemate's cat for him while he's on vacation and he's actually on his flight back right now, but won't be here until tomorrow early morning. I came back from class today and noticed one of the kitty's eye was squinting so I looked closer and the rim of her eyelid (not the eye itself) is pinkish and looks swollen (only the bottom lid is swollen) and also the infected eye is watery. I also saw her pawing at it early so I'm guessing it's itching and must be irritating her. I called her owner and he said that's never happened before... her vet is in Oakland, CA and I'm in Berkeley and I dont have a car so I can't bring her to the vet. Her owner said to just wait til he gets home tomorrow but I'm so worried! What can I do in the mean time to relieve the irritation in her eye? The only thing I can think of that might've infected her eye is dust from our window/curtain? Earlier today I opened my blinds and she likes sunlight so she crawled in between the blinds and just sat there. When she crawled in between my blinds and window the side of her that was facing the window is her right side, which is consistent with her right eye being the infected eye. I feel so bad because I was responsible for the kitty and I let this happen! Any advice anyone? What can I do in the mean time until her owner gets back tomorrow? Here's a picture of her swollen eye- http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.1&disp=emb&view=att&th=11bb45d60b192d61 TO BLONDIE: I'm not being cheap. I have no way of getting around except on my two feet here at Berkeley, and if ya don't know, Berkeley is pretty dangerous at night. I am only kitty sitting for my house mate so don't call me cheap; I would cash out big bucks for the cat. Thank you however for taking the time to answer my question. UPDATE (for anyone following this question or anyone who stumbles upon this page because something similar happened to your pet): I called the vet emergency line and the vet tech said that since she's not constantly itching her eye and pawing at it and crying from pain, that it isn't serious enough to bring her to the vet's emergency hours and that it'd be fine for the cat to go tomorrow morning when her owner gets back. He just told me to buy her a cone collar so that she doesn't scratch her eye, and he also said don't use saline to wash a pets eye unless you're positive that it's conjunctivitis. Thank you everyone for helping me out.
Cats - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
TAKE IT TO THE VET DONT BE CHEAP SHE COULD ENDUP LOOSING HER EYE SO BE CAREFULL! DEFINATELY TAKE IT TO THE VET NOW
2 :
There could be a bacterial infection, a contact irritation, or a scratch on the cornea. Conjunctivitis is also really common is such a case, obviously the cat needs to go to the vet, but tonight you can gently irrigate the eye with room temperature saline - 1/4 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water. Good luck!
3 :
take it to the vets immediately,she could lose her eye,then give the bill to the owners if you haven't the money to pay. they left the cat with you but at the end of the day they are the owners so they are responsible for its health.
Title : HELP! Something wrong with our cat's eye! It's red and swollen..
Description : HELP! Something wrong with our cat's eye! It's red and swollen... So I'm watching my housemate's cat for him while he's...